The average compensation for pleural thickening in England and Wales is not one figure. The Judicial College Guidelines, which judges and solicitors use to value pain, suffering and loss of amenity, set a bracket rather than a single number, and where you sit in it depends on how much the condition has reduced your lung function. This guide explains how that bracket works, what it does not cover, and why “provisional damages” matters more here than for almost any other injury.
What is the average compensation for pleural thickening?
The Judicial College Guidelines value asbestosis and diffuse pleural thickening together, in one chapter, split by “the level of respiratory disability attributable to asbestos”. The lower bracket covers cases where lung function has been reduced by up to 10 per cent, and the award within it is influenced by whether the settlement is final or provisional and by the level of anxiety the condition causes. The higher bracket covers cases where the disability exceeds 10 per cent and breathlessness is progressive, with the lower end for a condition that is relatively static, the middle for a condition that has progressed or is likely to, and the top end where mobility and quality of life are significantly impaired or life expectancy is reduced. The current edition is the 18th, published on 9 April 2026, which increased almost every bracket in the Guidelines by around 8 per cent to allow for inflation measured to August 2025. We have deliberately not printed the pound figures here: they change with every edition and are easy to misread out of context, so we would rather show you the current printed bracket for your own level of disability at a free assessment. These are general damages figures for pain, suffering and loss of amenity only, and are a guide for judges and solicitors rather than a promised outcome.
How does general damages differ from special damages in a pleural thickening claim?
General damages, the JCG bracket above, compensate the pain, breathlessness and loss of enjoyment of life the condition causes. Special damages are separate and compensate your actual financial losses: lost earnings if the condition has stopped you working, the cost of care from a partner or relative, travel to appointments, and any equipment or adaptations needed. These are calculated from your own receipts, payslips and care records, not a bracket, so they can equal or exceed the general damages award, particularly where the illness has forced early retirement.
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What is a provisional damages award, and why does it matter for pleural thickening?
A provisional damages award, made under section 32A of the Senior Courts Act 1981, lets a claimant accept a settlement now on the basis that their condition will not get significantly worse, while keeping the right to return to court for a further payment if a specific, named disease develops later. Ordinary damages are otherwise final: once accepted, you cannot normally go back even if things deteriorate. That matters here because pleural thickening and asbestosis both mark significant past asbestos exposure, and a minority of people who develop them go on, years or decades later, to develop mesothelioma or asbestos-related lung cancer. A properly drafted provisional damages settlement keeps that door open, so today’s award for breathlessness does not become the final word if a far more serious diagnosis follows. A specialist solicitor should ask for a provisional damages order as standard in asbestos disease claims for this reason.
What is the difference between pleural plaques and diffuse pleural thickening?
They are often confused but are legally very different. Pleural plaques are localised patches of scar tissue on the lung lining: a marker that you were exposed to asbestos, but causing no breathlessness or loss of lung function on their own. Diffuse pleural thickening is widespread scarring across the pleura that can restrict the lung’s expansion and cause genuine breathlessness, which is why it is valued in the same JCG bracket as asbestosis rather than treated as a plaque.
The distinction became critical after the House of Lords decision in Rothwell [2007] UKHL 39. The House of Lords held that symptomless pleural plaques do not amount to actionable damage in negligence, because they cause no impairment and do not themselves increase the risk of future illness, and that the anxiety of living with plaques could not be bolted onto a claim that otherwise had no injury to support it. Since that ruling, pleural plaques alone have not been compensable in England and Wales.
Scotland and Northern Ireland took a different path. The Damages (Asbestos-related Conditions) (Scotland) Act 2009 provides that asbestos-related pleural plaques are a personal injury which is not negligible, and that asymptomatic pleural thickening and asymptomatic asbestosis “which has not caused and is not causing impairment of a person’s physical condition” also remain actionable. The Damages (Asbestos-related Conditions) Act (Northern Ireland) 2011 restored the same right for pleural plaques, pleural thickening and asbestosis in Northern Ireland, with retrospective effect. If you were exposed to asbestos while working in Scotland or Northern Ireland, or your claim can otherwise be brought there, it is worth asking whether that route is open to you even where symptoms have not yet developed.
| Condition | What it is | Compensable in England and Wales? |
|---|---|---|
| Pleural plaques | Localised patches of scarring on the lung lining; a marker of past exposure | No, following Rothwell [2007] UKHL 39 (yes in Scotland and Northern Ireland) |
| Diffuse pleural thickening | Widespread scarring restricting lung expansion, causing breathlessness | Yes, valued in the same JCG bracket as asbestosis |
| Asbestosis | Diffuse scarring of the lung tissue itself, causing progressive breathlessness | Yes, same JCG bracket as diffuse pleural thickening |
Can you claim Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit for pleural thickening?
Yes. Diffuse pleural thickening is prescribed disease D9 under the Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit scheme, claimable alongside, not instead of, a compensation claim against a former employer’s insurer. The Industrial Injuries Advisory Council recommended in 2016 modernising the definition of D9 by removing the old requirement for “obliteration of the costophrenic angle”, so CT scan evidence can be used more directly to assess claims. Where the responsible employer has ceased trading and cannot be traced, a separate lump sum may be available under the Pneumoconiosis etc. (Workers’ Compensation) Act 1979, which covers diffuse pleural thickening among its prescribed diseases and was updated in 2024 to extend it from bilateral to unilateral pleural thickening too.
“People often come to us assuming a diagnosis of pleural thickening on its own is not worth pursuing, because they have heard that pleural plaques cannot be claimed for. The two conditions are not the same, and the difference is exactly the sort of thing that gets missed without specialist advice. We always ask whether Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit and a provisional damages order are in place before we even discuss general damages, because both protect the client long after the case has settled.”
Steve Evans, Senior Partner, WE Solicitors LLP
How common is pleural thickening from asbestos exposure in the UK?
Asbestos-related disease remains a major cause of death in Great Britain. HSE’s Asbestos-related disease statistics for Great Britain 2026 record 2,146 mesothelioma deaths in 2024 and put the overall annual toll, including mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis, at over 5,000 deaths a year. HSE’s wider occupational ill health overview statistics estimate around 11,000 deaths a year from lung disease linked to past work, of which asbestos-related lung cancer and mesothelioma together account for around 40 per cent. Diffuse pleural thickening sits within that same picture: it develops after inhaling asbestos fibres, usually decades earlier, in the same industries where asbestosis and mesothelioma arise, from shipyards and power stations to construction and asbestos-cement manufacture.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to have stopped working to claim for pleural thickening?
No. You can claim whether or not you are still working. If the condition has reduced your hours, forced a change of role or ended your career early, those losses are recovered separately as special damages, not folded into the general damages bracket.
How long do I have to make a claim?
Usually three years from the date you first knew, or ought reasonably to have known, that your breathing problems were linked to asbestos exposure at work, which is often the date of diagnosis rather than the date you were exposed, under sections 11 and 14 of the Limitation Act 1980. If the case involves a death, the three years usually runs from the date of death instead.
What if the employer no longer exists?
Claims are met by the employer’s insurer, not the employer directly, and a dissolved company can usually be restored to the register so its insurer can be identified through the Employers’ Liability Tracing Office. Where no insurer can be traced at all, the Pneumoconiosis etc. (Workers’ Compensation) Act 1979 lump sum scheme is there as a fallback.
Can I claim for pleural thickening and later claim again if I develop mesothelioma?
Yes, provided your original settlement was made on a provisional damages basis under section 32A of the Senior Courts Act 1981. This is why asking for provisional damages, rather than a single final settlement, matters so much in pleural thickening cases.
Is pleural thickening the same as pleural plaques?
No. Pleural plaques are symptomless patches of scarring that are not compensable in England and Wales after Rothwell [2007] UKHL 39. Diffuse pleural thickening is more widespread scarring that restricts breathing and is valued in the same Judicial College Guidelines bracket as asbestosis.
Speak to a specialist pleural thickening solicitor
Every pleural thickening case turns on individual medical evidence and whether a provisional damages order or an Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit claim is already in place. WE Solicitors has represented people with asbestos-related disease for over two decades on a no win, no fee basis, and can tell you, in a free initial conversation, whether your diagnosis is pleural plaques, diffuse pleural thickening or asbestosis, and what that means for your claim. Read more on our pleural thickening claims page or our guide to what pleural thickening is and how compensation works. Call 0800 294 3065 or complete our online enquiry form for a free assessment.
Sources: HSE, Asbestos-related disease statistics, Great Britain (2026); HSE occupational ill health overview statistics; GOV.UK, Mesothelioma and asbestosis mortality in Great Britain 1968 to 2024; Judicial College, Guidelines for the Assessment of General Damages in Personal Injury Cases, 18th edition (Oxford University Press, 9 April 2026), asbestos-related disease chapter; Rothwell [2007] UKHL 39; Damages (Asbestos-related Conditions) (Scotland) Act 2009; Damages (Asbestos-related Conditions) Act (Northern Ireland) 2011; GOV.UK/IIAC report on prescribed disease D9; Pneumoconiosis etc. (Workers’ Compensation) Act 1979 and its 2024 amendment regulations; Senior Courts Act 1981, section 32A.
