“This change equalises the rate of awards payable to a dependant and a person with mesothelioma,” the Department for Communities says in its explanatory memorandum. The Mesothelioma Lump Sum Payments (Conditions and Amounts) (Amendment No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2026 end the lower payment table for bereaved families and move dependants onto the same scale as sufferers themselves from 31 October 2026. (niassembly.gov.uk) Made on 5 October 2026, the rule also creates a clear legal route for money to be paid to a claimant’s personal representatives if that claimant dies after lodging a valid claim but before the award reaches them. (niassembly.gov.uk)

In June, during Assembly debate on the earlier 2026 uprating rule, Committee Chair Colm Gildernew said the 2008 scheme lets lump-sum compensation be paid to people diagnosed with diffuse mesothelioma, or to surviving dependants, without any need to prove negligent asbestos exposure or show that the exposure happened during employment. The Assembly was told that the scheme is meant to get financial relief out quickly, without first forcing households to prove a negligence case. (aims.niassembly.gov.uk) That local context still matters. HSENI says Northern Ireland sees an average 46 mesothelioma deaths a year, alongside another 46 asbestos-linked lung cancer deaths, while its separate asbestos-related mortality table records 48 mesothelioma deaths in 2022. (hseni.gov.uk)

The biggest practical change is the money. Under the current 2025 table, a dependant aged 37 or under received £60,446. Under the new table from 31 October 2026, that moves to £120,566 - an increase of £60,120, which is very close to a doubling. For age 60, the payment rises from £23,628 to £56,656. (legislation.gov.uk) At the older end of the scale, the change is just as sharp. The 2025 rules had a flat dependant payment of £10,007 for anyone aged 67 or over. The new rule replaces that with age bands from 67 to 77 and over, ranging from £25,753 at age 67 to £18,733 at 77 or over. Those are the same figures now used for people with diffuse mesothelioma themselves. (legislation.gov.uk)

The second change is less headline-grabbing but important for families, advisers and solicitors. New regulation 5A says that where a claim has been made and the claimant dies before payment is made, the award must go to the person’s personal representatives once the Department has the probate, letters of administration or confirmation documents it needs. (niassembly.gov.uk) The Department says that is meant to “remove uncertainty” over who can receive the money when entitlement already exists but the payment has not yet been issued. In plain terms, it is designed to stop an award getting stuck in limbo at the worst possible time for a family. (niassembly.gov.uk)

There is an important date test in the small print. The higher dependant rates apply only where the sufferer dies on or after 31 October 2026 and had diffuse mesothelioma immediately before death. Existing cases where entitlement arose earlier stay under the present rules. (niassembly.gov.uk) The Department’s memorandum says the move mirrors corresponding Great Britain regulations and follows Northern Ireland’s long-running social security parity approach. For families here, though, this is not just a parity exercise. It decides how much support is on the table after a death tied to asbestos disease. (niassembly.gov.uk)

The politics of it are worth noting too. Because the rule is under confirmatory resolution, it can come into operation on 31 October 2026 before later Assembly approval, but it must still be approved within six months or it ceases to have effect. The Committee for Communities page is also still carrying the draft process, with a public call for views open until 14 October 2026. (niassembly.gov.uk) For claimants and bereaved families, the message is straightforward enough. From the end of October, dependants should be looking at the same lump-sum scale as sufferers themselves, and where a claimant dies before the money is issued, the law now spells out who can step in and receive it. In a system that too often speaks in footnotes, that sort of plain wording matters. (niassembly.gov.uk)