Solicitors representing the victims of industrial disease , in particular mesothelioma, are calling for radical new changes to help the victims track down the insurers of their former employers. At present, some victims of mesothelioma find themselves entirely without help when the trail for their previous employer's insurers turns cold. The disease, a deadly form of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos takes anywhere between 30-50 years after exposure to emerge, but normally kills its victims in less than two years. This means that time is limited to claim the compensation to which they're entitled.

It can be very difficult to track down former employers' insurance details: in many cases the employer has been out of business for several years. As a result, in early May, the Department for Work and Pensions set out plans for a dedicated tracing office, which would electronically hold the details of employers' liability insurance policies. Personal injury solicitors and victims are supporting this idea.

Since 1999, when a voluntary code of practice for tracing employer's liability insurance policies was set up, there have been improvements. However, in 2008 there were still over 3,000 mesothelioma victims with nowhere to turn to claim the compensation they needed to secure their families' futures. For this reason, the Association of Personal Injury Insurers is calling for the creation of a fund of last resort to act as a safety net for those victims unable to find the insurers against who to claim.

For victims of industrial diseases such as mesothelioma, time is of the essence in making a claim. Any policy that speeds up the process of tracking down their employers' insurers and speeding up the compensation process is surely a positive, if only for the peace of mind it could offer them.