Asbestos victims are not obliged to seek support from the IAS for claiming compensation. You can use your own legal representative on your own initiative. Since IAS services are free for asbestos victims and can only be applied to the Social Insurance Bank with the assistance of the IAS, there is also little against using the services provided by the IAS.

If the mediation does not lead to a positive result, then the asbestos victim can always consider trying to recover the damage through civil law.

There are several legal representatives who have experience with the support of asbestos victims, such as:

Bureau Beroepsziekten FNV helps to recover (financial) damage from occupational diseases on the (former) employer, the agency works for members of the FNV.

CNV offers members free legal assistance, members can contact their CNV association.

The Asbestos Victims Committee is committed to recognition and reparation for all asbestos victims and their relatives.

Via the website lsa.nl one can find a lawyer in the own region who is a member of the Association for Personal Injury Lawyers.

The Legal Counter is an independent, government-backed organization that helps everyone with a legal question free of charge.

Sometimes the legal expenses insurance can be called in to investigate whether starting a procedure is useful.

[1] According to the protocols used by the IAS, a relevant amount is in principle a six-month period during which the victim was (intensively) exposed to asbestos in one or more functions. If, during an employment that has lasted less than six months, a possible exposure to asbestos has occurred, there may still be a relevant degree of asbestos exposure. The IAS then investigates this further.

[2] For the standard amounts for asbestosis see http://www.asbestslachtoffers.nl/CMS/show.do?ctx=637278,701751&anav=700446

[3] The IAS uses different starting points to reach the most ready employer, for example the duration of the employment, the intensity of the asbestos exposure and problems concerning the limitation period.

[4] The so-called latency period of an asbestos disease in the Netherlands is on average more than thirty years.