Law firm Thompsons has called on the Government to increase the amount of compensation paid for bereavement to the families of asbestos cancer victims in England and Wales.

The firm is calling for the fixed bereavement award of £10,000 to be increased in line with payments made in Scotland, where compensation payouts are up to three times higher.

Thompsons is responding to a Government consultation on the law on damages, aimed at improving the system for dealing with compensation claims for personal injury and death.

The company wants to see the current practice, which requires negligent employers and their insurers to pay compensation for bereavement, retained but launched its Justice for Asbestos Families campaign earlier this year, highlighting inequality in compensation awarded to families who have lost a loved one to mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lung caused by asbestos.

In England and Wales the level of compensation is set at £10,000 by law and is only payable to the spouse, but over the border in Scotland payments up to £30,000 have been made to bereaved widows.

Other family members in Scotland can also receive compensation of between £10,000 and £15,000 each.

The campaign has already been supported in Parliament by a number of MPs.

In its response to the consultation paper, Thompsons says companies which have negligently caused a death should be made to "apologise" adequately, that the amount currently paid to bereaved relatives is out of date and an insult to families and the definition of relations who can claim is far too narrow and should be opened up to include other family members.

Head of asbestos policy Ian McFall said: "This consultation gives the Government another opportunity to look again at compensation for bereavement.

"We believe strongly that there is a powerful case for a change in the law to bring compensation for bereavement into line with the amounts currently paid in Scotland."