Tag: Infected Blood Compensation Authority

Registration now open for deceased affected compensation claims

  • Those claiming on behalf of deceased affected people can now register for compensation 
  • To register, you must be the executor or administrator of the estate
  • You need a grant of probate (or confirmation in Scotland) before making a claim

Registration is now open for those claiming infected blood compensation on behalf of someone who was affected but has now died.  This includes family members, partners, or unpaid carers of someone who was infected and who have sadly died since the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA) opened. 

An affected person is someone who was the partner, parent, child, sibling, or unpaid carer of an infected person.

This latest update to IBCA’s registration service means that all groups are now able to register their intent to claim compensation with IBCA, including those who are living with infection, affected, deceased infected and deceased affected.

To register, you must have legal authority to act on behalf of the deceased person’s estate. This means being the executor or administrator of that estate. You can also register if you represent someone with that legal authority.

The death of the affected person must be in the window between 21 May 2024 and 31 March 2031 in order to be eligible for compensation.  You will need a grant of probate or confirmation to start a claim.

David Foley, Chief Executive of IBCA said: “Opening up our service to those claiming on behalf of someone affected who has sadly died is an important milestone in paying people the compensation they are due. 

“We’ve developed the registration service so we know who intends to claim, helping us to deliver compensation as quickly as possible. I would encourage everyone who is eligible to register now.

“We know there is much more to do, and no amount of money can make up for losing a loved one. However, compensation  is an important acknowledgement of the decades of harm, and the wait for recognition. “

IBCA has now paid compensation to over 3,000 people, totalling more than £2 billion, and remains committed to paying every eligible person as quickly as possible. 

IBCA is prioritising claims based on recommendations from the Infected Blood Inquiry, starting with those who are sadly nearing end of life, those aged 75 or over, where no interim compensation has yet been received, a child whose parent was both infected and died, then by age with the oldest first.

Register your intent to claim on the IBCA website.

IBCA opens first claims for deceased infected and affected people

  • First 15 claims for those infected and who have died begin 
  • First 15 claims for affected people also started on Thursday
  • This follows November’s announcement of first living infected but never compensated claims starting.

The Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA) has opened the service to the first people in the next two groups of compensation claims, bringing in 15 claims for each group initially.

Since being established last year, 3,600 living infected people who are registered with a support scheme have already been contacted to start their claim, and IBCA has offered more than £2.2 billion and paid more than £1.7 billion in compensation. 

Last month, IBCA opened the service to the first 60 living infected people who have never been compensated for the harm done to them by the infected blood scandal. Now the first people in each of the next two groups can begin making their compensation claims, before the compensation service scales up further.

These first people to claim have been identified through IBCA’s register your intent service, which opened in early October. They are claims for those infected who are now deceased, and those who are affected by the infected blood scandal (for example parents, partners, siblings, children or unregistered carers of infected people).

Speaking about this next step in IBCA’s compensation process, David Foley, Interim Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are committed to paying each and every person who is eligible, as soon as we can.

“We’ve been working with infected blood community members to create a compensation claim service that meets their needs. This next step allows us to work on more types of claims, before we then grow the service further for more people and begin processing claims for all groups in parallel. 

“We’ll be prioritising claims for those who are sadly nearing the end of their lives, followed by older age groups, as recommended by the Infected Blood Inquiry.

“We recognise that the festive period can be a challenging time for many in the community. Receiving contact from IBCA may bring up difficult emotions, and we want to reassure those who have been contacted from the next groups to begin their claim that they can begin their claim at a time that’s right for them.”

Just over one year ago, IBCA opened to the first group of people to begin their claim, starting with small numbers and then growing the service with feedback from the community. 

IBCA has now opened the service to some people from every group eligible to make a claim, again starting small before scaling up. The number of claims for each new group will initially be low before increasing, once the claim service is ready to widen out further. IBCA is not processing supplementary claims at this time.

Anyone who intends to make a claim with IBCA for compensation should register now with IBCA’s recently opened register your intent service.

This is an online service open to all groups who intend to make a claim – please follow this link to register so we can contact each person as soon as their claim can begin.