Policy paper

Infected Blood Interim Compensation Payment Scheme: further interim payments

Published 21 May 2024

Applications for interim payments to the estates are now open.  Read our guidance on how to Apply for an interim compensation payment  on behalf of an estate.

Purpose of this page

The then Prime Minister gave a statement on 20th May 2024, apologising on behalf of the Government for the decades of suffering and injustice experienced by those infected and affected by this scandal.

The Minister for the Cabinet Office announced additional interim compensation payments to living infected beneficiaries of the Infected Blood Support Schemes (UK IBSS) on 21 May 2024. The Government, as part of the Victims and Prisoners Bill Act 2024, has committed to making interim compensation payments to the estates of those deceased infected beneficiaries not yet recognised. Applications for interim payments to estates are now open.

 This page outlines the  eligibility criteria and application requirements for living infected beneficiaries to receive these payments. It also sets out the eligibility criteria for interim compensation payments to estates.

The payments outlined in this page are separate from the first set of interim payments of £100,000 that were launched in October 2022. Find out more information on the eligibility and criteria for the first round of interim payments.

Infected Blood Interim Compensation Payment Scheme

Introduction:

On 20 May 2024, the Infected Blood Inquiry published its final report. Following its publication, the Government committed to making a further set of interim payments to living infected beneficiaries of the UK IBSS of £210,000.  These payments of £210,000 were made to living infected beneficiaries registered with an IBSS in June 2024. The Government has previously paid interim compensation payments of £100,000 to living infected and bereaved partner beneficiaries registered with an IBSS, in response to the recommendation set out in the first interim report of Sir Brian Langstaff (PDF, 903KB), Chair of the Infected Blood Inquiry. These first interim payments began in October 2022. The total interim compensation paid to living infected persons registered with an IBSS is £310,000.  

The Government also committed, in the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024, to make interim payments of £100,000 to the estates of those deceased infected persons where no financial compensation has been paid to date , in line with  recommendation 12 of Sir Brian Langstaff’s interim report. Applications for these payments are now open

Description of the Infected Blood Interim Payment Scheme:

The Infected Blood Interim Compensation Payment Scheme is a UK-wide scheme, administered on behalf of the UK Government by the administrators of the UK IBSS, (and in Scotland by the Scottish Ministers in conjunction with the administrators of the Scottish Infected Blood Support Scheme). ^{[footnote 1]}

Existing Infected Blood Support Scheme Administrators:

• The NHS Business Services Authority (England)
• The Regional Business Services Organisation (Northern Ireland)
• The Common Services Agency for the Scottish Health Service (“National Services Scotland”)
• The Velindre Trust and NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership (Wales)

Overview

The Government announced on 21 May 2024 additional interim payments of £210,000 to be paid to living infected beneficiaries who are already registered with the existing UK IBSS, or who register before 31 March 2025. 

The Government is under a statutory duty to make interim payments of £100,000 to the estates of the deceased infected people who were registered with the existing UK IBSS or previous support schemes run by the Alliance House Organisations (AHO)^{[footnote 2]} before 17 April 2024 for deaths not yet recognised. These payments apply where previous interim payments have not already been made to an infected beneficiary or their bereaved partner beneficiary.

Those estates not registered with either an existing UK IBSS or an AHO, will still be eligible for compensation. Further guidance will be provided when the Infected Blood Compensation Authority is ready to accept applications for compensation,  which will set out details of how to apply for these payments.

Payments to Living infected beneficiaries

Application

Eligible beneficiaries already enrolled with one of the UK IBSS have  received their further interim payment automatically. New applications to the Infected Blood Interim Compensation Payment Scheme are made by first making an application to the relevant IBSS. 

Eligibility Criteria

Those living infected beneficiaries  registered with one of the existing IBSS before 31 March 2025 , are eligible to receive further interim compensation payments.

• Those living infected beneficiaries currently registered with a UK IBSS who have received a payment of £100,000 already have received a further payment of £210,000. 
• Those accepted by an IBSS as an infected beneficiary on or after the 21 May 2024 to 31 March 2025 (who have not received this payment already) will receive both the payment of £100,000 and the second payment of £210,000 (total £310,000).

By ‘registered with an existing support scheme’ we mean those living infected beneficiaries (with HIV and/or Hepatitis C) who on 20 May 2024 are registered with either:

• the England Infected Blood Support Scheme,
• The Scotland Infected Blood Support Scheme,
• The Wales Infected Blood Support Scheme or
• the Infected Blood Payment Scheme (Northern Ireland)

and those who register between 21 May 2024 and 31 March 2025, when the Infected Blood Support Schemes close to new applicants. ^{[footnote 3]}

Each interim payment will only be paid once per individual/application. For example, this means:

An individual who is registered with a UK IBSS as an infected beneficiary (infected with HIV, Hepatitis C or both) who already received a payment of £100,000, will receive the second payment of £210,000.

An individual who registers with a UK IBSS as an infected beneficiary (infected with HIV, Hepatitis C or both) on or after 21 May 2024 and before 31 March 2025, when the Infected Blood Support Schemes close to new applicants will receive both the payment of £100,000 and the second payment of £210,000.

An individual, without a partner, who registers with a UK IBSS as a living infected beneficiary (infected with HIV, Hepatitis C or both) on or after 21 May 2024, but passes away prior to interim payments being made will still receive the payment of £210,000 via their estate.

An individual, who has a partner, who registers with a UK IBSS as a living infected beneficiary (infected with HIV, Hepatitis C or both) on or after 21 May 2024, but passes away prior to interim payments being made still receives the payment of £210,000 via their estate. Their bereaved partner will receive £100,000 if they register with a UK IBSS.

Payments to estates of deceased infected beneficiaries

As part of the Victims and Prisoners Act, the Government committed to making interim payments of £100,000 to the estates of deceased infected beneficiaries who were not previously recognised in the first round of interim compensation payments.

Find out more on how to apply for an interim compensation payment on behalf of the estate of a deceased person who was infected by contaminated blood. 

Eligibility Criteria

Payments of £100,000 will be made to estates of the deceased infected beneficiaries who were registered with a UK IBSS or AHO on or before 17 April 2024 and whose death is not yet recognised through an interim payment to the infected beneficiary themselves or bereaved partner beneficiaries. 

For example, this means:

The personal representative of an infected beneficiary’s estate who was registered with an IBSS and where no payment has been made in respect of their case (either to them, their bereaved partner, or their estate) under the “Infected Blood Interim Compensation Payment Scheme”, will receive a payment of £100,000.

The personal representative of an infected beneficiary’s estate who was registered with an Alliance House Organisation and where no payment has been made in respect of their case (either to them, their bereaved partner or their estate) under the “Infected Blood Interim Compensation Payment Scheme”, will receive a payment of £100,000.

Those infected beneficiaries who were registered with an IBSS on or before 29 July 2022, but subsequently passed away before payments were made in October 2022, and therefore received the first interim payment of £100,000 via an estate are not eligible for a further payment of £100,000.

Applications bought on behalf of an estate that was not registered with an existing IBSS or AHO on or before 17 April 2024, will still be eligible for this payment. These applications will be assessed, and the compensation will be paid, by the Infected Blood Compensation Authority provided the deceased infected person meets the criteria of the Scheme.

Footnotes

1. For the purposes of the IBSS, an “Infected Beneficiary” is defined as people who receive support having been historically infected with hepatitis C and/or HIV from NHS blood, or blood products ↩

2. The Macfarlane Trust, the Eileen Trust, the Skipton Fund, the Caxton Foundation and MFET Ltd ↩

3. The UK IBSS supports people historically infected with hepatitis C and/or HIV from blood or blood products. They also help families, civil or long-term partners after the death of someone infected ↩