On 25 March, the government announced changes to the England Infected Blood Support Scheme (EIBSS). The changes announced remove some of the differences between the Infected Blood Support Schemes across the UK.
EIBSS has worked with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to understand how the changes will affect beneficiaries and their payments, without disrupting their current financial support. It has taken some time to refine some of the detail on key elements to align across the 4 nations' schemes.
Our priority is to ensure all beneficiaries receive the payments they are due, as quickly as possible. Backdated payments are due to many existing scheme beneficiaries, who were part of the EIBSS scheme on the date of the announcement.
We are currently working through the correct payment amounts for all beneficiaries on the scheme, which includes rigorous checks to ensure we adhere to the appropriate financial regulations.
We’ll communicate with each beneficiary directly as soon as we can, regarding the date and amount of payment they can expect to receive. We will communicate these details before this payment is made. A further update will be provided in June.
In order to make accurate payments to beneficiaries, we will be required to share data with Russell Cooke Solicitors for some beneficiaries. For further information on how we process and use your information, see our Privacy Notice.
Lump Sum payments
- A lump sum payment of £30,000 paid to current hepatitis C stage 1 and Special Category Mechanism (SCM) existing scheme beneficiaries.
- A lump sum payment up to £80,500 maximum, paid to current HIV existing scheme beneficiaries. The lump sum amount will vary based on the previous lump sum amount a beneficiary has received.
- A lump sum bereavement payment of £10,000 will be paid to all existing scheme beneficiaries who are now entitled to this payment based upon the criteria change, where we have their details on file.
If you have not received a letter and/or payment from us by 1 August 2021, contact us.
Bereaved partner’s payments - these payments will replace the current Income Top Up (ITU) process
As announced the payment is the equivalent to 100% of their partner’s annual payment in year 1, and 75% in year 2 and subsequent years, in line with the position in Scotland.
Introducing bereaved partner’s payments is technically complex and will take some time to introduce, as this type of payment has previously not existed within EIBSS.
Bereaved payments will be made in 2 stages:
- Backdated annual payments to April 2019
- Regular payments
The regular bereaved partner payment will be introduced before the end of the 2021 calendar year.