About the scheme
The Scheme closed on 31 March 2022. Claimants have until 30 September 2023 to submit claims for deaths that occurred while the Scheme was open.
Deaths which occurred before the announcement of the Scheme will also be considered.
The Scheme is non-contributory which means there is no cost to staff or employers.
This Scheme is separate to the NHS Pension Scheme. If the deceased was also a member of the NHS Pension Scheme then NHS Pension death benefits may also be paid. You'll need to complete separate claim forms. The forms will be provided by the NHS Employer or can be found on the bereavement page of our NHS Pensions website.
Who’s covered
The Scheme covers staff who:
- are employed by an NHS body
- work for organisations that support the delivery of NHS services, including outsourced or subcontracted services
- work on an NHS contract, including primary care medical and dental services
Staff can be:
- full-time or part-time
- permanent or temporary, including agency workers and locums
- retired staff who return to NHS employment
For students on healthcare placements, clinical placements are governed by formal agreements between universities and the host organisation. Healthcare students are therefore covered by the same rules as the above eligible individuals, just like other frontline NHS staff. Students on paid placements may also join the NHS Pension Scheme, which provides additional death in service benefits.
Within adult social care the Scheme covers all staff employed by an organisation registered by the CQC to provide personal care and accommodation for persons who require nursing or personal care. In addition, members of the social care workforce in non-CQC registered organisations are also eligible, if their employer receives public funding.
Within children’s social care the Scheme covers child and family social workers employed or engaged by local authorities working in high risk circumstances including agency staff. It also covers those working for organisations that receive public funding to deliver children’s social care services includes employees, agency workers and contractors in children’s residential and secure homes or other settings where there is deemed to be a high risk of exposure which could not be avoided due to the nature and location of the work being carried out such as residential special schools.
The coverage of the Scheme is broadly drawn across NHS and social care sector employers given the variety of roles and locations, and the ways these may change in response to the pandemic.
If the deceased does not meet the criteria to be an eligible individual, in exceptional circumstances the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care can decide to treat the deceased as an eligible individual, having regard to the purpose of the Scheme as set out in the preamble to the Scheme rules.
Eligibility criteria
For a claim to be accepted, the Secretary of State must be reasonably satisfied that:
- coronavirus disease was wholly or mainly the cause of death
- the individual was exposed to a high risk of contracting coronavirus disease in circumstances where they could not reasonably avoid that risk because of the nature and location of the work their work
- the individual contracted coronavirus in the course of their work
Circumstances that likely fall within these criteria are where the individual was:
- testing or diagnosing whether a person is infected with or contaminated by coronavirus
- coming into close proximity by reason of caring for, supporting, treating or providing other clinical service to a person who has, or is suspected of having, coronavirus or coronavirus disease
- providing any other type of service within the same environments where those services are delivered
Where the individual was performing duties that do not fit these scenarios, or if it’s difficult to establish the presence of coronavirus in the workplace, the claimant is invited to explain why they think the individual was exposed to a high risk of contracting coronavirus because of the nature and location of their work. The claimant’s explanation will be appropriately considered.
The Secretary of State may also consider applications that relate to cases where coronavirus is not listed on the person’s death certificate, but where the person was providing health or social care services directly to people with coronavirus and the performance of those functions was likely to have contributed to the person’s death.
Claims process
Appropriate person to receive payment
The claimant must be an appropriate person to receive a payment under the Scheme. An appropriate person can be:
- The personal representative of the deceased
- An individual who, in the two years leading up to the death:
- was married to or in a civil partnership with the deceased, or was living with the deceased as if married or civil partners, and neither person was living with a third person as if married or civil partners; and
- was financially interdependent with the deceased or was financially dependent on the deceased.
The Secretary of State has ultimate responsibility for deciding if a case meets the eligibility criteria. In exceptional circumstances the Secretary of State can award payment to another individual than those specified above, having regard to the purpose of the Scheme as set out in the preamble to the Scheme rules.
If you believe you may be eligible to make a claim and you have not heard from the deceased’s employer about the claims process, use our NHS and Social Care Coronavirus Life Assurance Scheme 2020 claim form (PDF: 453KB) for individuals working in the NHS or adult and children’s social care in England.
If you need to speak to someone about the process of making a claim, contact us.
Completing the form
The claim form should be completed by the legal personal representative or a solicitor acting for the estate, or by the spouse, civil partner or unmarried cohabitee partner in circumstances where they were financially interdependent with or financially dependent on the person who died. The claimant will be asked to declare that the information entered on the form is correct, to the best of their knowledge.
The claim form will need to be certified by the deceased’s employer.
To complete the form, you’ll need:
- details of the deceased
- details of the legal personal representative or solicitor, if applicable
- employment information about the deceased
- the cause of death, as listed on the death certificate
- payment details
You will also need to provide the employer with the death certificate and either:
- An original Grant of Probate or original Letters of Administration, if available (for cases where the claimant is the personal representative of the deceased); or
- Proof of financial interdependence with or financial dependence on the deceased in the two years preceding the death, if available (for cases where the claimant was married to or in a civil partnership with the deceased, or living with the deceased as if married or civil partners).
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Claims will be processed to confirm eligibility for payment whilst claimants obtain either a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration, or proof of financial interdependence or dependence, but payment cannot be issued without one of these being received.
If there’s more than one legal personal representative, each person (other than the claimant, if they’re also a legal personal representative) must complete a claim form annex to confirm they agree with the payment details provided on the claim form.
The employer will send the claim form, along with certified copies of the supporting documentation to us.
Payment
Once we have received the completed form from the employer, completed all eligibility checks and received all supporting documentation, including the Death Certificate and either Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration or proof of financial interdependence or dependence, we'll process the application and pay the life assurance lump sum. The life assurance lump sum will be paid into the bank or building society account of the Estate or we will issue a cheque to the claimant.
We’ll notify the claimant and all Legal Personal Representatives that the life assurance lump sum has been paid.
We’ll also notify the employer that the life assurance lump sum has been paid.
Where payment is due, payment will be made within 30 days of us receiving an authorised claim form and supporting documentation from you and the employer.
If the life assurance lump sum is not paid within 30 days, we’ll pay interest on the unpaid amount.
Interest will be paid at the bank base rate. However, if the life assurance lump sum was not paid within 30 days as a result of some act or omission on the part of the claimant, no interest will be paid.
Complaints and Disputes
To complain or raise a dispute about the administration of the NHS and Social Care Coronavirus Life Assurance Scheme, send us a completed NHS and Social Care Coronavirus Life Assurance Scheme disputes application form (PDF: 243KB)
You can read the NHS and Social Care Coronavirus Life Assurance Scheme disputes guidance (Word: 75KB) for more information about the disputes process.
Details on where to send the completed disputes application can be found in the guidance document and application form.
Rejected claimants may appeal the outcome of their claim. The appeal will go to the relevant minister.
The rejected claimant must explain why they believe their case has been incorrectly rejected and send this, along with any additional evidence they have to support their case, to nhsbsa.coronaviruslifeassurancescheme@nhs.net.
The NHSBSA will pass the appeal to the Discretion Panel who will meet to reassess the appealed case, taking into account any new information presented, before passing a recommendation onto the relevant minister for final determination.
Contact us
The employer of the deceased is there to support you through the claim process.
They will authorise your claim and will send it to us on your behalf.
If you have any questions about the NHS and Social Care Coronavirus Life Assurance Scheme 2020 claims process, speak with the employer.
If they are not able to help, you can contact us and an administrator will call you back.
Contact our NHS and Social Care Coronavirus Life Assurance Scheme 2020 helpline by:
Telephone: 0300 330 3331
Outside UK: +44 (0)191 283 8904
Find out about call charges