Parliamentary activity

Answering body: Cabinet Office

The delivery of compensation is a matter for the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA). With regards to estates of deceased infected people, IBCA has asked each registered estate where there is a beneficiary who is nearing the end of their life, to start their claim, and is now contacting estates with beneficiaries aged 75 or over. This is in line with the prioritisation criteria recommended by the Infected Blood Inquiry in its July 2025 Additional Report.

As of 25 August 2026, 1,099 people acting on behalf of a deceased infected person have been asked to start their claim, with over £65 million paid. Where the deceased infected person was registered with an Infected Blood Support Scheme, IBCA is using all the information they have already provided to handle their claim, and only asks for additional information if there is any necessary information missing, such as date of diagnosis.

Answering body: Cabinet Office

Under the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme, an infected person’s compensation, whether claimed while living or via an estate, includes the same core award amounts for the Injury, Social Impact, and Autonomy awards. The core Financial Loss and Care awards are awarded differently. An estate is compensated for the financial loss the deceased person experienced from the point of infection to the date of their death. It is reasonable to assume that the infected person would have spent some of their earnings on financially supporting a partner, children, or other dependents. Therefore, the compensation scheme also provides compensation in the form of dependency payments to eligible affected people, which recognise the financial losses they experience as a result of the early death of the infected person. There is no limit on the number of affected people who can claim a dependency award as long as they can provide evidence of their eligibility.

The Government publicly consulted on a number of changes to the compensation scheme between 30 October 2025 and 22 January 2026. The core purpose of this consultation was to gather views on how the Government intends to implement the Infected Blood Inquiry’s recommendations. The Inquiry did not recommend changes to how the Financial Loss award is calculated for estates of deceased infected people. The changes to the compensation scheme made in the recent Infected Blood Compensation Scheme (Amendment) Regulations 2026 reflect directly what we heard in the consultation. The Government is of the view that the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme fairly compensates living infected people and the estates of deceased infected people for the financial loss they have felt as a result of the infection.