Effective Treatment - Earnings Floor
Infected Blood Inquiry · Additional Report on Compensation · Issued 9 July 2025 · Addressed to: UK Government
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation
For the calculation of Financial Loss awards for Hepatitis B, people born after 1953 should be treated like those born in or before 1953 on provision of evidence that their health did not improve or that it remained difficult to find work from 2009. For the calculation of Financial Loss awards for Hepatitis C, people born after 1961 should be treated like those born in or before 1961 on provision of evidence that their health did not improve or that it remained difficult to find work from 2017.
Infected Blood Inquiry, Additional Report on Compensation · 9 Jul 2025 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:
- A consultation on proposed changes to the infected blood compensation scheme was opened on 24 November 2025 (Consultation: Proposed Changes to the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme, Cabinet Office, November 2025).
- The regulatory amendment had not been made as of March 2026.
Response — verbatim from government
●UK Government
The Government acknowledges the concerns raised by the Inquiry regarding the calculation of financial loss awards for individuals with Hepatitis B or C. Currently the amount awarded is determined partially by reference to the introduction of effective treatments and the possibility of returning to employment following these treatments. The Government has accepted the Inquiry's recommendation that the scheme should offer a route through which individuals can show that they were unable to return to work, or unable to work at the assumed level, even after the introduction of effective treatments. The Government will remove the earnings floor on the supplementary route Exceptional Loss award for financial loss to make sure that a route is available for infected persons to do this.
UK Government · 21 Jul 2025 Written response →
Evidence trail — what's actually happened since
- 21 Jul 2025 14 April 2026 update: Government response (CP 1565) states: "As we proposed, we will remove the 25% deduction applied to past Care compensation for people who choose to receive support scheme payments for life. Following the consultation, we will make sure that people receive past Financial Loss compensation based on whichever of the two ways to calculate this award is most financially beneficial for them." Regulations to implement these changes will be brought forward later in 2026. Sources: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/changes-to-infected-blood-compensation-scheme-will-improve-support-for-victims; https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69ddf5fd7e2086c62da2f152/Government_response_to_consultation_on_proposed_changes_to_the_infected_blood_compensation_scheme__PDF_.pdf Source →
- 15 Jan 2026 · IBCA Community Update As of 13 January 2026: 3,721 people asked to start claims, 3,546 begun process, 3,074 received offers totalling £2.47bn, 2,861 paid totalling £1.89bn. Third compensation regulations in force 31 December 2025. View source → Good Progress
- 28 Oct 2025 · IBCA Independent Review IBCA has contacted 2,215 people to begin compensation claims; 1,934 started process. £812m+ paid via Horizon Shortfall Scheme. £11.8bn committed in Autumn Budget. View source → Reasonable Progress
Each entry above links to a primary source — gov.uk written statement, consultation response document, or inspection report. The Index does not characterise government intent; it tracks what has been published.
How this page is built
Source and Response are verbatim from primary documents. The Evidence trail records published activity since — written statements, consultation outcomes, inspection findings, parliamentary references. The Index does not paraphrase or characterise intent; it tracks what has been published. Where the evidence is the absence of action (a missed deadline, a slipped timetable), that absence is documented from primary sources rather than inferred.
This recommendation's data is verified periodically against primary sources. The Index is monitored for staleness weekly.