Categories of Loss and Award Heads
Infected Blood Inquiry · Second Interim Report · Issued 5 April 2023 · Addressed to: UK Government
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation
I recommend that the appropriate award in any case should be composed under the following categories of loss, applicable to both eligible infected and affected persons: a) an Injury Impact Award for past and future physical and mental injury, emotional distress and injury to feelings caused by the infection and treatments for it, or (whilst not being personally infected) being affected by them or by the death of an eligible infected person (including, as part of this, an award for loss of society of the deceased); b) a Social Impact Award for past and future social consequences of the infection including stigma and social isolation; c) an Autonomy Award as additional redress for the distress and suffering caused by the impact of the disease, including interference with family and private life, including where relevant: personal autonomy, loss of marriage/partnership prospects, loss of chance to have children. It should include sums for the aggravated distress caused by interferences in their autonomy and private life such as lack of informed consent, lack of sufficient information about the risks of treatment, and about diagnosis, treatment and testing, or being the subject of research without their informed consent. It should include the effects of lack of candour and inadequate responses by authority. d) a Care Award for the future care needs of the eligible infected person, and to compensate for past losses in respect of care necessitated by their infection (to be paid directly to the infected person where they have paid for care, and/or directly to an affected person who has provided care); and e) a Financial Loss Award for past and future financial losses suffered as a result of the infection.
Infected Blood Inquiry, Second Interim Report · 5 Apr 2023 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:
- The Government stated in December 2024 that these award heads are available through both the Core Route and Supplementary Route (Government Response to the Infected Blood Inquiry, Cabinet Office, December 2024).
Response — verbatim from government
●UK Government — initial response
With respect to recommendation 6 of the Second Interim Report, the Government has accepted the Inquiry's recommended categories of award, and has therefore designed the Scheme to award compensation to include the following: Injury Impact Award; Social Impact Award; Autonomy Award; Care Award; and Financial Loss Award. The Government has deviated slightly from the exact recommendation, as in the interest of speed and simplicity, the Care Award is routed through the person with an infection or their estate to distribute.
UK Government · 17 Dec 2024 Written response →
●UK Government — follow-up
The compensation scheme incorporates the five categories of award: Injury Impact Award, Social Impact Award, Autonomy Award, Care Award, and Financial Loss Award. These are available to both infected and affected persons through the core and supplementary routes.
UK Government · 14 May 2025 Written response →
Evidence trail — what's actually happened since
- 17 Dec 2024 Award categories implemented in scheme structure. Source →
- 19 Jan 2026 · UK Parliament Public Office (Accountability) Bill 2024-26 ("Hillsborough Law") introduced September 2025, passed Commons January 2026, progressing through Lords. Creates statutory duty of candour for public authorities with criminal sanctions. View source → Reasonable Progress
- 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
- 31 Dec 2025 · UK Parliament Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 established IBCA. Three sets of scheme regulations in force (Aug 2024, Mar 2025, Dec 2025). First payments December 2024. £1.89bn paid to 2,861 people by January 2026. 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
- 22 Jul 2025 · IBCA Community Update Infected Blood Compensation Authority established August 2024. First claims for deceased infected/affected opened December 2025. IBCA accepted all 11 recommendations directed to them. View source → Good 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.