Infected Blood Compensation (IBCA)
A new compensation scheme has been introduced to provide financial compensation to people affected by infected blood in the UK. The government-funded scheme is based on the recommendations made by the Infected Blood Inquiry.
The Infected Blood Compensation Scheme is wide-ranging and recognises the impact that infected blood has had on individuals and their families. Applications can be made by living infected persons and their close relatives as well as the estate of a deceased infected person.
If you believe you or a loved one contracted hepatitis or HIV infection - or both - through contaminated NHS blood products, then you may be eligible to apply for compensation under the scheme.
What is the Infected Blood Compensation Authority Scheme?
The Infected Blood Compensation Authority scheme is a UK government initiative providing compensation to people affected by infected blood, blood products, or tissue. It is managed by the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA) which handles claims and payments.
Who can claim under the Infected Blood Compensation Authority Scheme?
The type of compensation available will depend on how you, or your family member, were affected. You may be eligible if you are:
- A person directly or indirectly infected with HIV, Hepatitis C or chronic Hepatitis B from NHS blood, blood products or tissue.
- An affected person (partner, parent, child, sibling or carer) of an eligible infected person.
- The beneficiary of the estate of an infected person who has died.
- Acting on behalf of an infected child or someone who lacks capacity.
- Already receiving payments from a UK Infected Blood Support Scheme.
Any compensation awarded through the scheme does not affect means tested benefits and is exempt from income, capital gains and inheritance tax.
How can Digby Brown help you?
At Digby Brown we understand the impact that infected blood has on individuals and their families. We will consider all claims from infected people or close relatives regardless of whether the infected person was previously registered with another UK support payment scheme.
Digby Brown’s long-standing expertise in medical product cases allows us to thoroughly investigate your claim, gather the necessary evidence and provide guidance on the steps required to maximise your claim. In some cases, detailed legal investigations will be required to establish eligibility and the value of your case.
We offer you a cost-free legal service to assess your eligibility promptly and provide clear advice about your options.
Where additional costs are required to progress your claim, including expert wills and executry work where the infected person has sadly passed away, we will advance these costs on your behalf. Where the infected person has passed away we will appoint an executor to make the claim on their behalf and we will need confirmation of the estate to make specific reference to the claim.
Digby Brown has reached an agreement with IBCA for them to contribute towards your legal costs. This means that we would not need to charge a success fee if you are awarded any compensation. If you do not succeed in obtaining compensation, you will have nothing to pay to Digby Brown in any event.
"The Infected Blood Compensation Scheme is long overdue in providing full compensation to those infected with hepatitis and HIV as a result of being treated with NHS blood products. Previous blood support scheme payments through the likes of SIBSS and Skipton, while welcome, fell well short in recognising the suffering of those infected.
“The new scheme also offers compensation to a range of relatives who were affected by the suffering of their loved ones. By providing no win, no fee funding for these cases, we are currently supporting a large number of living victims and the relatives of those who have died following infection." - Mark Gibson, Partner
Frequently asked questions about the Infected Blood Compensation Authority Scheme (IBCA)
How is compensation calculated?
The amount of compensation you may receive depends on individual factors such as the type of infection, how it has affected you and your relationship to the person who was infected.
The amount is calculated differently for people who were infected and those affected through someone else. For example, additional payments may also be available in some circumstances where the infection has had a particularly serious impact on your health, finances or quality of life.
Can I make a claim if my infected family member has died?
Yes. In some circumstances, a claim can be made by the estate of an infected person who has died.
The partners, children and siblings of infected people may also have their own cases as affected persons. This applies whether their infected relative is still living or has sadly passed away.
If an affected person passed away on or after 21 May 2024 and before 31 March 2031, without receiving compensation, then a claim may still be made on their behalf by the estate representative with legal authority.
How do I apply and what are the deadlines?
If you have been affected, we strongly recommend getting in touch as soon as possible. This should help protect your right to make a claim if anything changes or the IBCA introduce a deadline for registering claims.
The time limit for making an application depends on when you received your diagnosis:
- If you were diagnosed before 1 April 2025, you must apply by 31 March 2031.
- If you were diagnosed after 1 April 2025, you have 6 years from your diagnosis date to apply.
In some circumstances, you may be able to return to make a further claim after receiving compensation if your health worsens.
Can I make more than one claim?
Yes, in some circumstances you can make more than one claim. If you have been affected by more than one family member who was infected with contaminated blood, or if you were infected yourself as well as being affected by another infected family member, you may be able to make multiple claims.
There are limits on some types of compensation. For example, you can only receive one social impact award and one autonomy award even if you are making more than one claim.
What if I already receive Infected Blood Support Scheme payments?
If you already receive Infected Blood Support Scheme payments you are likely to be eligible subject to IBCA’s assessment.
You can choose whether to continue receiving your existing support payments or move to the new compensation package. During 2026, responsibility for these payments will move to the Infected Blood Compensation Authority. When this happens will depend on which part of the UK you live in.
You may also make an application regardless of whether the infected person was previously registered with another support payment scheme such as Skipton Fund, MacFarlane Trust, Caxton Foundation, Eileen Trust or other UK schemes or had already received payments from it.
No win, no fee personal injury solicitors
The expression “No win, no fee” is often used in personal injury cases. It is used as a way of funding a compensation claim where the accident victim does not have the means to pay for the costs involved as the case progresses.
A number of solicitors are prepared to handle personal injury cases on a “No Win – No Fee” basis but very few are able to offer their clients complete protection if the case is unsuccessful.
In that event, the client could end up being liable for many thousands of pounds in legal expenses or the case won't be fully investigated and therefore likely to under-settle.
Compensate 'no win, no fee' funding
Digby Brown has its own funding company, Compensate, which provides the funding to allow the case to be fully investigated, employ the best experts surrounding the circumstances of the accident and/or injuries sustained and where and if necessary go to court.
If for whatever reason the case is unsuccessful, Compensate pays all your legal expenses and those of your opponent – you pay nothing.
On average our clients receive over 3 times the pre-litigation offer
Because of Compensate funding Digby Brown's success rate is extremely high and on average our clients receive three times the pre-litigation offer.
In the event the case is successful, a small percentage of your damages will be deducted with VAT to pay for this service. The percentage which Compensate will charge depends on the degree of risk involved. We believe that this is the fairest method of giving clients access to justice whilst ensuring their cases are fully investigated, prepared and funded.
Don’t take our word for it, just read many of the court decisions and case studies on our website.
Beware of compensation offers which may be too good
We know you will have seen many adverts offering 100% compensation or telling you that you will not lose any of your compensation, however we believe there are a number of problems with companies that do this.
- How do they make their money if they don’t charge you anything?
- If they aren’t taking any money from you, the client, what incentive do they have to ensure you receive the right level of compensation, appropriate to the injuries you have sustained?
- Fully preparing a case, finding out exactly what happened and what the consequences of your injuries may mean in the long term, is expensive, how do they do this properly?
- If they aren’t fully preparing these cases will they just accept the first offer they are given on your behalf by the Insurance company?
- It makes simple business sense, the less work they do the higher their profit margin is - they simply have no incentive to work harder on your behalf.
- These adverts in the main are from English firms on national television which operates in a different way and therefore wouldn’t apply to a Scottish person.
We know from the many client cases we mandate from other firms of solicitors (in the main at the request of the client who is extremely unsatisfied with the service received for the other firm) that many shortcuts are taken in preparation and that the first offer received is being recommended for acceptance, regardless of the value.
Getting something for nothing is usually the first sign of poor service.
Correct level of compensation with Digby Brown
Our experience and statistics show time and time again we will achieve the correct level of compensation which will be substantially more than the insurer is initially prepared to offer.
Even after we have deducted our percentage as a success fee you will gain considerably more than you would have achieved using a 100% compensation model.
Contact Digby Brown's personal injury solicitors
We have offices across Scotland in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Kirkcaldy, Inverness, Aberdeen and Ayr.
For further information about no win, no fee, or anything else, call us on 0333 200 5925 or fill in our enquiry form below and someone will get back in touch with you.