Aug/090
Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
All the information you will ever need…
If you’re ill or disabled because of disease or deafness caused by certain types of work, you may be able to claim Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit for diseases and deafness.
Who is eligible?
You can claim if you were employed in a job that caused you to suffer from any of the following:
- a disease caused by working with asbestos
- asthma
- chronic bronchitis or emphysema
- deafness
- pneumoconiosis (including silicosis and asbestosis)
- tenosynovitis
- vibration white finger
- any other illness covered by the Industrial Injuries Scheme
You can get a full list of illnesses from your regional Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit Delivery Centre.
Who isn’t eligible?
You can’t claim Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit if you were self-employed in work that caused your disease or deafness.
How much do you get?
Your individual circumstances including your age and the severity of your disability - assessed by your doctor on a scale of one to 100 per cent - will affect the level of benefit you may get.
All amounts are a guide only:
Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
Assessed level of disablement Aged over 18 (weekly amount) / Aged under 18 with no dependants (weekly amount):
100% £143.60 / £88.05
90% £129.24 / £79.25
80% £114.88 / £70.44
70% £100.52 / £61.64
60% £86.16 / £52.83
50% £71.80 / £44.03
40% £57.44 / £35.22
30% £43.08 / £26.42
20% £28.72 / £17.61
How it’s paid
Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit and related benefits are paid directly into your bank, building society or Post Office® card account.
If you’re registered blind or need someone who cares for you to collect the money, a cheque can be sent to cash at the Post Office®.
Source: Direct.gov.uk
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What else should I know?
There are specific rules for each disease which may affect your entitlement to Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit. Contact your Jobcentre Plus office if you need further advice.
If you get Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit at 100 per cent rate and need daily care and attention, you may get Constant Attendance Allowance (CAA). This is paid at four different rates.
If you get Exceptional or Intermediate rate CAA and you need permanent constant care and attention, you may also get Exceptionally Severe Disablement Allowance.
If you have recently come from abroad there are some extra rules.
We may need to contact your employer to check what jobs you have worked in.
We may need you to have a medical examination. The doctor will give us advice about:
- whether you have one of the diseases covered by the scheme
- how seriously you are disabled
- how long they expect your disablement to last.
If you want to know whether a disease is covered by the scheme, check with your Jobcentre Plus office or consult the list of diseases covered by the scheme.
Source: Job Centre Plus
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A Note for Carers
If you care for someone who is claiming Constant Attendance Allowance at or above the normal maximum rate, or is intending to claim for this, you are likely to be entitled to Carer’s Allowance. You may wish to consider claiming for this at the same time. There is a separate leaflet about Carer’s Allowance. Also, consider asking advice from one of the sources listed below about all your benefit entitlements..
For people with disabilities, their carers and representatives. It is part of the Department for Work and Pensions. BEL offers confidential advice and information on benefits and how to claim them. In addition they can also send out an extensive range of leaflets and claim packs, and can help you to complete a claim form over the phone..
Directgov
Web: www.direct.gov.uk
Directgov brings together the widest range of public service information and services online.
Produced by the Central Office of Information, Directgov provides information from across UK government departments on topics ranging from travel safety and parental leave, to special educational needs, local NHS services, and benefits. The site also brings together an increasing number of online government services - including being able to download and/or complete certain benefit claim forms online..
Citizens Advice Bureau
Provides independent advice on many issues including benefits. Listed in the phone book under ‘Citizens Advice Bureaux’. Also, see their excellent website: www.citizensadvice.org.uk.
Department for Work and Pensions
Their website provides a list of claim forms that you can download or fill in online for benefits, allowances, pensions and other payments - www.dwp.gov.uk/resourcecentre/claim_forms.asp
Contact details of their local offices (Jobcentre Plus offices and other ’social security’ offices) can usually be found in the phone book under ‘Jobcentre Plus’.
Aug/0927
Miner’s Knee claims - New advice on making a claim
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Yvette Cooper, today said that coal miners suffering from miner’s knee should be able to claim the newly available Industrial Disablement Benefit. As the condition is compounded by repetition of a period of time, the criteria for claiming is that the miner has worked as a miner for 10 or more years.
As of 13th July miners who now have osteoarthritis of the knee can now also claim.
However, unlike with Vibration White Finger (VWF) - a common cause for claim and complaint in the 90’s, the DWP are now recommending that claimants contact Jobcentre Plus website directly to find out if they can claim. Consumer Help has reservations over the effectiveness of going through a Government body to make a claim that will ultimately be coming out of the Government kitty.
Would it be wise to trust another Government body? Will they act on your behalf in the same stubborn way as a solicitor would? Will your claim be settled as quickly and efficiently as with a solicitor? These are all the questions we have been asking ourselves since the story broke earlier this month.
At the same time, we can also appreciate why the DWP are recommending going through the Jobcentre Plus. “In 2008 Jim Beresford and Douglas Smith, of Doncaster-based Beresfords Solicitors, were struck off for taking millions of pounds of compensation payouts given to sick miners.” Source: BBC News
Aug/090
Latest News on Miners Claims
We have been getting quite a few calls and emails over recent weeks regarding the confusion over miners claims and compensation. The confusion has come about after a Government statement suggested that Miners Knee should be added to the list of conditions covered under the Industrial Disablement Benefit and was supposed to come into effect from July 2009.
As this seems to be a hot topic at the moment we felt obliged to create a list of FACTS relating to this:
To claim Industrial Disablement Benefit you must satisfy that:
You were an ‘employed earner’; and either
You have suffered a ‘personal injury’ in an industrial accident; or
You are suffering from a ‘prescribed industrial disease’; and
As a result of that accident/disease you have suffered a loss of faculty;
As a result of that loss of faculty you are disabled.
Your claim is analysed on a percentage scale.
The percentage of disablements for 2 or more accidents/diseases can be added together. So if you have 7% for PDA11 (Vibration White Finger) and 15% for an accident to your leg, you have a total of 22%.
Your claim can be backdated to 13th July 2009. It cannot be backdated any earlier unfortunately because osteoarthritis only became a prescribed disease on that date.
To process your claim it could take up to and beyond 6 months. This is because the Government anticipate that most eligible ex-miners will claim and that means an awful lot of claims will be made in a short space of time causing an inevitable backlog. However, as with many state benefits (eg. Job Seekers Allowance) it will be backdated to the original date of claim meaning you will likely receive a large lump sum payment.
The Government recognises that people who need it most should get it first which is why the benefit will be forced through as quickly as possible for the elderly and/or ill. However, it is important to note this in your DWP claim form otherwise panel making the decision on your claim will not take this into account.
If you have osteoarthritis in just one knee you should not be detered from making a claim. Most miners will have worked on both knees and therefore will have ‘Miners Knee’ in both but occassionally miners would use just one knee beit through preference or working conditions.
It is possible to have osteoarthritis in other parts of your body which is why it is to the doctors discretion (who will examine you) whether the osteoarthrit is linked to your employment.
There are no time limits to making a claim. The Government recognises that Osteoarthritis can develop over a long period of time and can develop in different ways.
Information taken from the Nation Union of Miners website.
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