Apr/100
Police Investigation into Miners Settlements
The multibillion-pound compensation scheme for Vibration white finger claims and Miners knee claims was set up by the Government in 1999 and has paid out to tens of thousands of miners suffering from chronic lung disease and vibration white finger.
The probe centred on the Union of Democratic Mineworkers (UDM) which broke away from the National Union of Mineworkers during the bitter year-long miners’ strike in 1984.
The Nottinghamshire-based UDM, which had around 1,300 members at the time the probe was launched, was dealing with claims for compensation on behalf of miners whose health suffered from working down pits.
At the time the investigation was announced Labour MP John Mann (Bassetlaw) said he was delighted police were investigating the claims. He had waged a long-running campaign to highlight alleged abuses of the miners’ compensation scheme.
Mr Mann claimed millions of pounds had been paid to solicitors involved in dealing with compensation claims which he believed should have gone to miners.
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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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