Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit

If you have had an accident at work or in the course of your work (e.g., whilst travelling to see a patient if you are employed in the community, travelling to and from a course which you are being funded for or have been given time off for by your employer), there are two things to do:

1. complete an accident report and record the incident in the accident book for the employer. This can be completed retrospectively but should ideally be done as soon as possible after the accident. (N.B. you should keep a copy for your own records too.)
   
   
2. complete Form BI100 A to register a claim for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit. Forms are available from the IIDB centre, by calling 0800 121 8379 or online via the following link: Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit: How to claim - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

If you believe you have contracted a disease caused by your job, claim Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit straight away.

If a claim relates to an accident, you should claim within 2 months after the accident. This is because you cannot get benefit for the first 15 weeks (90 days not including Sundays) after an accident and will not normally be medically examined until after this time. If you have any relevant medical evidence, send it with the claim form but do not delay claiming by trying to get new medical evidence. Do not delay claiming otherwise there may be a loss of some benefit. This is because Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit cannot be paid:

• for a period more than 3 months before the date of a claim or more than one month before the date of claim if a person is already receiving Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit for other accidents or diseases.
• It is very important you fill in all the details on the form carefully and return it to your Regional Industrial Injuries Benefit Centre as soon as possible. If you need help filling in a claim form, contact the Barnsley Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit Centre for guidance. This should be completed with as much detail as possible and returned to the IIDB Centre as soon as possible after the accident but can be completed retrospectively. A claimant has 3 months from the date they become entitled to benefit in which to make a claim.

If wanting to register or claim benefit for an industrial illness a claimant will need to ask for form BI100PD (see below).

You should follow both of these steps even if you think the accident is not serious. When you receive a completed BI100 A, as part of the claims process, the IIDB centre will look into the incident by contacting the employer for a copy of the original accident form. In most instances it is clear whether an “accident” has happened, and whether it was “industrial” or not. However, case law has expanded these concepts to include less obvious situations (e.g., verbal harassment can constitute an ‘accident’), so it is always advisable to complete the registration form and claim benefit. If the claim is not successful, and you do not agree with the decision reached, the RCN Welfare Service can assist and advise on the merit of requesting mandatory reconsideration or appealing.

Benefit will be paid if a level of disablement is assessed as being 14% or more. Claimants will be required to attend a medical examination with the DWP medical service in order to determine the loss of faculty. Benefit can be paid whether or not they are working or whether their income has been affected. Award of benefit is made for a set period, and subject to reassessment. If a claimant disagrees with the medical officer’s assessment, they have one month in which to appeal.

You should seek advice if you wish to appeal any benefit decision. You should be aware that the DWP may revise an award and reduce the level of assessment on appeal instead of increasing it.

N.B. ‘wear and tear’ injuries e.g., cumulative damage to the back, can only be claimed in certain specific circumstances.

Nursing students who are injured in the course of their training should register the injury but may not be considered for benefit.

Remember: Benefit is payable from 90 days after the original accident. Delaying a claim may mean a loss of benefit income. Always retain copies of all forms completed and letters written as evidence.

There are over 70 prescribed industrial diseases for which benefit can be paid, however some are restricted to certain professions. If you think you have contracted/developed a disease in the course of your work, you should seek advice from your GP and the IIDB Centre immediately. DWP Leaflet DB1 is a technical guide intended for use by advisers, but lists all of the diseases prescribed, so is a useful reference. If your condition is not prescribed or listed in this guide you may still be able to claim IIDB under the “accident” provision of the benefit as case law has shown that the catching of a disease can be accepted as an industrial accident. If this is the case, refer to guidance above.

To claim IIDB for a prescribed disease you will need to get the correct form, BI100PD, from the IIDB centre. There used to be different forms for each group of diseases, so you should tell the IIDB Centre which condition you are claiming for (e.g., occupational dermatitis, occupational asthma, occupational deafness, repetitive strain injury.)

You should contact the Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit Centre for guidance if you wish to claim for industrial disease as there are many different regulations and time limits for the different diseases and conditions covered.

Long COVID

Currently Long COVID is not on the list of prescribed industrial diseases. The Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (IIAC) is considering prescription of Covid-19 as an occupational disease in certain sectors. An industrial disease is an illness or a condition that can arise or be caused as the result of unsafe working conditions or exposure to certain substances in the workplace. If a decision, based on relevant data, is made to prescribe the illness in certain occupations, long COVID patients should be made eligible to apply for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB).

Current advice from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for those who believe they have contracted Long COVID as a result of exposure in the workplace is to make a claim for IIDB as an industrial accident, using form BI100A. 

You would ideally need to have reported an incident at work to evidence that you contracted COVID-19 in the course of your employment and may need to provide other evidence to demonstrate that. However, if you didn’t report an incident at the time of becoming unwell or subsequently, and your employer will not support you do to this retrospectively, the DWP have advised they will still consider claims and you should state on the claim form that you have not been able to complete an incident report retrospectively. If you are unsure about making a claim on these grounds contact the RCN Welfare Service for advice.

You can get Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit as well as:

• New-Style Employment and Support Allowance
• New-Style Jobseeker’s Allowance, or
• State Pension.

However, Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit can affect how much you or your partner get from other benefits, such as:

• Universal Credit
• Pension Credit
• Housing Benefit
• Council Tax Support
• Working Tax Credit & Child Tax Credit.