IBCA Community Update, 27 November
Published 27 November 2025
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Introduction
Hello and welcome to your community update.
In this newsletter we cover:
- Opening the service to the next group of claims
- Our latest registration and compensation figures
- Policy updates: next set of regulations
- Recruiting permanent directors for IBCA
- Updates from other organisations including: Cabinet Office public consultation and Autumn Budget 2025 announcement on Inheritance Tax exemption
- Support and resources: staying safe online
- Understanding how people feel about IBCA through independent research
- Continuing to improve the communications you receive from us
Thank you as always for your feedback and questions which we use to regularly improve this update. Please do get in touch by email ibcaenquiries@ibca.org.uk or on Facebook or X (formerly Twitter).
Claims update
Opening the service to the next group of claims
IBCA has now opened the service to the first claims for living infected people who have never been compensated, bringing in 60 claims initially from today.
These first people who we have contacted have been identified and prioritised through our ‘register your intent’ service that opened in early October. They are living infected people who have never received any form of compensation.
Speaking about this next step in building IBCA’s compensation claim service, David Foley, Interim Chief Executive Officer at IBCA, said:
We are committed to paying each and every person who is eligible, as soon as we can.
We’ve been working with infected blood community members to prepare for the next group of claims, and these first 60 claims for living infected people who have never been compensated are an important step, allowing us to then grow the service further for more people, as quickly as we can.
We’ll begin by prioritising those who are sadly nearing the end of their lives, followed by those with the most severe infections and older age groups, as recommended by the Infected Blood Inquiry.
One year ago, IBCA opened to the first group of people to begin their claim, starting with small numbers and then growing the service with feedback from the community.
Since then, we have asked more than 3,600 living infected people who are registered with a support scheme to claim. More than £2 billion in compensation offers have been made, and more than £1.5 billion has been paid in compensation so far.
By the end of this year, we also aim to open the service to the first claims from those representing a deceased infected person, and those who are affected. This is in line with the Infected Blood Inquiry’s recommendation to open claims to all groups in parallel as soon as possible. For each group, we will again start small and scale up, so the number of claims for each new group will be low initially before increasing once the claim service is ready to widen out further.
Anyone intending to make a claim with IBCA for compensation should register with our recently opened ‘register your intent to claim’ service so we know how to contact you. This is an online service open to all groups who intend to make a claim - please register your intent to claim on our website, ibca.org.uk, and encourage others who might be eligible for compensation as an infected or affected person to register now.
For supplementary routes and claims on behalf of deceased affected people, we’re awaiting confirmation of further regulations by the UK Government.
Watch a video of David Foley explaining the next steps in building IBCA’s compensation claim service.
Our latest figures (published on 20 November)
Compensation
As of 18 November, a total of 3,614 people have been asked to start their claim.
Of this number, 3,418 have started the claim process.
Where fewer than 10 people have been contacted or started the claim process in a reporting period, we don’t report the increase to protect people’s privacy and make sure no one can be identified.
2,777 offers of compensation have been made, totalling £2,159,144,472.80.
A total of 2,446 people have had their compensation paid with £1,629,630,690.80 paid in compensation.
We’re now opening the service to the first claims for living infected people who have never been compensated. Because this is a new group, the number of new claims will start small, then grow as soon as we can. You will see the claim numbers increase as we expand the service to this group. This approach will help us improve the service and make sure it works for everyone as it opens to more people.
If you are an infected person registered with a support scheme and haven’t been asked to start your claim by IBCA yet, please get in touch by calling 0141 726 2397, emailing ibcaenquiries@ibca.org.uk, or writing to PO Box 384, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE98 1XY.
The next update on compensation and registration figures will be on Thursday 4 December.
Registration for those intending to claim
Since opening the ‘register your intent to claim’ service on 9 October, we’ve received 13,239 registrations of intent to make a compensation claim with us.
This figure represents individual registrations, not unique people or claims. This is because some people may have registered more than once.
Please register with IBCA if you haven’t already, as we need to know how to contact you when we can start your claim.
Policy updates
Regulations to be debated in Parliament
Following the publication of the Infected Blood Inquiry’s Additional Report in July 2025, the government accepted some changes immediately and on 30 October laid draft regulations that will bring these changes into force.
These regulations will amend the March 2025 regulations and implement five recommendations from the Inquiry’s Additional Report, which are:
- removal of the HIV start date (recommendation 3a)
- removal of the minimum earnings threshold for a person to claim the exceptional financial loss award (recommendation 4c)
- changes to the deeming provisions for the severity of Hepatitis C (recommendation 4d)
- changes to affected estates (recommendation 8b)
- date of diagnosis for Hepatitis B and C no longer has to be provided when applying for the scheme (recommendation 4e).
Now these regulations have been laid in Parliament, they’ll be debated and, subject to parliamentary approval, will become law by the end of 2025.
To read an update from the Government regarding the latest regulations, please visit GOV.UK.
Once these regulations become law, IBCA will review all claims which have already been paid. If the latest regulations mean someone is entitled to more compensation, we’ll contact them. If you think this applies to you, you do not need to do anything at this point.
Other IBCA updates
Recruiting IBCA’s permanent directors
When IBCA was first created, we recruited staff temporarily to make sure we could pay compensation as soon as possible. Since then, we have been advertising all our roles to ensure they are open to anyone, and then making them permanent to ensure stability in our workforce.
We can now confirm the majority of the permanent appointments for IBCA directors. You can find more information about these appointments on our website.
Recruitment for the Chief Executive position is currently ongoing, and we’ll let you know the outcome as soon as we can.
These appointments will provide the stability and leadership we need while we continue delivering compensation. You can meet our senior team at drop-in sessions to be held across the UK from early next year.
Updates from other organisations
Government public consultation
The government has launched a public consultation on proposed changes to the infected blood compensation scheme, coinciding with the laying of the latest set of regulations mentioned above.
Following the Infected Blood Inquiry’s Additional Report in July 2025, some changes were immediately accepted. Other proposed changes are subject to public consultation with the infected blood community.
The government consultation is seeking views on the following seven areas of the Scheme:
- The ‘Special Category Mechanism’ (SCM)
- Recognition of severe psychological harm
- Impacts of interferon
- Past financial loss and care for those receiving support scheme payments
- Supplementary route - exceptional loss award
- Supplementary route - affected people
- Unethical research awards
This consultation closes at 11:59pm on 22 January 2026. To participate, please use the Cabinet Office survey.
Autumn budget announcement on Inheritance Tax exemption
In the budget this week, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced changes to Inheritance Tax relief on infected blood compensation payments. There is more information from the government in the ‘Your questions’ section further down this update.
An independent review of IBCA
An independent review of IBCA was commissioned by the Cabinet Office earlier this year and led by Sir Tyrone Urch and Hazel Hobbs. The purpose was: ‘to support successful delivery by assessing IBCA’s delivery of the Scheme, identifying potential areas for process improvement, and providing independent confirmation that IBCA is progressing delivery as quickly as possible to meet recently agreed commitments’.
The review recognises IBCA’s progress to date and identifies future improvement. It says: “The substantial early progress is particularly noteworthy given the profoundly important and challenging operational task IBCA has been given, whilst building an organisation from a standing start since May 2024.”
The review also makes 24 recommendations for further improvements in 2026 and beyond. These are focused on providing the stability, resources, digital systems and cross-government support necessary for the work ahead.
To read the review in full, including the recommendations, please visit GOV.UK.
Infected Blood Inquiry Commemorative Event
On 19 November, the first Infected Blood Commemorative Event took place at Church House in London. The event was attended by infected and affected members of the community both in person and online.
The purpose of the event was to start the conversation on Infected Blood Memorialisation, following the recommendations made by Sir Brian Langstaff in the Inquiry’s 2024 report.
During the afternoon sessions, IBCA’s Interim Chief Executive, David Foley, and his team took part in a presentation and panel to answer your questions.
The memorial committee members were announced on Monday 17 November.
Support and resources
Staying safe online
We recently marked International Fraud Awareness Week by using our social media channels to share some tips about staying safe online. Here’s the advice we shared about how to keep your personal information safe:
- Be mindful before sharing any personal information online - even in private groups or conversations
- Please don’t share any personal information on our public channels
- Be cautious if someone you don’t know online offers to help with your claim.
Contact us if you’re concerned about a message or phone call and want to check if it’s from us, or if you have a general fraud query: fraud@ibca.org.uk
If you’re among the many community members using our Facebook channel to support others or comment on our updates, please be aware this is a public channel. This means that depending on your privacy settings, anything you post on the channel may be visible to others.
Find out more about Facebook privacy and safety settings here: https://www.facebook.com/help/238318146535333
If you’re worried about fraud, you can find more information on the Stop! Think Fraud website: https://stopthinkfraud.campaign.gov.uk/
Your questions
Q: How will this week’s budget announcement affect whether inheritance tax will be liable on any compensation payments?
In this week’s budget, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced changes to Inheritance Tax relief on infected blood compensation payments.
For more information, read the government’s explainer. You can also call the HMRC Inheritance Tax Helpline on 0300 123 1072.
Q: My claim has been paid but I think the new set of regulations going through Parliament might mean I’m entitled to more compensation. What should I do?
When regulations are confirmed, IBCA will review all claims which have already been paid. If the latest regulations mean you are entitled to more compensation, we’ll contact you. If you think this applies to you, you do not need to do anything at this point.
Looking ahead
Glasgow drop-in session
Our first community drop-in event will take place in Glasgow in January 2026 (based on community feedback we’ve moved this from the original date in December). More details will follow in the December community update about how to sign up to the event.
We will hold additional sessions across the UK in 2026. We’ll share dates and locations in advance so everyone has the chance to sign up and speak to IBCA teams directly.
Understanding how people feel about IBCA through independent research
Earlier this year, we commissioned independent research to understand what the public and the infected blood community knew and felt about IBCA, and how we best reach all those who may be eligible for compensation. The results are available on our website and we’re using the insights from this research to shape how we work.
We learned that awareness of IBCA is high, but there is still work to do to build trust and reach everyone who may be eligible.
We’re carrying out further research this month. If, when you signed up for our community updates, you granted permission for us to contact you for research purposes, we’ll email you from reply@community.ibca.org.uk about participating in this research. Thank you in advance for taking part.
Continuing to improve the communications you receive from us
We will soon begin using a different platform to send out our emails and updates, including this email. This will help us understand what information is most relevant for you.
We will let community members know through our Facebook and X accounts when our next update has gone out.
Alternative formats
We understand that some people may need documents in different formats. If you would like to receive your community update newsletter in large print, another language, or another format please let us know by calling 0141 726 2397, emailing enquiries@ibca.org.uk, or writing to
PO Box 384
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE98 1XY
Find us online
For more information and latest updates from IBCA, you can find us online: