Correspondence

IBCA Community Update, 4 June 2026 (HTML)

Published 4 June 2026

Hello, and welcome to your community update. 

This newsletter includes:

• an update on compensation claims
• how we gather information from the NHS and other healthcare providers
• financial guidance if you’re making a claim
• permanent IBCA Chair recruitment
• register for a community drop in event
• your questions.

If you have feedback or questions, please get in touch by emailing ibcaenquiries@ibca.org.uk rather than replying to this newsletter, so we can respond to you as quickly as we can.

An update on compensation claims 

Our latest figures show we’ve opened our compensation service to 4,466 claims. In the last 2 weeks, 52 more people claiming on behalf of a deceased infected person were asked to start their claim (with 158 people in total asked to start in this group). We are almost halfway through claims for those living infected and never compensated who have registered their intent to claim. We continue to bring in affected claims for those nearing end of life.

We expect to bring in all currently registered claims from living infected people and those representing deceased infected people by the end of March 2027. We will also bring in more claims for affected people who are nearing end of life. 

We will continue to prioritise claims in the order recommended by the Infected Blood Inquiry, bringing in those who are sadly nearing the end of their life first.

We’re focussing on bringing in claims as fast as we can, but this will mean the claim service won’t be perfect, and we should expect learnings and challenges as we go. As we work through challenges with new types of claims (for example confirming information in medical documents, or finding alternative sources where this is missing) you may see a gap between claims brought in and claims offered and paid. This is because we are still resolving issues as we continue to build the claim service and learn as we go.

We will share more information about bringing in claims as part of our business planning work, which will be discussed in public next month at IBCA’s Board meeting. How we gather information from the NHS and other healthcare providers.

How we gather information from the NHS and other healthcare providers

When we start a claim, we ask for medical documents that show you or the person you represent have been diagnosed with HIV, Hepatitis C or Hepatitis B. For example, a letter from your GP or notice of a positive test result. We know that many people do not have this information, and our claim managers are here to help with collecting any documents you might need. 

We have a specialist team at IBCA that collects these documents directly from the NHS and healthcare providers. Setting up this team is one of the ways we’ve improved our claim service based on your feedback and our testing.

Read more about gathering information from healthcare providers.

Financial guidance if you’re making a claim

We have recently updated the financial guidance information on our website to include: 

• help with managing your money and banking
• protecting yourself against financial abuse, scams and fraud
• how compensation affects your benefits and tax
• wills and estate planning
• getting financial advice
• looking after your mental health.

When we contact you about making your claim, your claim manager will help you understand what support is available to you depending on your circumstances. This might include:

• paying for you to have a session with a financial adviser
• providing you with financial guidance for people claiming compensation through IBCA - you can also view this guidance online
• showing you how to get free financial guidance from other organisations.

Permanent IBCA Chair recruitment 

Sir Robert Francis, IBCA’s Interim Chair, will leave IBCA at the end of November when his contract ends, as part of his retirement plans. Recruitment for a permanent IBCA Chair will be advertised shortly. 

Sir Robert said: “It has been an enormous privilege to have met so many people from the community that we support over the last two years. This has truly been one of the most meaningful roles of my professional career.” 

You can find Sir Robert’s full statement on our website. 

Register for a community drop in event

Around 100 people joined us in Liverpool on 12 May 2026 for our latest community drop-in event. It was a chance to meet IBCA colleagues face to face, ask questions and share experiences.

A community member who joined us in Liverpool said, “It was just so good to have somebody listen to us and understand what we went through.” 

After the drop-in, we asked attendees to complete a short survey to compare how they felt before and after the event. We saw an increase of those who said they felt informed – from 55.3% at the start of the event to 97.4% after the event.

Read more about our Liverpool community drop-in event.

There are more community drop-ins coming up:

• Belfast: Thursday 11 June 2026
• Cardiff: Tuesday 30 June 2026

These are informal sessions. You can speak with IBCA experts, meet other people from the infected blood community, and have a one-to-one conversation with a claim manager if you wish. The British Red Cross will be there to offer independent support if you need a quiet moment. You can sign-up here.

We’re also planning where to hold our next drop-in events and want to reach more people across the UK. 

Please complete our short survey to tell us where you would like to see a future event. It takes about five minutes to complete. 

The deadline is 12 June 2026, so there’s still time to have your say. 

Watch David Foley at the Public Accounts Committee

IBCA Chief Executive Officer David Foley appeared before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) today, 4 June.

PAC is an independent, cross-party parliamentary group that scrutinises how public money is spent.

The committee is looking into how government compensation schemes are set-up and managed, and what a well-functioning scheme should look like to ensure they are effective, timely, proportionate for those making a claim, and fair.

David gave evidence, and talked about the importance of using the lessons IBCA has learned and the structures it has built to pay compensation to all those who are eligible.

Watch or listen to the meeting. 

The committee is also keen to hear directly from people about their experience of UK government compensation schemes. Whether you have received compensation, are currently going through the compensation process or are registered to apply, you can share your experience through a short survey operated by UK Parliament.

Responses to this survey will help the committee to make recommendations to the government about how compensation schemes should be run.

You will not be asked to describe your personal circumstances, just your experience of the compensation scheme.

Your questions

Why can’t you process claims more quickly?

We have now opened the service to almost half of the registered claims for living infected people who have never been compensated, brought in additional claims this fortnight for those claiming on behalf of a deceased infected person, and continue to bring in claims for those who are affected and nearing end of life.

We have started with smaller numbers so we can learn as we go, then open to more people as the service is built around your needs.

We expect to bring in all currently registered claims from living infected people and those representing deceased infected people by the end of March 2027. We will also bring in more claims for affected people who are nearing end of life. 

Why is there a specific set of dates for eligibility for deceased affected claims?

This follows the Infected Blood Inquiry recommendation that compensation should not be lost if an affected person dies before receiving it - it should pass to their estate.

So, if an affected person dies between 21 May 2024 and 31 March 2031 – which covers the lifetime of the scheme – their estate is still eligible for compensation.

Why can’t you progress the ‘straightforward’ claims first?

We expect to bring in all currently registered claims from living infected people and those representing deceased infected people by the end of March 2027. We will also bring in more claims for affected people who are nearing end of life. 

We continue to prioritise claims in line with the Infected Blood Inquiry recommendations, which means that we will prioritise those people who are sadly nearing the end of their lives. 

Every claim is unique, with its own individual set of circumstances, and this is true regardless of which group or prioritisation category someone is in. This means that we do not know what is involved in processing an individual’s claim until we begin working on it. Some cases will inevitably take longer than others, particularly where we need to find any additional documentation and evidence to support a claim.

Find out how we prioritise claims here.

Do I need to register if I represent the estate of a deceased infected person, registered with a support scheme?

Yes. If the deceased infected person’s estate is registered with a support scheme, you still need to register the estate’s claim with IBCA. We will then link the estate’s IBCA registration and support scheme data when we ask you to start the estate’s claim.

Will I have probate costs reimbursed?

If a claim on behalf of a deceased infected person’s estate is eligible, you can be reimbursed up to £1,500 for legal costs associated with getting a grant of probate or letters of administration (confirmation in Scotland).

Register your intent to claim

If you, or someone you know, could be eligible for infected blood compensation, or if you intend to make an additional claim, you can register your intent to claim online. 

You can now register your intent to claim compensation if you have legal authority to act on behalf of a deceased affected person (or you represent someone with legal authority).

If your circumstances have changed since you registered your intent to claim with IBCA, please get in touch through our website.

Free legal support is available when you claim

Some people claiming compensation have told us they were contacted by solicitors offering ‘no win, no fee’ terms or Conditional Fee Agreements. Here are a few important things to keep in mind before making any decisions: 

• free legal support is available, paid for by IBCA but totally independent of us
• you do not need a solicitor to register or make a compensation claim. If you would like legal support, IBCA can arrange this for you at no cost when your claim begins
• be aware that ‘no win, no fee’ or Conditional Fee Agreements may deduct costs from your compensation award. We have been made aware of claims where significant sums have been charged to those claiming
• registering with IBCA is free and straightforward, you can complete it independently, with support from our team, or with someone you trust – our team can guide you through the registration and claims process and answer any questions you may have.

We can arrange free legal support when a claim begins, through six independent legal firms: Collins Solicitors, Leigh Day, Milners Solicitors, Thompsons Solicitors Scotland, Watkins & Gunn and KRW Law. These firms offer impartial advice at no cost to you. If you want to use a different firm, we can discuss this with you.

We know that some people may feel under pressure to sign legal agreements quickly. You should never feel rushed into making a decision about your claim or legal representation. If anyone is encouraging you to sign something you do not fully understand, or asking for money in relation to an IBCA claim, please seek independent advice.

If you are worried that someone may be pressuring or taking advantage of you in relation to your claim, please let our safeguarding team know by emailing safeguarding@ibca.org.uk.

Protecting you from fraud

We have systems in place to prevent, spot and deal with fraud. If you get a suspicious message or phone call and want to check if it’s really from IBCA, call us on 0141 726 2397 or email fraud@ibca.org.uk.

If you think someone has defrauded you:

• report it online at Report Fraud or call 0300 123 2040
• in Scotland, call the police on 101
• tell your bank straight away.

If you’re worried about fraud, you can find more information on the Stop! Think Fraud website: stopthinkfraud.campaign.gov.uk.

Alternative formats

Do you need this newsletter in a different format? We can provide large print, another language, or other formats. Let us know by:

• calling 0141 726 2397
• emailing ibcaenquiries@ibca.org.uk
• writing to PO Box 384, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE98 1XY.

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