New Infected Blood Compensation Scheme (IBCS)
A new compensation scheme has been introduced to provide financial compensation to victims of infected blood in the UK. The government funded scheme is based on the recommendations made by the Infected Blood Inquiry.
The Infected Blood Compensation Scheme is wide ranging. Applications can be made by living infected persons and their close relatives as well as the estate of a deceased infected person.
If you believe you or your relatives have a hepatitis or HIV infection - or both - caused by contaminated NHS blood products then you may be eligible.
You can still make these applications regardless of whether the infected person was previously registered with another support payment scheme (Skipton Fund, MacFarlane Trust, Claxon Foundation, Eileen Trust or other UK schemes) or had already received payments from it.
In some cases multiple applications to the scheme can be made relating to the same infection. The husbands, wives, children and siblings of infected persons may have their own cases as “affected persons”.
Any compensation paid through the scheme will not impact your eligibility for means tested benefits. It will be exempt from income, capital gains and inheritance tax.
How we can help you
At Digby Brown we will consider all claims by an infected person or close relative regardless of whether the infected person was previously registered with another UK support payment scheme.
We will use our long-standing expertise to thoroughly investigate your claim and seek the necessary evidence to maximise your claim. In some cases, detailed legal investigations will be required both in relation to eligibility and the value of your case.
We offer you a cost-free legal service to assess your eligibility in a timely manner.
We will also fund any costs required to progress your claim including funding the costs of any expert wills and executry work required where the infected person is a deceased relative. Where the infected person is now deceased, we will need to appoint an executor to make the claim on their behalf and we will need confirmation of the estate to make specific reference to the claim. Digby Brown will fund the costs relating to this.
We will only take a success fee if you are awarded any compensation. The success fee is calculated on a sliding scale meaning a smaller percentage is charged on higher awards.
As it is not yet known if the IBCS will make any payments towards your legal costs we are offering this with a straightforward “no win, no fee” funding arrangement at present.
Should the IBCS offer any assistance with your legal costs then our success fee will be reduced by the amount of this IBCS contribution.
"The Infected Blood Compensation Scheme is long overdue in providing full compensation to those infected with hepatitis and HIV as a result of being treated with NHS blood products. Previous blood support scheme payments through the likes of SIBSS and Skipton, while welcome, fell well short in recognising the suffering of those infected. The new scheme also offers compensation to a range of relatives who were affected by the suffering of their loved ones. By providing no win, no fee funding for these cases, we are currently supporting a large number of living victims and the relatives of those who have died following infection" - Mark Gibson, Partner
No win, no fee personal injury solicitors
The expression “No win, no fee” is often used in personal injury cases. It is used as a way of funding a compensation claim where the accident victim does not have the means to pay for the costs involved as the case progresses.
A number of solicitors are prepared to handle personal injury cases on a “No Win – No Fee” basis but very few are able to offer their clients complete protection if the case is unsuccessful.
In that event, the client could end up being liable for many thousands of pounds in legal expenses or the case won't be fully investigated and therefore likely to under-settle.
Compensate 'no win, no fee' funding
Digby Brown has its own funding company, Compensate, which provides the funding to allow the case to be fully investigated, employ the best experts surrounding the circumstances of the accident and/or injuries sustained and where and if necessary go to court.
If for whatever reason the case is unsuccessful, Compensate pays all your legal expenses and those of your opponent – you pay nothing.
On average our clients receive over 3 times the pre-litigation offer
Because of Compensate funding Digby Brown's success rate is extremely high and on average our clients receive three times the pre-litigation offer.
In the event the case is successful, a small percentage of your damages will be deducted with VAT to pay for this service. The percentage which Compensate will charge depends on the degree of risk involved. We believe that this is the fairest method of giving clients access to justice whilst ensuring their cases are fully investigated, prepared and funded.
Don’t take our word for it, just read many of the court decisions and case studies on our website.
Beware of compensation offers which may be too good
We know you will have seen many adverts offering 100% compensation or telling you that you will not lose any of your compensation, however we believe there are a number of problems with companies that do this.
- How do they make their money if they don’t charge you anything?
- If they aren’t taking any money from you, the client, what incentive do they have to ensure you receive the right level of compensation, appropriate to the injuries you have sustained?
- Fully preparing a case, finding out exactly what happened and what the consequences of your injuries may mean in the long term, is expensive, how do they do this properly?
- If they aren’t fully preparing these cases will they just accept the first offer they are given on your behalf by the Insurance company?
- It makes simple business sense, the less work they do the higher their profit margin is - they simply have no incentive to work harder on your behalf.
- These adverts in the main are from English firms on national television which operates in a different way and therefore wouldn’t apply to a Scottish person.
We know from the many client cases we mandate from other firms of solicitors (in the main at the request of the client who is extremely unsatisfied with the service received for the other firm) that many shortcuts are taken in preparation and that the first offer received is being recommended for acceptance, regardless of the value.
Getting something for nothing is usually the first sign of poor service.
Correct level of compensation with Digby Brown
Our experience and statistics show time and time again we will achieve the correct level of compensation which will be substantially more than the insurer is initially prepared to offer.
Even after we have deducted our percentage as a success fee you will gain considerably more than you would have achieved using a 100% compensation model.
Contact Digby Brown's personal injury solicitors
We have offices across Scotland in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Kirkcaldy, Inverness, Aberdeen and Ayr.
For further information about no win, no fee, or anything else, call us on 0333 200 5925 or fill in our enquiry form below and someone will get back in touch with you.
0333 200 5926
Monday to Friday: 8am - 7pm
Saturday and Sunday: 12pm - 4pm
(Please note, local rate, even from mobile)
Email enquiry form
Complete our enquiry form and we will strive to reply within 24 hours
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We put our clients at the centre of everything we do and are committed to providing the very best service. The hundreds of five star reviews we have received on Trustpilot is a reflection of this approach.
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