Diseases before 5 July 1948 – Pneumoconiosis, Byssinosis and Miscellaneous Diseases Benefit Scheme
- Conditions of entitlement
- How and when to claim
- How claims are decided
- About the medical examination
- The decision on your claim
- How much benefit you will get
- How you are paid
- If your circumstances change
- Other benefits you may be entitled to
Conditions of entitlement
You may be able to get an allowance under the Pneumoconiosis, Byssinosis and Miscellaneous Diseases Benefit Scheme if:
- you are partially or totally disabled by one of the diseases listed in Appendix 3
- and you were employed in Great Britain at some time before 5 July 1948 in one of the jobs shown against the disease and finished that job before 5 July 1948
- and you normally live in the UK, another European country or in a country with which Great Britain has an agreement covering industrial injuries. [Legislation (115)]
You cannot get an allowance if:
- at any time you have had a right to benefit for the disease under the main Industrial Injuries Scheme
- or at any time you have had a right to benefit for the disease under the Workmen’s Compensation Acts for the disease
- or you have been paid damages through the courts for the disease. [Legislation (116)]
How and when to claim
- For a claim form write to or phone the Industrial Injuries Unit Pneumoconiosis and Workmen’s Compensation Section.
Send your completed claim form to this address also. Do not delay claiming because benefit cannot be paid for a period more than 3 months before the date of your claim.
When we receive your claim we will send you an acknowledgement. [Legislation (116)]
How claims are decided
Firstly we consider residence conditions and payment of any compensation already made. Then we have to check that you were employed in a job that caused the disease.
This can take some time as it is difficult to get employment details from over 40 years ago.
You may be asked to provide written evidence giving reasons why you think that you are disabled. You may need to have a chest X-ray.
If it is decided that you are covered by the scheme, you may be asked to attend a medical examination. [Legislation (119)]
If you are asked to attend a medical examination and you fail to turn up without good cause, your claim will be disallowed. [Legislation (120)]
About the medical examination
If you are asked to attend a medical examination your examination will be carried out by one or possibly two experienced medical practitioners.
These doctors are specially trained in industrial injuries disablement matters.
If you can travel, you will be told when and where to go for the examination. You will be told what out-of-pocket expenses you can claim. If you are not fit to travel alone, someone can travel with you. [Legislation (121)]
If you are not fit to travel, you can also request an examination at home.
The medical examination will be held in private but you may be able to take a companion if the doctor allows it. Occasionally you may be asked if an observer can be present.
You can give the doctor any evidence which was not included with your claim form, if you think it will help them to give an opinion on your disablement.
If you have attended a hospital the doctor may seek further information from the hospital. Hospital case notes may be requested by the doctor to assist in giving an opinion.
The doctor could also ask for a report from your GP.
The doctor will take a statement from you and send a written report to the decision maker based upon the examination and any other medical evidence.
The doctor will advise on:
- whether you are suffering from a disease listed in Appendix 3; and if so,
- whether you are partially or totally disabled by the disease; and
- the date your disablement began.
The doctor will provide an explanation for the decision maker as to how they arrived at their opinion.
The doctor will also look at causation, ie in their opinion whether the disease is due to the nature of your employment prior to 5 July 1948.
The decision on your claim
After the medical examination your claim will be decided by a decision maker. The decision maker will look at the doctor’s advice and any other available evidence.
We will write to tell you the decision on your claim, the amount of any benefit you will get (current rates can be found in Social Security Benefit Rates (BRA5DWP)) and the period for which you will get benefit.
If you disagree with the decision
Although the NI260 DMA does not specifically mention the Pneumoconiosis, Byssinosis and Miscellaneous Diseases Benefit Scheme, the generic procedures for dealing with disputes, supersessions and appeals apply.
How much benefit you will get
There are two rates of allowance
- Partial disablement rate
- Total disablement rate. [Legislation (122)]
The current rates can be found in Social Security Benefit Rates (BRA5DWP) which can be obtained from your social security office.
How you are paid
Our policy is to pay all benefits directly into an account.
This is the safest way to pay you and lets you choose how and when you get your money. You can use a bank or building society.
You may be able to use a cash machine, which will usually mean you can get your money at any time of the day or night.
There are arrangements with banks and building societies so that you can collect cash from some of their accounts at your Post Office® branch.
The Post Office® also provides a bank account that we can pay benefits into. With this account you can only collect your money in cash from Post Office®branches.
The other advantages of having your money paid into an account are:
- you can get your money from many different places
- from some accounts you could have regular bills paid. This could save you money but you will need to make sure that there is enough money in your account to pay the bills. If not, you may be charged a fee
- using an account may help you save.
The account can be:
- in your name, or
- in the name of your partner. We use partner to mean a person you are married to or a person you live with as if you were married to them, or a civil partner or person you live with as is you are civil partners, or
- in the names of both yourself and your partner, or
- in the name of the person acting on your behalf, or
- in the names of both yourself and the person acting on your behalf.
Benefit is paid either every 4 weeks, every 13 weeks or every week.
If you have a bank or building society account but you do not wish to use it, for example a joint account, any bank or building society will help you open an account that suits you better. Remember to ask whether their accounts allow you to get your money from the Post Office®, if this is important to you.
Basic bank account
If you have had problems opening a current account, or if you are worried about being overdrawn, you could ask any bank or building society about opening a basic bank account.
These are sometimes called introductory or starter accounts and are available from all major banks.
These accounts offer free banking but overdrafts are not available.
You can use these accounts to pay money in, pay bills automatically and get cash out.
Many basic bank accounts also allow you to get cash from Post Offices®.
Post Office® card account
This is a simple bank account that can only have benefit/pension/allowance/credit payments paid into it.
You can only collect payment from it in cash at a Post Office® branch.
You will not have a cheque book and cannot withdraw money at a cash machine.
You will not be able to run up an overdraft, pay bills by Direct Debit or Standing Order, or have your salary or any other money paid in.
The account can only be in your name.
You may be able to arrange with the Post Office® for someone else to collect your benefit regularly from this account.
If your circumstances change
A decision can be looked at again at any time if your condition has changed.
- If you feel your condition has got worse and you want us to have another look at the decision, write to or phone the Industrial Injuries Unit Pneumoconiosis and Workmen’s Compensation Section.
If the condition for which you are getting benefit improves you must tell us straight away.
You must also tell us if you:
- marry, remarry or form a civil partnership and change your name
- change your address
- leave the country
- go into prison
- go into hospital or similar accommodation.
If any of these apply, you must tell Industrial Injuries Unit Pneumoconiosis and Workmen’s Compensation Section straight away. [Legislation (123)]
If you die, someone should let us know straight away. If you have an order book, they should send it back straight away. They should not cash it.
Other benefits you may be entitled to
Constant Attendance Allowance
You may be entitled to Constant Attendance Allowance if the need for constant attendance is because of the injury or disease for which benefit is or was payable.
Four primary conditions must all be met before Constant Attendance Allowance can be awarded. You must be:
- entitled to the 100% rate of benefit under the scheme
- and dependent on attendance for the necessities of life
- or needing the attendance as a result of the disability you are already getting benefit for and needing attendance for a prolonged period.
- See ‘Constant Attendance Allowance’ for general information on Constant Attendance Allowance.
Exceptionally Severe Disablement Allowance
To qualify for Exceptionally Severe Disablement Allowance you must:
- have an award of Constant Attendance Allowance at either the intermediate or exceptional rate
- and be likely to need that level of attendance permanently. [Legislation (124)]
- See ‘Exceptionally Severe Disablement Allowance’ for general information on Exceptionally Severe Disablement Allowance.
Death Benefit
If you were supported by someone who has died because of any of the diseases listed under the Pneumoconiosis, Byssinosis and Miscellaneous Diseases Benefit Scheme, you may get a payment of up to £300. [Legislation (125)]
This benefit is paid as well as any National Insurance Widow’s Benefit.
The person who has died need not have been getting a disablement allowance.
You cannot get death benefit if:
- you get Industrial Death Benefit
- or the person who died did not meet the work rules shown in Appendix 3
- or the person who died had the right to benefit under the Industrial Injuries Scheme, Workmen’s Compensation Acts or any scheme abroad
- or the person who died had the right to Workmen’s Compensation but got compensation for another disease or accident instead
- or the person who died was paid damages
- or any member of the person’s family got (or had the right to get) benefit for their death under the Industrial Injuries Scheme, Workmen’s Compensation Acts or any scheme abroad, or got damages for their death. [Legislation (126)]
For a claim form write to or phone the Industrial Injuries Unit Pneumoconiosis and Workmen’s Compensation Section.
Send your completed claim form to this address also.
You should normally claim within 3 months of the death.