Accidents and diseases before 5 July 1948 – Workmen’s Compensation (Supplementation) Scheme
- Conditions of entitlement
- How and when to claim
- The decision on your claim
- How you are paid
- If your circumstances change
- Other benefits you may be entitled to
You may be able to get benefit under this scheme if you are already getting Workmen’s Compensation for an accident or disease from work you did before 5 July 1948, or think you have a right to this. [Legislation (108)]
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) does not pay Workmen’s Compensation. It is paid by your employer.
You and your employer have to settle the compensation in the way laid down by the Workmen’s Compensation Acts. This is by agreement with the employer or, if you cannot reach agreement, by arbitration and then by the courts.
This extra benefit is called Workmen’s Compensation (Supplementation). It can only be paid if you live in the UK, another European country or in a country with which Great Britain has an agreement covering industrial injuries.
Conditions of entitlement
There are three main allowances:
- basic allowance
- major incapacity allowance
- lesser incapacity allowance.
Basic allowance
The basic allowance of up to £2 a week is applicable if you had an accident or contracted a disease in your job before 1 January 1924 and, as result, are totally or partially unable to work. You must have had a right on or after 21 March 1951 to weekly payments under the Workmen’s Compensation Act, or payments under any employer’s contracting-out scheme. [Legislation (109)]
Major incapacity allowance
You can get a major incapacity allowance if one of the conditions in the left-hand column and one of the conditions in the right-hand column apply:
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| or | were paid a basic allowance any time after 5 July 1956 |
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| or | had a lump sum settlement before 5 July 1956 and have since had the right to weekly payments that can be treated as Workmen’s Compensation. |
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The major incapacity allowance normally makes up the weekly compensation and basic allowance to the same rate as the 100% Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit.
If you do not meet these basic rules now, you may be able to get the lesser incapacity allowance.
Lesser incapacity allowance
If you are partially unable to work because of an accident or disease from your work before 5 July 1948 you can claim a lesser incapacity allowance, providing:
- you have had a right to weekly basic allowance or Workmen’s Compensation for loss of earnings at some time after 1 March 1966
- or you would have had a right but the employer is paying you an incapacity pension or some other payment which is regarded as Workmen’s Compensation. Payments from an employer instead of a formal declaration of liability do not meet this condition. If the weekly payment is now less than 2.5 pence (or less than 6d (2.5 pence) before 30 November 1965) you will have to prove that it is based on loss of earnings calculated under Workmen’s Compensation rules.
The weekly rate of your lesser incapacity allowance is based on the earnings you are losing because of your injury or disease. This is decided by comparing what you earn with the earnings of people in your pre-accident occupation.
But if the job you were doing does not exist now, a similar job with the same earning power today is used instead. Any reasonable prospects of advancement which you may have lost may be taken into account. [Legislation (110)]
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 (111)]
The decision on your claim
If you satisfy the residence and entitlement conditions we then make enquires about loss of earnings and obtain medical evidence.
When we have all the information we need your claim will be decided by a decision maker. The decision maker will look at the medical evidence and any other available evidence.
We will write to tell you the decision on your claim, the amount of any benefit you will get and the period for which you will get benefit. For current rates see Benefit and pension rates (BRA5DWP)
If you disagree with the decision
Although the NI260 does not specifically mention WC(Supp), the generic procedures for dealing with revision, supersession and appeal apply.
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 a person you live with as if 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®.
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 the Industrial Injuries Unit Pneumoconiosis and Workmen’s Compensation Section straight away. [Legislation (113)]
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 compensation is or was payable.
Four primary conditions must all be met before Constant Attendance Allowance can be awarded. You must be:
- entitled to weekly payments of Workmen’s Compensation on or after 5 July 1948 and totally incapable of work and likely to remain so
- and dependent on attendance for the necessities of life
- and able to demonstrate that the attendance is needed as a result of the relevant loss of faculty
- and able to demonstrate that attendance will be needed 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 (114)]
- See ‘Exceptionally Severe Disablement Allowance’ for general information on Exceptionally Severe Disablement Allowance.
