Long COVID and Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit

Long COVID is not currently a prescribed disease; however current advice from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for those who believe they have contracted Long COVID as a result of exposure in the workplace, is to make a claim for IIDB as an industrial accident using form BI100A.

The RCN Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit guide explains the processes around IIDB and how to contact the Welfare Service. The RCN has successfully supported a member who has Long COVID with an IIDB claim and our magazine article explains how we helped.

Our Financial Wellbeing Service has more information about financial support in their sick leave guidance.

J was a research nurse based in an office at an inner-city hospital. He believed he contracted COVID from a colleague in the office following a conversation about some of their findings. J was wearing a mask, but his colleague had pulled down her mask so that J could understand what she was saying better.

J’s colleague tested positive for COVID that day and J began to feel unwell several days later. J’s partner also contracted COVID and they both spent time in hospital over the next few weeks. J never recovered sufficiently to go back to work, and his condition deteriorated significantly over the following months, resulting in him needing to use a wheelchair. He was diagnosed with long COVID 6 months later. 

J was sceptical about submitting an application for IIDB, as he was not ward-based and had also been using public transport to get to and from work. The Welfare Adviser explained that who he caught COVID from had no bearing on the application, and provided it happened at work, there was no need to establish he caught it from a patient on a COVID ward. We also explained that we would assist him in his application and look at the ‘balance of probability’ that he caught COVID at work from a colleague rather than on an empty train. 

J was awarded IIDB at 100% and awarded Constant Attendance Allowance. His pay from benefits and his IHR pension nearly match his previous basic pay, taking a huge amount of financial pressure off him and his partner.

K was NHS employed as a Band 8 oncology nurse. She contracted COVID-19 in November 2020, and never returned to work following her initial sickness absence. Prior to contracting Covid-19 she was extremely fit and ran ultra-marathons. She received a diagnosis of Long COVID in 2021. She was dismissed on grounds of ill-health capability and awarded Tier 2 ill-health retirement due to the extent of her disability arising from Long COVID. 

K developed multiple health problems following her COVID-19 infection, respiratory, cardiac, cognitive, PTSD, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, severe visual impairment, and other health problems all causally related to her Long COVID diagnosis. She relies on carers to attend her home 4 times daily to assist with treatments.

K hadn’t claimed any benefits when referred to the Welfare Service after she stopped receiving pay and she was wholly reluctant to claim IIDB as she believed this meant she had to prove that her employer was liable in some way for her illness and having already gone through a two-stage appeal process to get her NHS pension, she didn’t feel confident about being successful in a claim for IIDB. We advised her of the rules for claiming IIDB and reassured her that this was a no-fault claim and there would be no requirement to demonstrate that her employer was in any way liable for her exposure to COVID-19. 

K instructed us that she was not able to confirm exposure to patients who were confirmed as COVID positive, but she believed some of them and their family members may have been due to symptoms they had. K had also been exposed to risk of colleagues who worked in the community and shared the same office space with her, some of whom were not social distancing or wearing masks in the office, and masks were not provided to staff outside of the clinical setting. K lived alone, was not socialising when not at work and was shopping online and driving to work. 

We established that on a balance of probability, her exposure to COVID-19 was most likely at work and nowhere else, and we assisted her to claim IIDB on the grounds of COVID-19 being an injury arising in and out of the course of her employment. 

Her claim was accepted as an industrial injury claim, and she was assessed as having 105% level of disablement which is capped at the maximum of 100%. She was awarded £7,000 in backdated benefit and will receive benefit of £207.60 weekly and may be entitled to additional benefit through a claim for Constant Attendance Allowance due to the level of disablement she has been found to have for IIDB.

• Members who have been turned down for a Personal Injury Claim via RCN Law can still make a claim for IIDB
• Members who are or were NHS employed, do not have had to have been successful in a claim for NHS Injury Allowance to claim IIDB
• Members who are or were successful in a claim for NHS Injury Allowance can still claim IIDB and have it paid in addition
• Students who were on a placement when they contracted COVID can make a claim for IIDB
• Employer does not have to be found liable for the injury (exposure to Covid-19) as this is a no-fault claim
• There does not have to be a DATIX or RIDDOR completed – most of the members with Long COVID who have successfully claimed IIDB never completed any accident or incident report
• IIDB is not:
  • based on National Insurance contributions
  • on the list of ‘Public Funds’ so IEN members with no recourse to public funds could still make a claim
  • reduced by occupational pension
• IIDB can be paid in addition to contribution-based benefits such as Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and non-contributory benefits such as Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
• Entitlement to IIDB is not determined by entitlement to other sickness or disability benefits.