Finance and Payment

WIBSS Payment Rates

Please note, any payments received after the 1 April 2025 will be deducted from the compensation amount paid by the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA)

One Off Lump Sum Payments	Lump Sum Amount
Hepatitis C Stage 1	£50,000
Enhanced Hepatitis C Stage 1 +	–
Hepatitis C Stage 2	Additional £20,000
HIV	£80,500
Co-Infected (HIV and Stage 1)	£80,500 + £50,000 making a total lump sum £130,500
Co-Infected (HIV and Enhanced Stage 1 +)	–
Co-Infected (HIV and Stage 2)	£80,500 + £70,000 making a total lump sum £150,500

Payment Type	25/26	75% Bereaved Partners	Current WIBSS rates 26/27	75% Bereaved Partners
Hep. C Stage 1	£23,294	£17,471	£24,179	£18,134
Hep C Stage 1+ (enhanced support)	£35,327	£26,495	£36,669	£27,502
Hep. C Stage 2	£35,327	£26,495	£36,669	£27,502
HIV	£35,327	£26,495	£36,669	£27,502
Co-Infected (HIV and Hep C Stage 1)	£47,952	£35,964	£49,774	£37,331
Co-Infected (HIV and Hep C Stage 2)	£55,518	£41,639	£57,628	£43,221
Co-Infected (HIV and Hep C stage 1+ (enhanced support))	£55,518	£41,639	£57,628	£43,221
Winter fuel	£670	£670	£695	£695

PLEASE NOTE: any payment you receive from the Wales Infected Blood Support Scheme will not to be taken into account when calculating your entitlement to benefits. However, you are still required to declare to the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) any payments that you receive from the scheme. For more information please see the detailed guidance here.

Clarification on tax implications of interest earned on the investment of payments and action required

Since 1988, successive governments have set up various schemes to provide financial support to individuals infected with Hepatitis C, HIV or both through NHS treatment with contaminated blood products. The longstanding position has been that such ex gratia payments should be exempt from tax.

Following the introduction of new schemes, legislation was introduced in 2017 to ensure that periodical payments to beneficiaries from those schemes were exempt from income tax, in the same way as periodical payments from existing schemes.

The exemption only extends to the periodical payments or annuities in respect of the damages. Any return from investing those sums is not exempted. Once any money received from compensation is invested any interest received on that investment will be taxable in the normal way and should be declared in tax returns and self-assessments. Independent financial advice should be sought as previously advertised.

For information regarding ex-gratia payments and associated capital lump sums from Wales Infected Blood Support Scheme (WIBSS) and the impact these have on financial assessments relating to care fees, please see the detailed guidance here.

Means Tested Benefits

On October 23^rd 2017, the Social Security (Infected Blood and Thalidomide) Regulations 2017 (available to view here) came into force. This means when calculating your income or any capital (such as savings), any payments you have received from WIBSS will be disregarded in full. However, if you apply, or have a review, for any of the following means tested benefits from the Department for Work and Pensions or Local Council, (DWP), you will need to declare your WIBSS payments. This is to ensure that the benefit assessor can determine what money to disregarded in your benefit calculation and avoid any affect upon your entitlement;

Income Support
Jobseekers Allowance (JSA)
Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
State Pension Credit
Housing Benefit.

Council Tax

From November 1^st2017, any payment received from WIBSS, including lump sum one off payments, can be disregarded when calculating income for Council Tax Reduction. This is in addition to any previous sums held from the five former UK Schemes. If you require a copy of the interim Council Tax Reduction instruction, or have any queries relating to this, please contact your dedicated WIBSS welfare rights advisor here.

Income Tax

On October 23^rd 2017, The Infected Blood Schemes (Application of Sections 731, 733 and 734 of the Income Tax (Trading and Other Income) Act 2005) Order 2017 (available to view here) (link to external http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2017/904/introduction/made) came into force. This means any regular payments received from WIBSS are not taxable. As such, you do not need to declare the payments in any income tax return to the Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), nor do WIBSS need to deduct any income tax from your payment amount.

Please note; lump sum payments and one off grants from WIBSS are not included in the order, as they are not subject to Income Tax.

Queries from DWP, HMRC or Your Local Authority (Council)

In the event of any queries from the Department for Work and Pensions, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs or your local Council regarding your income or capital, you can refer to this guidance in the first instance. A downloadable PDF available for printing can be accessed here.

Following this, if you have any difficulties or you are invited to a formal interview, then please get in touch with WIBSS as soon as possible. We can provide you with a letter confirming all payments received from an approved scheme, alongside written confirmation of all relevant legislation exempting your WIBSS payments.

For a letter to provide information regarding ex-gratia payments and associated capital from Wales Infected Blood Support Scheme (WIBSS) and the impact upon financial assessments relating to care fees please see the detailed guidance here.