From 31 December 2025, the Government will implement updates to the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme via Statutory Instrument 2025/1358, which amends SI 2025/404 under the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024. It applies across the UK and is framed as a fix for defects in the earlier rules. For households, the changes affect who can claim, how awards are calculated and whether to take money as a lump sum or monthly instalments.

Eligibility is widened and clarified. People infected with HIV from infected blood treatment before 1 January 1982 are explicitly in scope. Anyone already receiving support scheme payments-infected or affected-is now automatically eligible. Partners infected via sexual contact in a long‑term relationship qualify even if they were not cohabiting at the time of infection but later lived together. Those infected by Hepatitis B from a partner who cannot meet certain proof conditions may still qualify if they themselves meet them. By contrast, infections from a tissue transplant are excluded where the recipient was told beforehand the tissue carried HIV, Hepatitis B or Hepatitis C.

Rules for affected persons and estates are more practical. An estate can claim if the affected person died between 21 May 2024 and 31 March 2031. Where both the affected person and the infected person have died, calculations now key off the first death. Personal representatives can apply on behalf of a deceased claimant, bringing estate administration into the scheme without legal wrangling over standing.

Money now flows to the person who is actually eligible. The definition of “relevant person” is reset so payments and any repayments are made directly to the eligible individual, unless they are under the relevant age or deceased-then a parent or personal representative is recognised. This removes the previous reliance on attorneys or similar authorities and should cut delays for families and carers.

A new definition-“first year of the compensation period”-underpins backdated and future awards. For infected people it is the later of 1952, the first year of infection, or the year cohabitation began for certain partner cases. For affected people it is the year after the infected person’s death. This matters because “past” and “future” amounts are calculated year by year from that start point, not from ad‑hoc dates that risk undercounting.

Households get more control over how money is paid. If a compensation award is being paid periodically, families can now ask the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA) to end the instalments and pay the outstanding balance as a lump sum. If a recipient dies before the term ends, the IBCA must pay out the remaining amount to the relevant person. Where someone elects to stop instalments, the early payout equals the scheduled total for the elected payments minus what’s already been paid-never below zero-and, crucially, that scheduled total is calculated without the CPI uplifts that apply to ongoing instalments.

Inflation protection is spelled out. Future amounts are treated as if they are compounded each April by CPI measured over the year to the previous September. For infected awards, compounding runs from the month the award became payable; for affected partners, from the month the affected core payment became payable, with April start months disregarded. In practice, recipients should expect uprating that tracks inflation, while recognising that an early switch to a lump sum stops those CPI‑linked increases for the remaining term.

Bereaved partners receive a clearer guarantee. A “recent bereavement period” is defined as the 12 months starting in the calendar month after the infected person’s death. During that period, partners receive 100% of the support scheme amount that applied to the infected person; outside it, the rate reverts to 75%. During the IBSS transfer year the calculation runs month by month-months in bereavement at 100%, other months at 75%-to avoid arbitrary cut‑offs.

Timing of the support‑scheme handover is pushed back. References to 2025 become 2026, and to 2026 become 2027 in the provisions that govern when IBCA pays support scheme amounts. Practically, existing support schemes keep paying for longer, reducing the risk of a payment cliff‑edge while the new machinery beds in.

Income‑loss and care rules are more generous and cleaner. The minimum earnings threshold for claiming “exceptional reduced earnings” is removed, opening the door to claims from low earners and those with irregular work histories. For deceased people with Hepatitis B at level 5, the care (core) award is set at £41,188.49, with an additional amount where there is a co‑infection with Hepatitis C at level 2 or 3. The regulations also ensure end‑of‑life care costs are not reimbursed twice.

Evidence requirements are eased and fairness improved where records are incomplete. Applicants no longer need to submit evidence of Hepatitis infection dates, while HIV claims still anchor to the diagnosis date. Where past severity has to be inferred, those with the most severe Hepatitis are now deemed to have experienced level‑3 severity for a defined window so mid‑range awards are not missed simply because of patchy paperwork. The psychiatric injury descriptors widen to include any secondary psychotic disorder caused by infection or interferon treatment.

For families weighing instalments against a lump sum, the decision is now more transparent. Monthly payments bring CPI‑linked uplifts each April, which helps with living‑cost pressures but spreads money over time. A lump sum can clear debts or pay for adaptations, but ends future CPI increases and uses the early‑payout formula that strips out those uplifts from the scheduled total. The right choice will turn on mortgage rates, benefits interactions and care plans.

Bereaved partners should diary key dates. If, for example, a death occurs in February, the bereavement period runs from March through the following February. That 12‑month window is paid at 100%; after it, support steps down to 75%. Keeping bank statements and the death certificate to hand will speed the IBCA’s calculations, particularly in the transfer year when months can span both rates.

The Cabinet Office says these amendments correct drafting defects and clarify calculations rather than rewrite policy wholesale. The instrument was made on 16 December 2025 and comes into force on 31 December 2025. For those eligible, the effect is practical: clearer routes to claim, steadier uprating and the ability to choose between predictable monthly support and a lump sum when circumstances change.