Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) is for people who are disabled because of an accident at work, or who have certain diseases caused by their work (but not if this is self-employment)

IIDB is a no fault scheme paid by Department for Work and Pensions. No fault scheme means a claimant doesn’t have to prove their employer is at fault to claim IIDB.

If you want to claim compensation from your employer, you should contact your trade union if you’re a member or seek legal advice from a personal injury lawyer.

Applies to: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

Age rules: No age rules but you must have a contract of employment

Type of benefit: Non means tested

Taxable: No

Administered by: Department for Work and Pensions Industrial Injuries Benefits Centres

Reviewed: April 2023

People who are disabled because of:

• an accident at work, or

• in the course of their work, or

• who have certain diseases caused by their work.

Only industrial diseases qualify, for example, diseases caused by chemicals you have worked with or hearing loss caused by your work. The Department for Work and Pensions website has a list of the industrial diseases and the jobs linked to them.

You do not have to have paid national insurance contributions to get IIDB. You can get it even if you carry on working or go back to work. It does not matter how much savings, capital or other income you have.

You cannot get IIDB if you were self-employed.

Claims for IIDB and extra allowances can be complicated and so before making a claim you should seek advice from a specialist adviser as any entitlement to the benefit and the amount you may get will depend on your individual circumstances. See 'How do I claim Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit? section of this guide for more details. You can use our Find an Adviser tool to find advice in your local area,

How is it assessed?

A doctor will assess how your disability affects you. The extent of your disablement will be stated as a percentage. Only the level of disability directly attributable to the accident or disease is taken into account. If you have an unrelated or pre-existing condition, the doctor will not include the effects of that in your percentage disablement. 

Depending on the extent of your disability, this assessment will last:

• For a fixed period

• For life.

You can be reassessed if the level of disability caused by your accident or disease worsens or when a fixed period assessment comes to an end.

The amount depends on the extent of your disability and your age. For example, if you are assessed as 100% disabled, you would get £221.50 a week .

Depending on the extent of your disability, you can be paid IIDB:

• For a fixed period

• For life.

You must usually be assessed as having at least 14% disablement to get benefit, although there are exceptions to this. Disablement of 14-19% is rounded up to 20% for payment purposes.

For the current rates of Disablement Benefit, see the Gov.UK: Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit

IIDB will be taken into account as income if you receive a means-tested benefit , such as Universal Credit, income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Pension Credit or Housing Benefit.

England, Scotland and Wales

You can download a Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit form from the Gov.UK website. There is a different form depending on whether you are claiming for an accident or industrial disease.

You can also phone your local Industrial Injuries Benefit Centre for a claim form.

Northern Ireland

You can download an application form or:

Phone the Industrial Injuries Branch on 0300 092 3383 for a claim form. Find more information on video relay service. 

Claims for IIDB and extra allowances can be complicated. Before making a claim, you should seek advice from a specialist adviser, as any entitlement to the benefit and the amount you may get will depend on your individual circumstances. You can use our Find an Adviser tool to find advice in your local area.

For most prescribed diseases , meeting the IIDB criteria, you do not have to have worked in an occupation for any minimum length of time. 

There is also generally no time limit for claiming IIDB. You can still claim if your accident happened or disease started many years ago.

There are however some exceptions to the general rule that there is no length of time that a person must have been worked in an occupation with prescribed disease in order to claim IIBD for a few specific industrial diseases.

For Example,

• if you have occupational deafness, you must have worked in an occupation for 10 years and claim within five years of having done so.

• If you have occupational asthma, you must claim within 10 years of working in an occupation.

• If you have cataracts, you must have worked in an occupation for five years or more.

A doctor or other medical professional will assess you after you make your claim. They will assess how your disability affects you. The extent of your disablement will be stated as a percentage and you must usually be assessed as having at least 14% disablement to get benefit, although there are exceptions to this.

What documents do I need to claim Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit?

When you claim IIDB, you have to provide your national insurance number and evidence of your identity.

A claim can be backdated for up to three months if you would have been entitled to it earlier. It does not matter why your claim is late. Request this when claiming.

You cannot ask for IIDB to be backdated if you are claiming for loss of hearing.

If you disagree with the decision made on your benefit claim you can ask for a written statement of reasons.

If you still believe the decision is wrong, for example due to incorrect information being used, you can ask for it to be looked at again, and/or appeal.

The time limits are strict, you will usually be given one month to dispute a decision, so it is important to seek advice and act quickly.

Further information on Challenges and complaints
 

Related benefits

As well as IIDB, some people might get; 

Constant Attendance Allowance (CAA)

CAA is paid with IIDB if you need care and attention because of your disability and you have a 100% disablement assessment. There are four rates of benefit. The amount you get depends on what care you have to have and how often you need it.

The benefits office will automatically assess you for Constant Attendance Allowance if you are assessed as having 100% disablement when you claim IIDB. If your disability gets worse after you have claimed IIDB, you can ask about claiming Constant Attendance Allowance then.

You can find the current rates of Constant Attendance Allowance on GOV.UK website.

Exceptionally Severe Disablement Allowance (ESDA)

ESDA is paid with Constant Attendance Allowance. You only get this if you are getting Constant Attendance Allowance at one of the two higher rates, and your care needs are likely to be permanent. The current weekly rate of ESDA is £83.10. 

Reduced Earnings Allowance

This is a benefit you can get if your earnings are reduced because of your accident or disease, or if you cannot work at all. However, you can only get Reduced Earnings Allowance(REA) for industrial accidents that happened, or diseases that started, before 1 October 1990.

The amount of REA you get will depend on how much you earn in your regular employment.

Contact the Barnsley Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) centre for a claim form and more information

Retirement Allowance.

This is for people who have been getting Reduced Earnings Allowance and who stop working after they reach 66. You get Retirement Allowance at 25% of the rate of your Reduced Earnings Allowance when you stopped work. You do not have to make a claim for Retirement Allowance because you only get it if you have been getting Reduced Earnings Allowance.

Claims for the additional allowances listed above that you may get with IIDB can be complicated, general details have been provided on the allowances. You should seek advice from a specialist adviser before making a claim for IIDB and any allowances.  You can use our Find an Adviser tool to find local advice services in your area.

Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefits and other benefits

Industrial Injuries Disablement benefit, Reduced Earnings Allowance and Retirement Allowance are taken into account in full as income for the calculation of all means-tested benefit s. Constant Attendance Allowance and Exceptional Severe Disablement Allowance are disregarded.