The Vaccine Damage Payment is a provision of the Welfare State in the United Kingdom which provides a substantial payment for people who can show they have suffered Vaccine injury.
This is a statutory scheme. It is not necessary to demonstrate negligence in order to qualify. £3.5m, that is 35 payments of £100,000 each was paid out to patients left disabled by vaccinations between 1997 and 2005.
The person must be severely disabled as a result of vaccination, with disablement must be assessed as at least 60%. The vaccination may not be of the claimant, but could be for the mother if she was vaccinated against one of the diseases in the list while she was pregnant, or the claimant may have been in close physical contact with someone had an oral vaccine against poliomyelitis.
The vaccination must have been for:
• The vaccination must have been before the claimant's 18th birthday unless the vaccination was during an outbreak of disease in the UK or the Isle of Man, or it was against: poliomyelitis, rubella, Meningococcal Group C, human papillomavirus, or pandemic influenza A (H1N1) 2009 (swine flu). The vaccination must have been given in the UK or the Isle of Man, unless you were vaccinated as part of Armed Forces medical treatment.
Amount: £120,000, not taxable.
Age limits: The claimant must be at least two years old. If the person is now dead they must have lived to be at least two.
Claims must be made within 6 years of the vaccination or by the age of 21 years, whichever is later.
Effect on other benefits: Can be ignored as a resource for Income Support if the money is held for a child, but otherwise may affect entitlement to Means-tested benefits. A vaccine damage payment will affect any claim for Legal Aid by, or on behalf of, the disabled person.
Residence requirements: The vaccination must have been in the UK or the Isle of Man. Families of the armed forces, vaccinated by service medical facilities, can claim. The claimant must normally live in the UK or the Isle of Man.
Appeals: There is a right of appeal to a Social Security and Child Support Tribunal. Figures released in 2005 under the Freedom of Information Act revealed that tribunals had paid out £3.5 million over the previous eight years.