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Written Question
Pneumoconiosis: Compensation
Friday 5th August 2016

Asked by: Alan Meale (Labour - Mansfield)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many recipients of posthumous claims for compensation under the (a) Pneumoconiosis etc (Workers' Compensation) Act 1979 and (b) Coal Workers Pneumoconiosis Scheme 1974 were found to be in receipt of less compensation than they were entitled to after the post-mortem evidence for those claims was submitted.

Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons

There have been no such claims.


Written Question
Pneumoconiosis: Compensation
Wednesday 3rd August 2016

Asked by: Alan Meale (Labour - Mansfield)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many posthumous claims for compensation under the (a) Pneumoconiosis etc (Workers' Compensation) Act 1979 and (b) Coal Workers Pneumoconiosis Scheme 1974 were successful in each of the last 30 years.

Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons

With regards to the Pneumoconiosis etc (Workers Compensation) Act 1979, the Department for Work and Pensions have advised that the information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

For the Coal Workers Pneumoconiosis Scheme 1974 (CWPS) the figures for posthumous claims received and paid, and the reasons for the difference between the two are shown in the table below:

Year

Deceased Claims Received

Dec’d Claims Paid

Denials & Work In Progress (WIP)

Duplicate Claim Denial

Failed Eligibility Denial

Nil Offer*

Work In Progress/Withdrawn/ Other Denial

2011

41

17

5

15

3

1

2012

104

65

20

6

3

10

2013

160

103

18

13

14

12

2014

153

96

19

13

18

7

2015

169

101

20

20

24

4

2016

70

33

6

7

7

17

* Nil Offer – a claim under the 1979 Act resulted in a higher award than would have been payable under the CWPS

N.B. Figures only available from July 2011 onwards when current claims handler took on the contract.


Written Question
Pneumoconiosis: Compensation
Wednesday 3rd August 2016

Asked by: Alan Meale (Labour - Mansfield)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many posthumous claims for compensation under the (a) Pneumoconiosis etc (Workers' Compensation) Act 1979 and (b) Coal Workers Pneumoconiosis Scheme 1974 were submitted in each of the last 30 years.

Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons

With regards to the Pneumoconiosis etc (Workers Compensation) Act 1979, the Department for Work and Pensions have advised that the information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

For the Coal Workers Pneumoconiosis Scheme 1974 (CWPS) the figures for posthumous claims received and paid, and the reasons for the difference between the two are shown in the table below:

Year

Deceased Claims Received

Dec’d Claims Paid

Denials & Work In Progress (WIP)

Duplicate Claim Denial

Failed Eligibility Denial

Nil Offer*

Work In Progress/Withdrawn/ Other Denial

2011

41

17

5

15

3

1

2012

104

65

20

6

3

10

2013

160

103

18

13

14

12

2014

153

96

19

13

18

7

2015

169

101

20

20

24

4

2016

70

33

6

7

7

17

* Nil Offer – a claim under the 1979 Act resulted in a higher award than would have been payable under the CWPS

N.B. Figures only available from July 2011 onwards when current claims handler took on the contract.


Written Question
Pneumoconiosis: Compensation
Wednesday 3rd August 2016

Asked by: Alan Meale (Labour - Mansfield)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reasons his Department included in the tender document to administer the Coal Workers Pneumoconiosis Scheme 1974 a requirement that all posthumous claims to that scheme be accompanied by a grant of probate.

Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons

There was no separate tender document for the administration of the Coal Workers Pneumoconiosis Scheme. The Department’s tender did not therefore have any bearings on the requirements under the Scheme.

Before payments can be made under the CWPS, claims handlers must ensure that the person making the claim is entitled to do so. Provision of probate is sometimes necessary in posthumous claims to ensure that the correct person receives the compensation and also to ensure that the positions of both the estate and the taxpayer are adequately and proportionately protected against fraud.


Written Question
Pneumoconiosis: Compensation
Wednesday 3rd August 2016

Asked by: Alan Meale (Labour - Mansfield)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which signatories to the Coal Workers Pneumoconiosis Scheme 1974 were consulted by his Department prior to the inclusion in the tender document to administer that scheme a requirement that all claims to that scheme be accompanied by a grant of probate.

Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons

There was no separate tender document for the administration of the Coal Workers Pneumoconiosis Scheme (CWPS), hence there was no such consultation.