Asked by: Baroness Sherlock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many payments have been made by the NHS and Social Care Coronavirus Life Assurance Scheme; and what was the total value of those payments.
Answered by Lord Bethell
As of 4 November, the NHS and Social Care Coronavirus Life Assurance Scheme (England) has received 236 claims. Payment has been made for 96 of those claims. A further 109 have been accepted for payment pending proof of probate from the claimant, and the remainder are going through the stages of being processed and assessed. The total value of accepted claims is £12,300,000.
Asked by: Baroness Sherlock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any decision by an employer not to certify an application to the NHS and Social Care Coronavirus Life Assurance Scheme concerning a deceased employee falls within the remit of (1) the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, (2) the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, or (3) any other ombudsman or regulator.
Answered by Lord Bethell
A claim can be made without employer involvement. The NHS Business Services Authority, as the scheme administrator, can assist the next of kin with the claims process. So far, no claims have been received without input from employers.
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is the decision maker for the scheme. Any complaint regarding a decision would fall within the remit of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.
Asked by: Baroness Sherlock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether an employer’s decision not to certify an application to the NHS and Social Care Coronavirus Life Assurance Scheme concerning a deceased employee can be challenged; and if so, how.
Answered by Lord Bethell
A claim can be made without employer involvement. The NHS Business Services Authority, as the scheme administrator, can assist the next of kin with the claims process. So far, no claims have been received without input from employers.
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is the decision maker for the scheme. Any complaint regarding a decision would fall within the remit of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.
Asked by: Baroness Sherlock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people have had benefit claims rejected due to receipt of payments from the NHS and Social Care Coronavirus Life Assurance Scheme.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The information requested is not available.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the deaths of care home staff, how many applications have been made by relatives of care home staff to the NHS and Social Care Coronavirus Life Assurance scheme; how many of those applications have been processed; what the total amount of money paid out in respect of those applications has been; and how many of those applications have been rejected.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government launched the NHS and Social Care Coronavirus Life Assurance scheme on 20 May 2020. The scheme is non-contributory and pays a £60,000 lump sum where staff who had been recently working where personal care is provided to individuals who have contracted COVID-19 die as a result of the virus.
As of 16 September 2020, the scheme administrator has received 57 claims to the scheme from the families of staff who had been working in care homes. Of these 57 claims, 21 have been paid and 30 have been agreed for payment subject to receiving probate. Five claims require further information and one is in the process of being considered.
As of 16 September 2020, a total of £1,260,000 has been paid to the families of care home staff under the scheme. Where a case is accepted, the payment is always £60,000. To date no claims have been rejected.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the £60,000 life assurance payment for NHS and social care covid-19 victims is disregarded for means-tested benefits.
Answered by Will Quince
The Government launched the NHS and Social Care Coronavirus Life Assurance scheme on 20 May 2020. The £60,000 payment it provides is tax-free and aims to provide a substantial level of financial security to the families of health and social care workers who die from coronavirus. Benefits from the scheme are payable in addition to additional survivor benefits individuals may have purchased, such as those provided by the NHS Pension Scheme.
A key principle is that Universal Credit and other means-tested benefits should only go to people who do not have assets available to meet their basic needs. This is to ensure that we can maintain our focus on getting money to families who most need it.
As the NHS and Social Care Coronavirus Life Assurance scheme is non-contributory and taxpayer funded, payments are factored into means-testing to ensure fairness and affordability for the public purse.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bethell on 15 June (HL4730), how many (1) claims, and (2) payments, have been made to the families of deceased care homes staff under the terms of the life assurance scheme for frontline National Health Service and social care staff; and what steps they have taken to draw the attention of families of deceased care homes staff to this scheme.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Government launched the NHS and Social Care Coronavirus Life Assurance scheme on 20 May 2020. The scheme is non-contributory and pays a £60,000 lump sum where staff who had been recently working where personal care is provided to individuals who have contracted COVID-19 die as a result of the virus.
As of 13 July 2020, the scheme administrator has received 29 claims for social care as a whole in England, of which 25 claims are from the families of staff who had been providing adult social care in a care home. This is out of a total of 57 claims to the scheme. Of these 25, eight have been agreed for payment subject to receiving probate, nine require further information and eight are in the process of consideration.
The Department worked closely with stakeholders in the adult social care sector to ensure the details of the scheme were made as widely available as possible. This included cascading the information to employers through provider representatives, and also through the Care Quality Commission.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many applications have (a) been made and (b) accepted under the NHS and Social Care Coronavirus Life Assurance scheme since its introduction.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS and Social Care Coronavirus Life Assurance (England) Scheme 2020 opened on 20 May 2020. As of 8 July 2020, 51 claim forms have been received, 19 of these have been assessed as eligible and the families notified that the lump sum will be paid once probate is received. The remaining 32 claim forms are currently being considered and no decision has yet been made.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of claims made (a) successfully and (b) overall to the NHS and Social Care Coronavirus Life Assurance Scheme 2020.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS and Social Care Coronavirus Life Assurance (England) Scheme 2020 opened on 20 May 2020. As of 8 July 2020, 51 claim forms have been received, 19 of these have been assessed as eligible and the families notified that the lump sum will be paid once probate is received. The other 32 claim forms are currently being considered and no decision has yet been made. No claim form has yet been found to be ineligible.
No estimate has been made of the costs of successful claims although the upper limit will be the total number of COVID-19 deaths of health and social care staff. Mortality data from the Office for National Statistics shows there were 272 health care deaths and 268 social care deaths involving COVID-19 registered between 9 March and 25 May 2020 (in England, of those aged 20-64 years).
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of claims to the NHS and Social Care Coronavirus Life Assurance Scheme 2020 have been successful.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS and Social Care Coronavirus Life Assurance (England) Scheme 2020 opened on 20 May 2020. As of 8 July 2020, 51 claim forms have been received, 19 of these have been assessed as eligible and the families notified that the lump sum will be paid once probate is received. The other 32 claim forms are currently being considered and no decision has yet been made. No claim form has yet been found to be ineligible.
No estimate has been made of the costs of successful claims although the upper limit will be the total number of COVID-19 deaths of health and social care staff. Mortality data from the Office for National Statistics shows there were 272 health care deaths and 268 social care deaths involving COVID-19 registered between 9 March and 25 May 2020 (in England, of those aged 20-64 years).