Frequently Asked Questions

A: To qualify for a Skipton Fund payment you must have been infected with hepatitis C as a result of treatment from NHS blood or blood products prior to September 1991.

A: Applications will be dealt with on the balance of probabilities where there is evidence of an applicant receiving treatment with NHS blood or blood products contained within their medical notes but not necessarily that the batch was contaminated with the hepatitis C virus. The Skipton Fund are aware that in many cases it would be very difficult to confirm whether or not a particular batch of blood was contaminated so many years after it was administered.

A: Those who have been diagnosed as having been infected with hepatitis C but have cleared the virus in the acute phase of the disease without the need of interferon based treatment are currently NOT eligible to claim from the Skipton Fund.

A: A First Stage payment of £20,000 is available to those who are eligible for payment under the scheme.

For recipients of the first stage payment whose hepatitis C infection has led to advanced liver disease or B cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma there is a Second Stage payment of £50,000 available to claim. Those who have received the Stage 2 payment are also entitled to additional annual payments of £13,200 which is paid at monthly or quarterly intervals.

A: All people wishing to make a claim from the Skipton Fund must first register. You can do this online by clicking here, or you can telephone the Skipton Fund by calling 020 7808 1160 to request a paper registration form by post which must then be returned to the Skipton Fund.

Upon receipt of your registration you will be sent the appropriate Stage 1 application form and guidance notes.

A: Any UK doctor who has access to your records can complete the form, however, if you are registered with a centre/consultant we would recommend that you approach them first to complete the form as they will have access to test results and other information that may not be with your GP.

A: Once the Fund has the form back from your doctor it will take on average 28 working days to process. All possible efforts will be made to reduce this time but it is dependant on the volumes of applications being received and the standard of form completion.

A: This is usually because we require more information before we can make a decision on your application. This can be for a variety of reasons, but is most commonly due to incomplete information from your doctor. In many circumstances this situation can be avoided by having your consultant fill out your application form (where possible), as opposed to your GP or another doctor who does not know you very well, or may not have access to your complete medical records.

A: There is no time limit in place to make an application for either the stage 1 or stage 2 payments.

A: All of your details are held on our database until such time as they are no longer needed. We will only use your personal information in accordance with our Privacy Statement.

A: The following categories of people are eligible to make an application to the Skipton Fund as a secondary infectee:

• spouse or civil partner;
• person who was living with the person from whom the virus was transmitted as husband or wife or in a relationship which had the characteristics of the relationship between civil partners (or if the person from whom the virus was transmitted was in hospital immediately before death, had been so living when that person was admitted to hospital);
• other cohabitant (whether or not of the same sex as the person from whom the virus was transmitted);
• where the person from whom the virus was transmitted was a mother, a son or daughter of the mother;

In all cases a successful 1st stage claim must have been made by the party who you feel was the source of your infection before you are able to apply. Determining if a party was the source of infection will also be dealt with on the balance of probabilities.

A: Yes. Please note, you can no longer apply on behalf of the estate of someone who died prior to 29 August 2003 as the government-imposed window for these types of application closed on 31 March 2011. Please contact the Skipton Fund for more information.