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Dept of Social Security

Answer

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he plans to announce the Government's response to recent consultation exercises on the compensation recovery scheme. [40057] Mr. Lilley: An announcement of the Government's intention to reform the compensation recovery scheme was made on 9 October. I wrote to the hon. Member at that time. The Government intend to reform the compensation recovery scheme so that damages for pain and suffering can be paid in full. We therefore propose that compensators should be made liable for all relevant social security benefits paid to the victims of injury or disease. Damages paid to the victim will be adjusted accordingly to ensure that victims are not doubly compensated. Legislation to reform the compensation recovery scheme will be introduced at the earliest opportunity. We propose that the rules of the reformed scheme will apply to all compensation claims outstanding at the point of change. The implementation date will depend on when parliamentary time can be made available for the necessary amending legislation. We plan to remove the small payments limit, below which compensation recovery does not take place, at the same time.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

40057; 282 c776-7W;282 c774-5W

Session

1995-96

Subjects

Compensation Personal injury Social security benefits Compensation Recovery Unit