Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department are taking to ensure that no claimant for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit loses out due to delays in assessment due to the covid-19 outbreak.

I can reassure you that IIDB is being treated with the same priority as other benefits and we are working closely with our stakeholders to restart assessments safely as soon as possible. Once face-to-face assessments are recommenced and cases progressed, awards will be backdated to the date of claim to ensure no one is underpaid. In the meantime, for claimants with the most serious or terminal conditions, claims continue to be processed and decisions made as normal. We are actively considering how to deal with those cases not currently being processed.

Reassessment case awards have been extended to ensure that payments continue unhindered on those cases. Any deteriorations in condition which would have meant an increase in award, will be backdated once face-to-face assessments recommence, to ensure that no one is underpaid.