Published 7 May 2026
Our second quarterly Board meeting took place on Wednesday 6 May, you can watch it on our YouTube channel.
This is part of our commitment to being open and transparent. You can also see the agenda and board papers on our website.
We apologise for the technical difficulties affecting the sound during the first half of the meeting.
The main items discussed were:
- a progress update from David Foley
- an update from the Community Advisory Panel Chair, Tim Green
- an update on our financial position
- evidence requirements for making a claim and what we have learnt
- identification requirements when you start your claim
- our business plan.
IBCA progress update
The Board heard there is now a steady increase in the number of living infected never compensated (LINC) claims being brought in, and we expect this to continue in the coming weeks. We are more confident in processing this type of claim, as many of the issues we have come across are similar to those already resolved for our first group of claims.
We are continuing to bring those representing deceased infected people, and those who are affected, into the claim service. Numbers are currently lower for these groups while we work through issues such as evidence needed and probate or confirmation being in place for estates.
Please see our latest statistics for details.
Update from the Community Advisory Panel
Tim Green, Chairperson of the Community Advisory Panel (CAP), gave the Board an update on the panel's roles, responsibilities, and recommendations.
The CAP is a diverse and independent group, established earlier this year. They offer experience-led advice, feedback and guidance to the Board.
You can find out more about the panel's role and who sits on it on our website.
Tim's update focused on four key areas:
- the need for greater transparency and clear communication about the challenges in delivering a compensation claim service
- the potential for a triage approach to identify straightforward claims through more quickly
- concern that current evidence thresholds may be overly risk-averse
- the importance of building genuine two-way relationships, where members of the community can see how their feedback shapes decisions.
You can read the full CAP update on our website and we are currently preparing a response to all recommendations put forward by CAP which will be shared with panel members, and then with everyone on our website.
The CAP is just one of the ways we listen to the community. Your views are central to how we design and deliver the compensation claim service, and your feedback directly helps us build a claim service that works for you.
If you have a concern you'd like to share, you can email us at feedbackandconcerns@ibca.org.uk.
Update on our financial position
During the early part of the Board meeting we experienced some technical difficulties with the sound. Through Facebook, many of you told us that you were unable to clearly hear our Chief Executive, David Foley, explain how IBCA’s budget was spent over the last financial year. We apologise for this.
Our budget pays for IBCA’s running costs, and is separate from money that is allocated for compensation payments. During the last financial year (2025 to 2026), IBCA spent £126 million of IBCA’s £136 million budget. This means that we spent around 7% less than we had forecast. This was mainly due to uncertainty when we estimated how many people eligible to claim would want financial and legal support.
A provisional budget of £171.3m has now been agreed for the 2026 to 2027 financial year. This does not come from, and is entirely separate from, the compensation funding set aside for those eligible to claim.
Evidence requirements and what we have learnt
The Board received an update on what we are learning from our testing phase for each type of claim (often known as the private beta phase), focusing on evidence requirements across each group.
For affected claims, we have been learning what evidence is needed to prove a relationship with the ‘foundational claim’. A foundational claim is the claim made by the infected person, which must be processed before an affected person (a partner, family member or carer) can start their own claim. We have now worked through a range of relationships and how these can be shown - for example through school records and other types of evidence.
For living infected people who have never previously been compensated, we have been able to accelerate through the initial testing phase more quickly, as many evidence requirements mirror previous learnings from our first group of claims.
For deceased infected claims, learning is increasing around probate and confirmation, representatives of estates, and the evidence needed, including for hepatitis B cases which were not covered under support schemes.
Across all groups, more people than initially expected are being supported through the assisted digital route (this is where people need help to use digital parts of the claim service). We are exploring the reasons for this and how best to help people through the process, including how to confirm their identity online where this is the best route for them.
Identification requirements when you start your claim
Concerns were raised about the level of identity verification (IDV) required in the claim process. Some public services have a medium standard for identity verification, which usually requires simple checks like scanning a driving license. We have a ‘high confidence standard’. This means we ask for secure documents like passports, and reflects the high value of compensation payments and sensitivity of information we need. This is supported by fraud risk assessments validated by the Public Sector Fraud Authority. We continue to review how this is working in practice for those claiming.
For those unable to complete an online identity check, an assisted digital route is available.
Our business plan
The Board received an update on our business plan, which will outline what we will deliver this financial year, in line with the budget which the Board approved. It will focus on four pillars:
- pay people - our core objective, to deliver compensation to everyone who is eligible as quickly as possible, and consider legislative changes (such as the 4th regulations which are expected to come into law later this year)
- listen and act - developing how we get feedback from you and those that represent you, and act on it
- maturing the organisation - how we continue to build IBCA to deliver
- planning for the future - planning to complete our mission beyond the current financial year.
Following feedback from the Community Advisory Panel, we are considering what this means for our business plan. This will then be discussed and agreed at our next public board meeting in July, and published on our website.
Minutes of the board meeting will also be available on our website soon.