New Datasets Now Available: Vaccine Damage Payments Scheme

Data in relation to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) has been published on our Open Data Portal. 

The VDPS provides a one-off, tax-free payment, currently of £120,000. Under the government’s rules for the scheme, to qualify for a Vaccine Damage Payment, it must be proved that:

• an eligible vaccine was received
• on the balance of probabilities, the vaccine caused the disability
• the resulting disablement is severe

Severely disabled means at least 60% as defined by the principles for assessing the extent of disablement. These are set out in:

• Section 103 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992
• Schedule 2 of the Social Security (General Benefit) Regulations 1982

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) administers the VDPS on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). DHSC is responsible for the scheme’s rules, including the Vaccine Damage Payments Act 1979 and the disablement criteria. 

The VDPS is not a compensation scheme. 

What is available

Two datasets are available on the Open Data Portal:

• COVID-19 claims
• Non-COVID-19 claims

The data covers all claims received by us and those transferred to us from the previous administrators (the Department for Work and Pensions) – the NHSBSA took over administration of the VDPS on 1 November 2021.

Both datasets provide information on claims received, including the number of:

• awarded claims
• rejected claims
• claims that did not meet the criteria for medical assessment (invalid claims)
• claims that have not yet reached an outcome (live claims)
• mandatory reversals received

Media enquiries 

Please contact communicationsteam@nhsbsa.nhs.uk if you plan on producing a press or broadcast story based upon the data. This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented. 

Explore the datasets now:

https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/vdps-covid-19
https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/vdps-non-covid-19

We're committed to providing you with high-quality, open data resources. Your feedback is crucial in helping us improve and expand our offerings.

Sincerely,

The NHSBSA Open Data Team