Industrial Injuries and Diseases (Old Cases) Act 1975

JurisdictionUK Non-devolved
Citation1975 c. 16


Industrial Injuries andDiseases (Old Cases) Act 1975

1975 CHAPTER 16

An Act to consolidate the Industrial Injuries and Diseases (Old Cases) Acts 1967 to 1974 and related enactments.

[20th March 1975]

Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

Continuation and supplementation of workmen's compensation

Continuation and supplementation of workmen's compensation

S-1 Continuation of workmen's compensation in certain cases.

1 Continuation of workmen's compensation in certain cases.

1. The Workmen's Compensation Acts and any other enactment specified in Schedule 9 to the original Industrial Injuries Act which was repealed by section 89 of that Act shall continue to apply to any cases to which, if the former Old Cases Act had not been passed, they would have applied by virtue of the said section 89, being certain cases where a right to compensation arises or has arisen in respect of employment before 5th July 1948.

S-2 Schemes for supplementing workmen's compensation.

2 Schemes for supplementing workmen's compensation.

(1) The Secretary of State may, by scheme made with the consent of the Treasury, provide for conferring a right to allowances payable out of the National Insurance Fund on persons who are, or have at any time after 20th March 1951 been, entitled to weekly payments by way of workmen's compensation, other than a person whose entitlement to such payments—

(a ) arose in consequence of an accident happening after 31st December 1923; and

(b ) ceased before 5th July 1956.

(2) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the right to such an allowance or to a payment on account thereof shall be subject to such conditions, and the rate of the allowance shall be such, as may be provided by a scheme under subsection (1) of this section.

(3) The allowances for the payment of which a scheme under subsection (1) of this section may make provision shall be—

(a ) where the relevant accident happened before 1st January 1924, an allowance (in this section referred to as a ‘basic allowance’) in respect of any period such as is mentioned in subsection (7) below;

(b ) an allowance in respect of any period such as is mentioned in subsection (7)(a ) (in this section referred to as a ‘major incapacity allowance’);

(c ) subject to subsections (4) and (5) below, an allowance in respect of any period such as is mentioned in subsection (7)(b ) (in this section referred to as a ‘lesser incapacity allowance’);

and a major incapacity allowance or lesser incapacity allowance in respect of any period shall be payable whether or not a basic allowance is also payable in respect of that period.

(4) A lesser incapacity allowance—

(a ) shall not be payable to any person in respect of any period unless there is or may be expected to be (or, but for the cesser at a time after 1st March 1966 of that person's entitlement to workmen's compensation, would or might be expected to have been) payable to that person in respect of that period either a weekly payment by way of basic allowance or a weekly payment by way of workmen's compensation which is not a notional payment;

(b ) except to a person who immediately before 1st March 1966 was receiving an allowance under a scheme made under the Workmen's Compensation (Supplementation) Act 1951 , shall not be payable if the relevant accident happened after 31st December 1923 and the claimant's entitlement to workmen's compensation in consequence thereof ceased before 1st March 1966.

(5) For the purposes of a lesser incapacity allowance, a weekly payment by way of workmen's compensation shall be treated as a notional payment if awarded or paid for the purpose of safeguarding a potential entitlement to compensation and not related to any existing loss of earnings; and a scheme under subsection (1) above may provide that—

(a ) in such circumstances or cases as may be specified in the scheme; and

(b ) in particular, in cases where weekly payments by way of such compensation are being paid to a person to whom such payments were not made, or were made at a lower rate, during the period of 12 months immediately preceding such date not earlier than 30th November 1965 as may be specified in the scheme,

a weekly payment by way of such compensation shall be deemed to be a notional payment unless the contrary is proved.

(6) The weekly rate—

(a ) of a basic allowance shall not exceed 2 less the amount of the recipient's workmen's compensation and, in respect of a period such as is mentioned in subsection (7)(b ) below which is a period of partial incapacity only, shall also not exceed the difference between 2/3rds of the amount representing his weekly loss of earnings determined in accordance with a scheme under subsection (1) and the amount of his workmen's compensation;

(b ) of a major incapacity allowance shall be the corresponding disablement pension rate less the amount of the recipient's workmen's compensation and less the amount of his basic allowance, if any;

(c ) of a lesser incapacity allowance shall not exceed 7.

(7) The periods referred to in the foregoing provisions of this section are—

(a ) any period during which the person claiming or receiving an allowance under this section—

(i) being or having been entitled to his workmen's compensation in respect of any injury or disease other than pneumoconiosis or byssinosis, is as a result of that injury or disease totally incapable of work and likely to remain so incapable for a considerable period; or

(ii)being or having been entitled to his workmen's compensation in respect of pneumoconiosis, is certified under a scheme made under the Workmen's Compensation (Silicosis) Act 1918(asoriginally enacted or as extended by the Workmen's Compensation (Silicosis) Act 1924) or under section 47 of the Workmen's Compensation Act 1925(asoriginally enacted or as extended by any subsequent enactment), or is determined in accordance with a scheme under subsection (1) above, to be totally disabled; or

(iii) is, or but for the determination of his right would be, entitled to his workmen's compensation in respect of byssinosis; or

(iv) being or having been entitled to his workmen's compensation in respect of two or more injuries or diseases such as are mentioned in the three foregoing sub-paragraphs, is as the joint result of those injuries or diseases totally incapable of work and likely to remain so incapable for a considerable period;

(b ) any period which, not being a period such as is mentioned in paragraph (a ) of this subsection, is a period of total or partial incapacity for work resulting from the relevant injury or disease.

S-3 Provisions supplementary to s. 2.

3 Provisions supplementary to s. 2.

(1) For the purposes of section 2 of this Act—

(a ) the expressions ‘relevant accident’ and ‘relevant injury or disease’ mean the accident in consequence of which or, as the case may be, the injury or disease in respect of which, an entitlement to weekly payments by way of workmen's compensation arose;

(b ) any reference to the happening of an accident shall, in relation to a case of disease, be construed in the same way as for the purposes of the Workmen's Compensation Acts;

(c ) a payment—

(i) under the Workmen's Compensation (War Addition) Acts 1917 and 1919; or

shall be treated as a weekly payment by way of workmen's compensation.

(2) For the purposes of section 2(1), a person shall be deemed to be or have been entitled to weekly payments by way of workmen's compensation at any time if he would be or, as the case may be, have been so entitled at that time if—

(a ) the amount of any payment, allowance or benefit received by him otherwise than by way of workmen's compensation; or

(b ) where the relevant accident happened before 1st January 1924, either that amount, or the amount he is earning or able to earn in some suitable employment or business, or both those amounts,

were sufficiently reduced.

(3) Subject to subsection (7) below, for the purpose of the reference in section 2(7)(b ) to a period of total incapacity for work resulting from the relevant injury or disease, a person who is or has been unable to obtain employment shall be treated as subject to such an incapacity if he is treated as being so for the purposes of his workmen's compensation in respect of the relevant injury or disease and in such other circumstances as may be provided by a scheme under section 2.

(4) Any reference in section 2 or this section to the amount of a person's workmen's compensation shall (subject to subsections (5) to (7) below) be taken as referring to the amount, if any, of the weekly payments to which for the time being he is, or would but for the determination of his right be, entitled in respect of the relevant injury or disease;

Provided that—

(a ) where in fixing the amount of those weekly payments under the provisions relating thereto regard was had to any payment, allowance or benefit which he might receive during the period of his incapacity from the person liable for the compensation, and the amount is shown to...

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