Industrial Injuries Disablement

Getting benefits if you got ill or were injured at work

You might be able to claim Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) if you’re disabled because you either:

were injured in an accident caused by your work – for example if you damaged your leg or got post-traumatic stress disorder
developed one of a list of medical conditions while at work – see the list of medical conditions covered by IIDB on GOV.UK

Can I claim IIDB?

To claim IIDB, when you got ill or were injured you must have been:

a paid employee – check if you’re an employee
an apprentice
on a government approved training scheme
an agency worker who paid National Insurance through your payslip

You usually need to have been in Great Britain or paying national insurance in the UK when you became ill or were injured. If you weren’t, contact your nearest Citizens Advice to see if you can still get IIDB.

When you apply for IIDB a medical examiner will assess you. The medical examiner decides how disabled you are on a scale of 1 to 100% – this is different from other types of disability benefit.

To get IIDB the medical examiner usually has to decide you’re at least 14% disabled. This doesn’t apply if you have:

pneumoconiosis
byssinosis
diffuse mesothelioma

How much IIDB will I get?

The amount of IIDB you’ll get depends on how disabled the medical examiner decides you are. Check how much you can get for different levels of disability on GOV.UK.

If the medical assessor decides you’re 100% disabled, you might also be able to get extra money. You might get one or both of:

Constant Attendance Allowance
Exceptionally Severe Disablement Allowance

Will IIDB affect my other benefits?

IIDB counts as income, so it will affect:

Universal Credit
Pension Credit
Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction
income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
Income Support
Constant Attendance Allowance and Exceptionally Severe Disablement Allowance don’t count as income.

IIDB won’t affect other benefits – for example you can get IIDB at the same time as Personal Independence Payments (PIP) or Attendance Allowance.

If you or your partner get IIDB, you won’t be affected by the ‘benefit cap’ which limits the amount of benefit payments a household can get.

When do I claim IIDB?

You can make a claim for IIDB straight away. You will start getting IIDB 90 days after you were first injured or became ill.

If you claim IIDB more than 90 days after you were injured or become ill, it will be backdated. IIDB can be backdated for up to 3 months, but it will still only start 90 days after you were first injured or became ill.

How do I claim IIDB?

There are 2 types of form depending on whether you’re claiming for a medical condition or an injury caused by an accident.

You can print an IIDB claim form from GOV.UK. If you can’t print off the form, call Barnsley IIDB Centre and they’ll post it to you.

Fill in the form and post it to Barnsley IIDB Centre. Write on the form if you’ll find it difficult to do any of the following:

go to a medical assessment in person
have an assessment over the phone
have an assessment by video call

Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefits (IIDB) Centre

Barnsley IIDB Centre
Mail Handling Site A
Wolverhampton
WV98 1SY

Telephone: 0800 121 8379
Textphone: 0800 169 0314

Further advice

Citizens Advice website

Government website

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Page last reviewed in October 2025

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