About the scheme
You can make a claim for the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) if you were severely disabled by a vaccination administered in Jersey on or after 1 December 2020.
Vaccine Damage Payments are one-off tax-free payments.
You can receive other disability-related financial support, including:
- benefits
- tax credits
- payments
- grants
- concessions
Vaccine Damage Payments are not meant to provide long term relief and will not affect your benefits entitlement.
Find more information on other support on
sickness, injury and disability.
If you’re over 16, you can make a claim yourself.
You can apply on someone else’s behalf if they’re
-
under 16 and you’re their parent or guardian
- not able to manage their own affairs, or have died, and you manage their estate
To claim for a child, you must wait until they’re 2 years old.
To claim for an adult, apply by whichever is the latest of the following dates:
- on or before their 21st birthday
- if they’ve died, the date they would have reached 21
- within 6 years of the vaccination
The scheme is operated by the NHS Business Service Authority. They will look into your claim and advise us if you should receive a payment.
For more information on the claim process email
vdpsjersey@nhsbsa.nhs.uk. For question about the Jersey scheme policy email
vaccinedamages@gov.je.
If the vaccination was administered in the UK or Isle of Man you need to make
claim for a Vaccine Damage Payment on the NHS.
Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme privacy notice
What is ‘severely disabled’
Disablement is worked out as a percentage. ‘Severely disabled’ means at least 60% disabled.
This could be a mental or physical disablement. It’ll be based on medical evidence from the doctors or hospitals involved in your treatment.
Eligibility
Your vaccine must have been administered in Jersey on or after 1 December 2020.
It must have also been obtained through the Jersey hospital pharmacy. Most vaccinations administered in Jersey are obtained this way.
You could get a payment if your disability was caused by vaccination against the following diseases:
- coronavirus (COVID-19)
- diphtheria
- haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib)
- human papillomavirus
- influenza, except for influenza caused by a pandemic influenza virus
- measles
- meningococcal group B (meningitis B)
- meningococcal group C (meningitis C)
- meningococcal group W (meningitis W)
- mumps
- pertussis (whooping cough)
- pneumococcal infection
- poliomyelitis
- rotavirus
- rubella (German measles)
- tetanus
You must normally have been vaccinated before you turned 18 unless the vaccination was against:
- coronavirus (COVID-19)
- poliomyelitis
- rubella
- meningococcal group C
- human papillomavirus
- pandemic influenza A (H1N1) 2009 (swine flu)
- meningococcal group W before your 26th birthday
- influenza
- tuberculosis (TB)
You may have had a combined vaccination against a number of the diseases listed. For example, you might have been vaccinated against DTP (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis) or MMR (measles, mumps and rubella).
You could also get a payment if you’re severely disabled because either:
- your mother was vaccinated against 1 of the diseases above while she was pregnant
- you’ve been in close physical contact with someone who’s had an oral vaccine against poliomyelitis
You can also apply for this payment on behalf of someone who has died after becoming severely disabled. You need to be managing their estate to apply.
We’ll request a document from you that shows you have the authority to manage the vaccinated person’s estate. For example:
- letters of administration
- last will and testament
- Deed of Trust
- Grant of Probate
The scheme does not cover Long COVID conditions.
Make a claim
You need to complete a claim form and submit it to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme.
You must make your application by 30 April 2026 to be considered for the scheme.
Claim for a Vaccine Damage Payment on the NHS
Send the completed claim form to
vdpsjersey@nhsbsa.nhs.uk or post to:
Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme
Unit 5 Greenfinch Way
Newburn Business Park
Newcastle-upon-Tyne
NE15 8NX
You can also contact the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme to ask for a claim form:
Claim process
The NHS Business Service Authority will request medical records from the healthcare providers listed on your claim form. When we receive a full set of medical records your claim will be shared with an independent medical assessor.
The independent medical assessor will look at:
- your claim form
- your full medical records
- clinical research
- epidemiological evidence
- current consensus of expert medical opinion
Find more information on the
Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) claim process on the NHS.
The independent medical assessor will advise us if you can receive a payment.
We will:
- decide whether to award the payment based on the recommendation of the independent medical assessor
- write to you to tell you the outcome
- arrange payment for successful applicants
The length of time it takes to investigate and process a claim varies from case to case.
As part of the process of the scheme, a medical assessment can only commence once full medical records are received from the healthcare providers listed on your claim form and this can take time.
Appeal the decision
You can challenge the decision about your payment claim. This is called a ‘mandatory reversal’.
You must write to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme:
- explain why you think the decision is wrong
- include new evidence to support your application. Only include evidence you have not already sent
You also need to include:
- the date of the original payment decision
- your name and address
- your date of birth
- your social security number
You can email
vdpsjersey@nhsbsa.nhs.uk or send a letter by post to:
Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme
Unit 5 Greenfinch Way
Newburn Business Park
Newcastle-upon-Tyne
NE15 8NX
What happens next
The Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme will share your claim form and new evidence with an independent medical assessor.
The independent medical assessor will advise whether you’re due a payment.
We’ll write to you to tell you the outcome. A clinical assessment report from the independent medical assessor explaining the reasons for their decision will be included.
If you disagree with the outcome
If you disagree with the outcome of your mandatory reversal and want to challenge it, you can ask for another mandatory reversal.
There’s no limit on the number of times you can make this request and no time limit. You must include new information to support your claim each time otherwise your request will not be considered.
If you’re unhappy with the way the we handled your claim, you can contact email
vaccinedamages@gov.je or make a complaint on
give us your feedback.
For any policy-related queries or subject access requests email
vaccinedamages@gov.je.
gov.je