Mineworkers' Vibration White Finger

HL Deb 24 September 2002 vol 638 cc245-6WA

Lord Lofthouse of Pontefract

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether, in respect of mineworkers' vibration white finger (VWF), a substantial number of claims are being denied at a later stage, even though such claims had previously been accepted; and whether they will instruct their claims handlers to honour the original decisions. [HL5334]

Lord Sainsbury of Turville

>: In respect of mineworker's vibration white finger, a small number of claims were accepted, only to be denied at a later stage.

In the light of the substantial number of claims which have been registered so far—146,209 as of 30 June 2002—by IRISC, the department's claims handlers, there have been a small minority of claimants who had their exposure to vibratory tools accepted and were medically assessed but subsequently had their exposure revised. The claims were therefore denied.