🇬🇧 UK: Insurance adjusters pocket millions, COVID vaccine victims undercompensated

This scandal highlights not only the suffering of the victims, but also the injustice of a system designed to minimize compensation.

By Lalaina Andriamparany for Le Courrier des Stratèges

A recent Telegraph investigation reveals that insurance experts who assessed Covid vaccine damage claims on behalf of the NHS were paid millions more than the victims. The US-based firm, Crawford and Company, received $27,264,896 for its services. The firm conducted nearly 13,000 medical assessments but rejected more than 98% of the claims. Only 203 people received a lump sum settlement of $120,000 through the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS), a program run by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA).

The NHS (National Health Service), Department of Health and Social Care in England, has outsourced the assessment of compensation claims for injuries caused by Covid-19 vaccines to external consultants such as the American firm Crawford and Company. These experts reportedly received millions more than the victims.

Crawford and Company paid more than the victims

Professor Richard Goldberg, a legal expert at Durham University, has expressed outrage at the lack of clarity surrounding the VDPS. He believes entrusting a private company with the responsibility of assessing compensation is a questionable practice. He denounces a "terrible sense of secrecy" and a lack of data to understand the decision-making criteria.

The criticism is all the more intense given that Crawford and Company is accused of systematically rejecting claims, even when there is solid medical evidence. On platforms such as Trustpilot and Glassdoor, the company has a rating of 1.4 stars, reflecting deep dissatisfaction among claimants.

Information obtained by the Telegraph revealed that it conducted approximately 13,000 medical assessments. However, the American company rejected more than 98% of the claims.

It was also revealed that only 203 claimants were informed of their right to receive a one-time payment of $120,000 under the Vaccine Damage Compensation Scheme (VDPS). This brings the total amount of compensation paid to $24,360,000. However, Crawford Company received $27,264,896 for its services.

Hart (Health Advisory and Recovery Team), a group created by health professionals and scientists during the pandemic, has already highlighted the poor reputation of this American company. It cited "numerous reports of mismanagement and claim denials across various sectors."

Compensation Difficult to Obtain

For a claim to be accepted, the claimant must prove that the vaccine directly caused harm and that this injury resulted in a disability of at least 60%. This threshold, deemed arbitrary, was reduced from 80% to 60% in 2002, without any official explanation.

Among the few compensation awards, some concerned strokes, heart attacks, blood clots, spinal cord inflammation, and facial paralysis. Approximately 97% of the cases involved the AstraZeneca vaccine, while a few cases involved Pfizer or Moderna.

Despite these revelations, the institutions involved remain silent. The NHSBSA has not provided an explanation, and Crawford and Company has referred all inquiries to that body. This scandal highlights not only the suffering of the victims, but also the injustice of a system designed to minimize compensation.

Since the start of the mass vaccination campaign against Covid-19, many voices have raised alarms about the adverse, even potentially fatal, effects of these injections. These vaccines, mostly based on messenger RNA technology, were imposed by governments as an essential solution in the face of successive waves of the epidemic. However, today, scandals related to victim compensation are calling this strategy into question.