Glossary
September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF)
A federal program run by the Department of Justice that pays people who were injured or became ill, and families of those who died, because of the 9/11 attacks and the cleanup. Claims can be filed until October 1, 2090.
The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF) pays compensation to people harmed by the 9/11 attacks and the debris removal that followed, and to the families of people who died. It is run by the U.S. Department of Justice. It is a government program, not a lawsuit or class action, and there is no fee to file.
The original fund operated after the attacks and closed. The Zadroga Act reactivated it in 2011, and Congress reauthorized it in 2015. The Never Forget the Heroes Act, signed July 29, 2019, permanently authorized the VCF and extended the claim filing deadline to October 1, 2090. That law also fully funded the program so that eligible claims could be paid in full.
Eligible people include responders, recovery and cleanup workers, and people who lived, worked, or went to school in the New York City exposure zone, plus those at the Pentagon and Shanksville sites. Conditions generally must be certified by the World Trade Center Health Program, and they include many cancers and respiratory diseases.
Two points trip people up. First, there is a separate registration deadline that is usually tied to when you learned your condition was 9/11 related, so do not assume you have until 2090. Second, receiving a VCF award means giving up the right to sue over the same injury. Check the official VCF website for your exact deadlines. Our page on the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund walks through eligibility, and the guide on taxes on settlements covers the tax side of injury payments.
Related on Best Class Actions
Sources.
Statutes, court rules, appellate opinions, and bar publications we relied on. See our editorial standards.