The 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund: Who Qualifies, the Award Caps, Attorney Fees and the Deadlines
The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund compensates people with a physical health condition from the attacks or the rescue, recovery and cleanup, and the families of those who died of one. It is a federal program run by the Justice Department, not a lawsuit. This page quotes the Fund's own pages, and the tool below applies its caps, offsets and fee limit to your figures and counts your registration deadline.
The first rule: “The signing of the VCF Permanent Authorization Act in 2019 appropriates such funds as may be necessary to pay all approved claims and extends the VCF’s claim filing deadline to October 1, 2090.” (VCF, Getting Started (read Oct. 6, 2026)) “However, you must register within two years of receiving your certification from the WTC Health Program.” (VCF, Getting Started (read Oct. 6, 2026))
Apply the caps, offsets and fee limit to your figures
Choose whether the certified condition is a cancer, and enter the non-economic loss and lost earnings you would claim with any offsets. The tool holds non-economic loss to the cap, takes off the offsets, and applies the attorney fee limit. Add the date of your WTC Health Program certification to count the registration deadline.
For pain, suffering and the effect on daily life. The Fund sets it within the cap by the severity of the condition; the tool applies the cap.
Earnings lost because of the condition, as you would document them.
Such as VA, pension or WTC disability payments for the eligible conditions. The Fund offsets them.
A court award or settlement in a 9/11 lawsuit, or a payment from another 9/11 fund for the same victim.
Registration counts from the date you received that certification.
The cap, the offsets and the fee limit
Enter the non-economic loss or lost earnings you would claim to see the cap, the offsets and the attorney fee limit applied.
The deadline to file a claim is October 1, 2090 for everyone (VCF, Getting Started (read Oct. 6, 2026)).
This applies the Fund's cap, offsets and fee limit to the figures you enter. It does not decide that a condition, a place or a period qualifies, what the Fund would award within the cap, or how it would figure lost earnings.
Who qualifies for the Victim Compensation Fund
The condition is the gateway: “To be eligible for an award from the VCF, you must have a 9/11-related physical injury or condition that is certified for treatment by the WTC Health Program or, in limited circumstances, that you have a physical injury or condition that was treated by your private physician and verified as 9/11-related through the VCF’s Private Physician process” (VCF, Getting Started (read Oct. 6, 2026)).
The WTC Health Program is separate: “The WTC Health Program is administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and provides medical monitoring and treatment for responders to the WTC and related sites in New York City, the Pentagon, and Shanksville, PA; and for survivors who were in the WTC Health Program’s New York City Disaster Area during the required timeframe.” (VCF, FAQs, No. 3.1 (read Oct. 6, 2026))
So the order is: get the condition certified, register with the Fund, then file the claim. “You should only file your claim after the WTC Health Program has certified your physical health condition.” (VCF, Getting Started (read Oct. 6, 2026))
Registering with the 911 Victim Compensation Fund
“Registering is not the same as filing a claim” (VCF, Getting Started (read Oct. 6, 2026)). Registration comes first, and it has its own deadline, counted from the certification: 2 years.
The Fund advises registering early: “You should register, even if you are not sick.” (VCF, Getting Started (read Oct. 6, 2026)) “Registration preserves your right to file a claim in the future, waives no legal rights, and does not obligate you to file a claim.” (VCF, Getting Started (read Oct. 6, 2026))
The claim deadline is the same for everyone, October 1, 2090, so the registration deadline is the one that can pass first.
The caps on non-economic loss
Non-economic loss, for pain, suffering and the effect on daily life, has a ceiling. The Fund refers to an award “at the statutory cap ($90,000 for non-cancer conditions and $250,000 for cancer)” (VCF, FAQs, No. 5.1 (read Oct. 6, 2026)).
Within the cap, the amount turns on the condition, not the count: “the amount of your VCF non-economic loss award is not based on the number of certified conditions you have, but rather on the severity and impact of those conditions on your daily life.” (VCF, FAQs, No. 5.1 (read Oct. 6, 2026))
Offsets that reduce a Victim Compensation Fund award
Other payments come off. “the VCF is required by law to offset any benefit paid by other collateral sources relating to the 9/11 attacks.” (VCF, FAQs, No. 1.12 (read Oct. 6, 2026)) For disability benefits: “The statute requires that the VCF offset from your award any disability benefits you are receiving, or entitled to receive, related to your eligible physical health conditions.” (VCF, FAQs, No. 6.4 (read Oct. 6, 2026)) For a lawsuit: “Any compensation awarded by the court in the lawsuit or obtained in a settlement of litigation will be treated as an offset and deducted from your VCF award.” (VCF, FAQs, No. 1.13 (read Oct. 6, 2026))
And the duty continues: “Please remember that you must inform the VCF of any new collateral source payments you receive, or become entitled to receive, after your claim has been filed” (VCF, FAQs, No. 1.13 (read Oct. 6, 2026)).
Say a person with a certified condition that is not a cancer would claim $150,000 in non-economic loss and $400,000 in lost earnings, and receives $60,000 in disability benefits for the same conditions. The cap holds non-economic loss to $90,000, the offset leaves $340,000 in lost earnings, and the figures come to $430,000 before the Fund's own valuation.
Attorney fees for a Victim Compensation Fund claim
A lawyer is not required: “Please note, you are not required to have an attorney file your VCF claim.” (VCF, Getting Started (read Oct. 6, 2026)) “No, you do not need an attorney to file a VCF claim, and there is no priority given to claims submitted by an attorney over those without an attorney.” (VCF, FAQs, No. 1.4 (read Oct. 6, 2026))
And the fee is limited: “Attorneys are not allowed to charge more than 10% of the amount of your VCF award.” (VCF, FAQs, No. 1.4 (read Oct. 6, 2026)) On the example above, that is at most $43,000.
When a claim can be expedited
“The VCF may expedite the processing of your claim or amendment if you are terminally ill or facing imminent financial hardship” (VCF, FAQs, No. 1.3 (read Oct. 6, 2026)). “For purposes of expediting a claim, the VCF defines imminent financial hardship as active foreclosure or eviction proceedings, or homelessness.” (VCF, FAQs, No. 1.3 (read Oct. 6, 2026))
Getting help with a claim
This site is not a law firm, does not refer anyone to a lawyer, and cannot say what the Fund would award. The questions that decide a claim are whether the condition is certified or verified, whether presence at an eligible place in the period can be shown, how severe the condition is, and what offsets apply.
Bring the WTC Health Program certification letter and its date, proof of presence, the medical records on the condition's severity, earnings records for a lost earnings claim, and records of any disability benefit, settlement or other payment for the same conditions.
What this page does not cover
It does not cover the Fund's method for valuing lost earnings, claims for a person who died, appeals and amendments, the Private Physician process in detail, or the WTC Health Program's list of conditions.
It quotes the Fund's pages as they read on October 6, 2026, and not the statutes or regulations behind them. A change after that date is not reflected here.