FAQs

We provide you with an online service where you can complete the AFCS claim form on your computer or tablet device.  Due to the complexity and size of the form, it is not practical to complete the full application process on your smartphone, although you can register for the service.

Using our experience with the legal process and the Veterans Agency we will:

• Review every part of the form and provide you with not only our view of the eligibility of your claim, but we will also offer advice where we believe the way you have conveyed your answers might prejudice your claim.
• Help you complete the form to any degree you find helpful.
• Submit the form to the Veterans Agency for their consideration.

If positive, they will make payment directly to you. Once the payment has been made to you, we will invoice you for 20% of the claim.

If you are unsuccessful, we will help make an application for reconsideration. There is no additional charge or fee for this service.

If both attempts are unsuccessful, there are absolutely no charges to you, nothing to pay at all.

We have seen a complete application form completed in 16 minutes, but we think once you have gathered all of your notes and records you should make a brew and give yourself at least half an hour. We then check every question and contact you with any relevant notes. Depending on the complexity of the claim, we may wish to speak with you on the phone to discuss it in more detail.

We will only charge you a one-off fee of 20% of your claim payment if you are successful and we will only do this when the Veterans Agency have paid the award directly to you. If your initial claim is rejected we will work with you, depending on the cause of refusal, to submit an application for reconsideration. There is no additional charge for this service.  If we deem your claim to be in ineligible or if both attempts are unsuccessful there are absolutely no charges to you, nothing to pay at all.

If you wish, you can complete the form entirely without our assistance and we will check the form content for eligibility and report to you our findings and make any recommendations that may benefit your claim, before submitting it to the Veterans Agency on your behalf.

We are here to help you complete the claim application with the highest possible chance of success. We have designed the online claim form to be simple and logical to use.  There is no getting away from the fact that the form is long and you will be required to provide a lot of detailed information.
Our system allows you to do this in bite-sized chunks if you don’t want to complete it in one sitting or if you need to look up dates and documents. You can save the form at any stage and come back to it later.

• If you get stuck at any point, the system has the facility for you to send us a message and one of us will be there to help you.
• If you want to speak with us and have us complete the entire form, then we can arrange to do that with you at a time that suits you.
• We monitor all applications and check your input and answers. We'll notify you via the system if we think you need to re-write something.
• If you get stuck or have a query about one of the questions, you can simply ask using the special dialogue tool that is available next to each question and we'll take a look and help you out.
• We'll be checking that you have answered all of the questions and then we'll contact you to advise if your claim fulfils the eligibility criteria.
• If we agree that your claim is eligible, we will submit it to the Veterans Agency on your behalf and provide you with a copy for your records.
• If your initial claim is refuted we will work with you, depending on the cause of refusal, to submit an application for reconsideration. There is no additional charge for this service.

We treat all of your data in the strictest confidence and do not share it with any third parties with the exclusion of the Veterans Agency to whom your claim will be submitted.

This website takes every precaution to protect our users' information. When users submit sensitive information via the website, their information is protected both online and offline.

When our claim form asks users to enter sensitive information, that information is encrypted and is protected with the best encryption software in the industry - SSL.

When viewing any page within Military Injury, the lock icon displayed on your web browser becomes locked, as opposed to un-locked (or open) when users are just 'surfing'. While we use SSL encryption to protect sensitive information online, we also do everything in our power to protect user information offline. All of our users' information, not just the sensitive information mentioned above, is restricted in our offices. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job are granted access to personally identifiable information.

Armed Forces Compensation Scheme

The AFCS is a scheme which was introduced by the UK government on the 06/04/2005.  It was set up to allow servicemen and women who had suffered an injury, illness, or who had developed a condition which was caused by their service on or after the 06/04/2002 to claim compensation from the MOD without having to pursue an award through the civil courts.  The scheme has simplified the system of making a claim, it has removed the need to prove negligence by the MOD, and it has saved millions of pounds in legal costs incurred by the MOD to defend civil claims.

Yes, you can but your claim would be made to Veterans UK which is a department of the MOD set up to deal with all claims either through the AFCS or the WPS. You have to be able to show that your PTSD was caused by your service and you have to produce the correct medical evidence from the appropriate clinician to support your application. 

This very much depends on what arrangements you have made with the MOD when you entered service because not all cases are the same.  Veterans UK has a specialist department that deals with all pension enquiries.

Not all soldiers get compensation because under both the AFCS and the WPS Regulations you have to be able to show that your injury was caused by your service.  That is not as straightforward as it might sound because, for example, Veterans UK does not pay compensation for slips, trips, and falls which means that if you slip on the ice on your way to work, even if you are on duty and in uniform, you will not receive compensation because of Article 11(3) of the Regulations.

A guaranteed Income Payment [GIP] In addition to a lump sum award, a graduated GIP, payable for life, will also be paid if you suffer injuries that would cause a significant loss of earning capacity. This monthly income stream is intended to supplement any income and pension you are able to earn. The payment takes into account your age, salary, the severity of your injuries, the pension you might have earned, the potential loss of promotions you might have gained and the pension you will also be paid.

It is possible to get a medical discharge for any injury, illness or condition and PTSD is no exception. The decision on whether any serviceman or woman is discharged is taken by the respective Armed Services Medical Boards if that individual is no longer able to perform their duties in the military.

What you receive by way of payments as a result of a medical discharge very much depends on the circumstances of each case. You will receive notification from the relevant department well in advance of your medical discharge about what you will be paid, what pension rights you will have accrued, and this does not prevent you perform making a claim under the AFCS or the WPS providing you meet the criteria.

Unless you are dishonourably discharged from the military then all forms of discharge are considered honourable. Very often a person could be either discharged because of medical reasons or accepted an administrative discharge at their own request.

This very much depends on the nature of the injury, illness or condition that you are claiming for.  If your claim relates to a fairly simple fracture to your elbow sustained whilst playing rugby for your Regiment then this is going to take much less time for Veterans UK to make a decision than if your claim was for complex PTSD. It also depends on what further medical advice/opinion Veterans UK requires to investigate your application and this can obviously take longer if the issues are not straightforward.

You can make an application for a War Pension if you served in the UK military before the 06/04/2005 and your injury, illness or condition was caused by your service. You make the application using the same form as a claim under the AFCS and it follows the same process used by Veterans UK for AFCS claims.

Applications made under the War Pension Scheme generally take longer than those made under the AFCS for various reasons. You might have served in the military in the 1960s [for example] and your application for an injury, illness or condition during your service is likely to take longer to investigate because Veterans UK would need to access historical records, make enquiries relating to your application, and this is likely to lead to the need for you to have a medical examination or provide further evidence.

There are numerous other benefits available in addition to a War Pension Scheme if you also qualify for a GIP and the following is a broad indication but should not be quoted as an authoritative source of information. Eligibility to all benefits in addition to an AFCS or a WPS depends on individual circumstances but it could include an Armed Forces Independent Payment [AFIP], Disabled Facilities Grant [DFG], Personal Independence Payments [PIP, Employment Support Allowance [ESA], and there are others. You should seek professional advice from the Benefits Agency.

The official answer can be found in various Government publications but generally, Veterans are defined as anyone who has served for at least one day in Her Majesty’s Armed Forces [Regular or Reserve] but in legal documents, you will often see the term ‘Service Leaver’ used because understanding the term Veteran can vary. In most circles, the term Veteran is used to denote all former Armed Forces personnel.