Freedom of Choice: Veterans UK or a Claims Management Company
The devil's in the detail
In their recent relaunch of their website Veterans UK has highlighted that they are offering free independent advice to military personnel applying for an AFCS or WPS award. The suggestion is that such applicants do not need a paid representative such as a solicitor or Claims Management Company to apply for compensation.
We wouldn’t argue with the fact that you can approach Veterans UK for advice about Armed Forces Compensation Scheme or a War Pension Scheme claim for which you will not be charged. However, what one might be sceptical of is the wording on their website where they claim to offer free independent advice.
If you contact Veterans UK for help with your claim, you are asking for advice and guidance from the very organisation that also decides on your claim. We have no doubt that they would willingly advise you on which form to complete and to explain what the basic qualifying conditions are for making a claim. What we are not convinced about is whether they will offer you advice on making sure that you do not fall foul of a technicality that will see your claim declined or assist you with an in depth analysis of your medical records to draft an argument at Part 7 that will strengthen your case! Free independent advice does not automatically mean best advice and as is so often the case in life you get what you pay for.
To use a stark analogy asking Veterans UK to give you the best advice on getting your claim through the endless Regulations is like going through a divorce and asking your husband/wife’s lawyers to give you advice on securing you the best financial settlement.
There will always be a number of people that will think “How hard can it be to fill out a form and send it in to Veterans UK so why would I need the services of a Claims Management Company?”
That’s a fair point but we’d encourage you to look at the detail.
- You could build your own house providing that you have skills in bricklaying, carpentry, plumbing, electrical work or plastering.
- You could service your own car providing you have the technical knowledge to do so.
- You could even represent yourself in court if you feel that you know enough about the legal system and could match the legal knowledge of a qualified lawyer.
What you need to be able to do
If you want to ‘go it alone’ in submitting an Armed Forces Compensation Scheme or a War Pension Scheme claim you need to be clear about the skills you need in order to give yourself a realistic chance of success:
- You need to be able to complete the 20-page application form. It is not straightforward and many people simply find it a daunting task.
- You need to be able to understand the various Articles within the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme or a War Pension Scheme Regulations which are complex and littered with legal jargon which for many applicants is very confusing.
- You need to be clear about what the time limits are for claiming not just at the initial application but also when responding to a request by Veterans UK to submit further evidence. Remember that the legal burden of proving your case on the balance of probabilities rests with you.
- You need to be familiar with the rules governing sports injury claims and the importance in proving that you were fully authorised to take part. You’ll find, for example, a significant difference between representing your Unit/Sqn/Battalion and being injured whilst taking part in the routine sports afternoon.
- You need to understand the relevance of Calling Orders, what they provide and just how difficult they are to acquire particularly if you are claiming for an injury that happened a few years earlier.
- You need to be clear about what is required from an Executive Factual Report and why using the wrong words will result in your claim being declined.
- You need to understand the peculiar hurdles contained within Article 11 (3) of the Regulations which covers slipping, tripping, and falling claims.
- You need to understand the significance of Article 8 which will determine whether your injury, illness or condition is considered to have been caused by your service. This is far from straightforward and remember – 30% of applications fail on this point.
- You need to understand the difference between something that is ‘wholly’ or ‘partly’ caused by service.
- You need to have enough medical knowledge to read, decipher, extracted and, if necessary, contest information contained in your medical records. Good luck with that one!
The bottom line
If you are confident that you have all of these skills then you do not need our help. Veterans UK have a difficult job and they are dealing with thousands of applications. They are taking [on average] 4-5 months to process an application and if your claim is declined, because you didn’t provide the right evidence, then you are automatically in the appeals process. This can take another 4-5 months from submission to decision and there is no application form; you need to be able to produce a well-drafted, detailed appeal, supported by the right medical evidence which will be strong enough to persuade Veterans UK to reverse their original decision. Failure rates are high – very high!
You have options and you have freedom of choice. If you want to take the chance and submit your application without any help that is perfectly OK. However if you want to give yourself the best possible chance of receiving an award then there are alternatives. One of those is to seek professional help from people who have the legal knowledge, the experience, and the expertise of dealing with Armed Forces Compensation and War Pension Scheme claims at all levels.
As we say to all of our new clients, paying 20% of something is far better than receiving 100% of nothing.