The Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) was introduced by the Veterans Agency (now Service Personnel Veterans Agency - SPVA) on the 6th April 2005 to replace the existing war pension Scheme and the attributable benefits of the Armed Forces Pension Scheme (AFPS) for injuries, illnesses or death caused on or after 6 April 2005.
Who is eligible?
The AFCS covers all regular members of the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Royal Air Forces, Army and members of the Reserve Forces as defined in the Reserve Forces Act 1996 and their dependants.
It provides compensation for disablement or death due to:
Incidents which were the direct consequence of a person’s duties in the Armed Forces.
Terrorism and Warlike activities.
Negligence by the MoD as an employer.
You or your dependants can claim compensation for death, injury or disease for the following:
Attributable death in service
Attributable injury or illness in Service resulting in a medical discharge
Attributable injury or illness in Service not resulting in a medical discharge
Attributable conditions or death occurring after leaving Service but claimed before 5 years
Attributable conditions or death which may develop at a later date (such as some cancers) with no time limit. (For details of the exceptions list of illnesses please contact the Veterans Agency Helpline)
Pre existing conditions which are significantly aggravated by Service.
Key features of the scheme
It provides a tariff-based lump sum award for pain and suffering. These are designed to take into account the expected amount of deterioration for a medical condition. There are 15 levels of award which are as follows:
Tariffs 1-4 100%
Tariffs 5,6 75%
Tariffs 7,8 50%
Tariffs 9-11 30%
Tariffs 12-15 None
For further information on the conditions included in the tariffs and the amount of award, please contact the Veterans Agency Helpline.
For ex-Service personnel it will offer a Guaranteed Income Stream (GIS) for life if you are assessed at a higher tariff (1-11) to compensate for any loss of earnings.
Attributable benefits in retirement for members remain tax-free.
In-service awards for injury will be paid for pain and suffering.
The scheme uses a similar standard of proof as in civil claims, known as the ‘balance of probabilities’. This means that if an appeal results in a tribunal, the tribunal only needs to be satisfied that it is more likely than not that the applicant’s case is proven.
There is generally a time-limit of 5 years from the incident or after retirement where no particular incident caused the condition. There is an exceptions list as some claimants are able to claim outside the time limit.
There is no regular review mechanism except in exceptional cases. For further information on this please contact the Veterans Agency on 0800 169 22 77.
The AFCS is designed to be a ‘no-fault’ scheme which effectively means that a claim against the scheme would not prevent you from making a claim for negligence against the MoD.
War widows, widowers and other dependants
For the first time widow(er)s and partners including same-sex partners in a substantial relationship are to be treated equally for compensation purposes. For an attributable death, a taxable Guaranteed Income Stream (GIS) will be awarded to the surviving partner to compensate for the loss of the spouse’s/partner’s earnings.
Dependant children will also qualify for GIS which may stop when the child reaches 17. You can still continue to receive it if your child is in full-time education. You may also continue to qualify if a child is unable to support themselves financially due to a mental or physical disability that has been diagnosed before they are 17.
Appeal
If you feel you have a reason to challenge a decision about your claim, you should seek advice from either an ex-Service organisation such as the Royal British Legion or an advice centre.
The AFCS process of Appeal is as follows:
An Internal Appeals Process will allow you to challenge a decision taken by the scheme administrators if you think they are wrong. This will begin with an Internal Dispute Resolution Process followed by the right to appeal to the Pensions Appeal Tribunal (PAT) and then to the Social Security Commissioners.
Under the AFCS you can appeal if your claim is not successful, you are unhappy about the level of your award, you disagree with a decision not to waive time limits or you disagree with a decision on the grounds of deterioration.
You should dispute a decision and apply for a review within 90 days of notification.
If your grounds for appeal are accepted and the case is reviewed, and you are not satisfied with the review decision, you can then further challenge this within 30 days to the PAT.
Under the AFCS you may be able to appeal a decision made by the PAT on a point of law to the Social Security Commissioners who consist of experienced judges. This aims to bring the appeals process in line with modern tribunals policy.
Claims under the AFCS will be processed by administrators at the Veterans Agency who will have access to specialist medical and legal advisors should it be required.
For further information please contact the Veterans Agency on 0800 169 22 77 or visit their website at http://www.veterans-uk.info/. Alternatively you can visit the Ministry of Defence website at www.mod.uk
