Armed Forces Compensation Scheme

Am I eligible?

All members of the Armed Forces, including Sponsored Reserves, are eligible

What’s it for?

The Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) compensates you for any illness, injury or death which arises as a result of your service in the Armed Forces on or after 6 April 2005, regardless of whose fault it was.  This includes when you are acting on orders, responding to a service-related emergency, are on operations or exercises, during training, or undertaking service-approved sport or specified activities to maintain your fitness.  It does not include injuries incurred at a social event, whilst travelling to and from work, whilst undertaking sport which is not formally recognised or not had prior approval, and the majority of slips, trips and falls, since such injuries are not considered as having been caused (wholly or predominantly) by service.

What do I get?

There are 2 main types of awards under the scheme.

• The first is a tax-free lump sum payment for pain and suffering. The amount you will receive depends on the nature and severity of your injury, which will be assessed against a series of tables, known as the tariff. The tariff system has 15 levels, with level 1 being the most severe and level 15 being the least severe.

• For more severe injuries, you will also receive a Guaranteed Income Payment (GIP). This is a tax free, monthly payment, designed to compensate for the loss of future earnings and starts on the day you leave the Armed Forces. The amount you receive will depend on your age at last birthday, basic salary (minus allowances) at the time of leaving service, as well as how severe your injuries are. For example, depending on age and basic salary, an individual who is awarded a tariff level 1 lump sum could receive a GIP of over £1m or more during a lifetime.

If you are no longer serving and your disablement was caused or made worse as a result of service in the armed forces before 6 April 2005, you can claim under the War Pension Scheme.

How do I claim?

Any claim must be made within 7 years of the earliest of the following dates:

• the date of the incident leading to the injury or illness

• the date on which an injury or illness not caused by service was made worse by service

• in the case of illness, the date of first seeking medical advice for that illness

• the date of your discharge from the Services.

There are certain circumstances when a claim will be accepted outside the time limits above such as being prevented from claiming due to ill health or if your illness occurs later. Please contact Veterans UK if you would like more advice on this.

In order to claim you should: