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Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS)

AFCS general information
Key features of the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme
Frequently asked questions
AFCS Claim forms
Leaflets and booklets
AFCS tariff
What if I disagree with your decision ?
Wider Benefits Potentially Available to AFCS Claimants

Key features of the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme


The key features of the AFCS are:

• The AFCS provides benefits for illness, injury or death caused by service on or after 6 April 2005 even if the individual remains in Armed Forces Pension Scheme (AFPS) 75.
  
  
• It provides a tariff-based lump sum award for significant injuries and illnesses, and awards take into account the expected level of deterioration. Larger payments will go to the more seriously disabled. The tariff has 15 levels of award, which will be reviewed periodically. The current maximum award for a single injury is £570,000.
  
  
• It offers a tax-free Guaranteed Income Payment (GIP) for life for injuries at the higher tariff levels (1-11) to compensate for loss of earnings capacity. The GIP is set at different levels, dependent on the expected loss of earning capacity.
  
  
• Dependants. Where an attributable death occurs a taxable Survivor’s Guaranteed Income Payment (SGIP) will be awarded.
  
  
• For the first time, tax-free in-service awards for injury will be paid
  
  
• The scheme is designed to be administratively straightforward. It is run by the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency, with access to specialist medical and legal advice.
  
  
• The scheme uses the “balance of probabilities” standard of proof, in line with similar schemes for civil claims.
  
  
• There is a time limit to claim of 7 years from the event, when medical advice was first sought or after retirement where no particular incident caused the condition – whichever is the earliest. There is an exceptions list for late-onset conditions and discretion within the scheme for exceptional cases.
  
  
• There is no regular review mechanism. Awards are, in general, full and final with provision for interim awards where the long-term prognosis is unclear and for review in exceptional cases where significant unexpected complications arise.
  
  
• There is an internal reconsideration process and an independent appeals process using the Pensions Appeal Tribunal, and Social Security Commissioners, Court of Appeal and the House of Lords on points of law, a process which is compliant with the European Convention on Human Rights.
  
  
• The scheme is supported by the Veterans’ Welfare Service.
  
  
• It is a no-fault scheme; a claim against the scheme would not prevent individuals making a claim for negligence against the MOD.
  
  
• These compensation benefits are in addition to those non-attributable benefits under AFPS 75 or AFPS 05 on medical discharge or death-in-service, but there are abatement arrangements to avoid double compensation (eg for loss of earnings capacity).