People who work in the military understand that harm sometimes happens in the line of duty. However, if you are injured because of someone else’s negligence, you could suffer long-lasting harm that should have been averted. Our guide to making a military injury claim explains when it is possible to seek compensation.
The guide focuses on how to make a claim against your employer. We also explain what the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) is and how service personnel can request a payment through the scheme in certain circumstances.
Read our guide to learn about compensation for personal injury claims and how an expert solicitor could help you claim on a No Win No Fee basis.
You can get further guidance on military injury claims from our dedicated team of advisors. Furthermore, an advisor can review your potential case, all as part of a completely free consultation service. Whether you’re interested in claiming compensation or just want to ask some questions, use any of these options for 24/7 support:
- Call 0800 073 8801.
- Go online to contact us and ask about claiming.
- Click the tab in the bottom-left of your screen to talk to someone now.
Jump To A Section
- Who Can I Make My Military Injury Claim Against?
- What Is The Armed Forces Compensation Scheme?
- What Compensation Could I Get For Armed Forces Work Injury Claims?
- How To Make A Military Injury Claim
- Why Use No Win No Fee Military Injury Solicitors?
- Learn More About Claiming For Accidents At Work
Who Can I Make My Military Injury Claim Against?
Military personnel have restricted rights and freedoms under their terms of employment, as opposed to people working in an office, a hospital, a warehouse or anywhere else.
Managers and commanders have to make sure that areas under their management are fully compliant with health and safety law where applicable, as well as defence policy.
British health and safety law is only applicable within Great Britain, not excluding certain offshore facilities or activities in territorial waters. This means that the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA) does not apply to activities outside of these areas.
It is rare for military branches to be sued for injuries suffered during combat, because of a defence known as ‘combat immunity’. No duty of care is owed when engaged with an enemy in the course of combat.
However, in non-combat situations, employers should still be taking reasonable precautions to prevent needless accidents. They could, for example, make sure that defective machinery is swiftly fixed or replaced, or provide necessary personal protective equipment whenever it’s necessary.
An employee of a military branch could seek compensation in a military injury claim if:
- Their employer owed them a legal duty of care under HASAWA at the time and place the accident happened.
- They failed to uphold this duty. For example, they breached multiple health and safety regulations.
- The breach directly caused an accident where you suffered injuries.
Due to the passing of the Crown Proceedings (Armed Forces) Act 1987, a member of the armed forces can sue the Ministry of Defence (MOD) for a personal injury or illness suffered while serving.
In the short sections below, we look at the different military branches.
Army
The army has soldiers deployed in Britain and around the world. Government figures from January 2024 also show that more than 25,000 people are working part-time in the army’s reserve forces.
An example of how service personnel could be injured in a non-combat scenario is:
- A training exercise is carried out as preparation for service. However, a risk assessment has not been carried out on the assault course and a structural issue with a climbing wall is missed. It collapses while a trainee is on it, crushing their leg and causing a broken knee cap.
Navy
The navy protects national interests at sea. An example of how an accident could occur outside of combat at sea is:
- A petty officer is told to change duties and carry out maintenance without any training or support. They trap their hand while repairing an assembly and the injury is so serious that it has to be amputated.
Air Force
Military personnel with the air force may work on the ground or in the skies. An example of how an avoidable injury could occur is:
- An administrator is working in an office when they slip on a floor that had been cleaned but not signposted, suffering a bad back injury as a result.
Regardless of which military branch you represent, claiming compensation for injuries is possible if your case meets the eligibility criteria mentioned previously. Just call our free helpline to discuss your experience and learn if you have the right to start a military injury claim.
What Is The Armed Forces Compensation Scheme?
The Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) is a government-run initiative that allows current and former service personnel to claim for injuries or illnesses caused by their service. You can make an Armed Forces compensation claim through the AFCS if the injury or illness occurred on or after 6th April 2005.
Strict time limits apply to military injury claims through this route, so you must also claim within seven years of whichever of these happened first:
- The date of the incident that caused your harm.
- Alternatively, the date where an incident made an existing condition worse.
- When you first sought medical advice for an illness.
- Your discharge date.
However, certain circumstances may give cause for an exception to this rule.
Unlike a civil claim, you are not required to prove military negligence when seeking compensation through the AFCS. It is also worth noting that the AFCS does not allow you to receive compensation twice for the same injury. Because of this, you might not be able to take this route if you’ve already made a successful civil military injury claim.
If you receive compensation from this government scheme, your payment will be calculated using a tariff-based system. You can either get a tax-free lump sum payment or a Guaranteed Income Payment, which is also tax-free but comes in monthly instalments.
Please get in touch with us today if you’d like to know more about how compensation claims for military injuries through the AFCS work.
What Compensation Could I Get For Armed Forces Work Injury Claims?
Accident at work claim payouts are not calculated using a tariff like AFCS cases are. A compensation award for a personal injury claim can be split into two distinctive parts, known as heads of loss:
- Special damages, which account for financial loss. If you can prove that an incident that injured you directly caused monetary losses like a loss of earnings from being unable to work, medical bills or prescription fees, this could form part of your overall payout. Should your injuries lead to a medical discharge and an inability to serve again, you could receive a significant payout for lost future earnings.
- General damages. This compensates for physical pain and emotional suffering inflicted or worsened by an accident caused by someone else’s negligence.
The special damages payment is mostly calculated using payslips, receipts and other documents proving out-of-pocket expenses.
Those working out how much compensation you get under the general damages head of loss can look at the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) for support. This document has a series of figures that act as a guide to the compensation range that could be considered for different injuries.
The JCG doesn’t guarantee what you’d receive if you make a successful military accident claim. However, it does act as a useful guide, so we’ve placed figures from the document into the table below.
Compensation Table
Only the top line of this table is not taken from the JCG.
| INJURY | LEVEL | AWARD | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
| Numerous Serious Injuries And Financial Loss | Significant | Up to £1,000,000+ | A payment covering physical and/or mental pain, plus lost earnings, medical bills and other expenses. |
| Head | Very Severe | £344,150 to £493,000 | The injured person has little or no meaningful response to their environment and requires constant nursing. |
| Moderate (iii) | £52,550 to £110,720 | As well as a reduced ability to work, the affected person has issues with concentration and memory. | |
| Hand | Total or Effective Loss of One Hand | £117,360 to £133,810 | A crushed and surgically amputated hand or traumatic amputation of most of the hand. |
| PTSD | Severe | £73,050 to £122,850 | The injured person is permanently impacted in all areas of life. |
| PTSD | Moderate | £9,980 to £28,250 | No seriously disabling ongoing effects following a largely-completed recovery. |
| Severe Leg Injuries | Very Serious | £66,920 to £109,290 | Injuries causing permanent mobility issues, the need for crutches or alternatively a permanent need for mobility aids. |
| Knee | Severe (iii) | £31,960 to £53,030 | Pain and discomfort, plus a risk of future remedial surgery. |
| Arm | Less Severe Injury | £23,430 to £47,810 | Significant disability but recovery is, or will be, substantially fulfilled. |
| Back | Moderate (ii) | £15,260 to £33,880 | Includes disturbance to muscles and ligaments that lead to backache. |
Can I Make A Military Injury Claim For PTSD?
Mental illness is, unfortunately, a potential source of pain for both those on active duty and those who have left the armed forces. A military accident could cause minor physical injuries but have more serious psychological effects, such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It is possible to claim accident at work compensation solely for the effect PTSD or another mental illness has on your life.
Call today to discuss how military injury compensation is calculated and get detailed guidance on what you could claim for.
How To Make A Military Injury Claim
Collecting, sharing and reviewing evidence is a vital part of the legal process. When making a military injury claim, you should aim to collect proof including:
- Medical records. When you go for medical treatment, you can ask for a copy of your records as evidence of your symptoms and the care you required.
- Footage of the accident, especially if it shows how the injury occurs.
- Photos of the scene or any visible injuries.
- A written record of the incident and how it happened.
- Contact details for possible witnesses.
If you work with one of our military injury solicitors, you can instruct them to help piece together your evidence.
Call today if you’d like to learn more about proving negligence or how a solicitor can help you.
Why Use No Win No Fee Military Injury Solicitors?
Our solicitors are experts in armed forces compensation claims. They could guide you through the claims process and push for the best possible outcome. For those worried about the financial risk of claiming compensation with a solicitor, they also offer a Conditional Fee Agreement if they take on your case.
This means no fees in advance, during the claim or at the end of a losing case. If you are awarded compensation, a small percentage of it goes to the solicitor. A piece of legislation called the Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013 caps the proportion a solicitor can claim as their success fee.
We run a free service that offers guidance on making a military claim. It also includes the option of getting a free consultation that could lead to a solicitor taking up your case if you have valid grounds.
Choose one of these options to reach us:
- Phone our 24/7 helpline on 0800 073 8801.
- Contact us through our website.
- Chat with an advisor using the live support tab below.
Learn More About Claiming For Accidents At Work
Some more of our accident at work claim guides:
- Our fatal accident claim guide explains when claims for death caused by workplace injuries are possible.
- Learn about temporary workers’ rights after an accident.
- This minor injury claim guide outlines how an injured person can seek compensation even for smaller injuries.
Here is some further information from external sources:
- Guidance on urgent help for veterans, provided by Veterans UK.
- Physical and mental wellbeing support from the Royal British Legion.
- NHS advice on getting back to normal after surgery.
If you wish to start a military injury claim or just want to know more about how the claims process works, please call today for free support.
