Introduction
The Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) exists to provide benefits for death or illness or injuries incurred by members of the Armed Forces and Reserves. It is a no fault scheme which means that claimants can also sue the Ministry of Defence for negligence if they so wish.
The scheme provides compensation for death or disablement due to-
The scheme only applies to incidents that occurred after April 6th 2005. The AFCS has two main componenents, a lump sum to compensate for pain and suffering and a tax-free Guaranteed Income Payment(GIP) for those with more serious injuries to reflect the loss of earning potential.
A taxable Survivor's Guaranteed Income Payment is payable in the event of an attribuatble death to the widow(er), civil partner or eligible partner.
The scheme is administered by the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency. There is a right of appeal to the Pensions Appealt Tribunal and to the Social Security Commmissioners beyond that.
In calculating the amount of compensation the scheme uses a tarriff based on the nature of the injury and the age of the person when that injury was sustained.
There is a five year limit on claims been made although some exceptions are made for specified late-onset conditions.
We give details of how to obtain a claim form and when to claim.
The scheme uses the "balance of probabilities" standard of proof which is the same as that for civil cases. This means that a Pensions Appeal Tribunal just needs to be satisfied that a case is more likely than not to be proven.
We set out the eligibility criteria for the scheme
In some circumstances benefit may be reduced to take account of other amounts that are paid. We set out the rules with regard to benefit reduction
