Working within the armed forces comes with a level of risk that isn’t applicable to most job roles. That said, service personnel still have the legal right to be kept safe whilst performing their roles, and the right to pursue compensation in the event that negligence leads to avoidable harm. As a member of the armed forces or a civilian working alongside the armed forces, you could make military injury claims in certain situations.
These types of claims can be brought if your injuries were caused by the negligent actions or inactions of the Ministry of Defence. These negligent actions or omissions may encompass defective equipment, poor training or other failures in upholding the legal responsibility owed to you by the Armed Forces. Moreover, injuries can arise during training exercises, military duties or active service. Compensation in these claims can cover not only the physical harm caused by a military incident, but the psychiatric harm and financial losses felt as a result.
At Legal Expert, our specialist solicitors understand that recovering from a military accident can feel overwhelming, stressful and isolating. However, with a personalised approach from the very beginning, we can help you obtain the compensation you could be entitled to.
Get in touch with us for a free case consultation today, where an advisor can assess your case, and explain the options available to you.
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Military injury claims are legal cases pursued by those who have previously, or are currently serving as a member within the Armed Forces. Whether this be a civilian employee, a veteran, a reservist, a naval officer or even an agent of the Royal Air Force, if it can be shown that you were injured as a result of the negligent actions of the Armed Forces, you could be eligible to seek compensation.
There are two routes through which those pursuing military compensation can bring their claim:
Through the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) – this is a non-fault compensation scheme able to monetarily compensate service personnel for injuries, illness or death caused by service on or following 6th April 2005.
Directly against the Ministry of Defence – this is a traditional civil claim, where it must be proven that the MoD failed to uphold their duty of care to take all reasonable steps to ensure your safety, causing you to suffer unnecessary harm.
To discuss how we can help you get started with your own military compensation claim, please get in touch with our advisors today.
Can I Make A Military Injury Claim Against The Ministry Of Defence (MoD)
Yes, you can make a military injury claim against the Ministry of Defence (MoD) if it can be proven that your injury was caused as a result of negligence. In essence, to have a valid civil claim against the MoD, we must show:
You were owed a duty of care – whilst working for the military, whether as an army officer, a naval officer or as part of the air force, you’re owed a duty of care from the MoD. Per this, they must take reasonable steps to ensure the safety of both personnel and civilian contractors from avoidable harm.
This duty was breached – this occurs when the MoD fails to take all reasonable and appropriate steps to ensure your safety whilst during your employment. This could include providing inadequate training, insufficient personal protective equipment or even by failing to maintain or repair defective military equipment.
You suffered an injury or illness following the breach – the final element we must show is that you sustained either a physical or psychological injury from the breach. This creates a direct link between the MoD’s negligence and your injuries, helping to determine fault. You could seek compensation for minor injuries such as soft tissue damage, or life-changing harm including brain or paralysis injuries, so long as your conditions are medically recognised.
Who Is Eligible To Make A Civil Claim Against The Military?
Current or former members of the Armed Forces are eligible to make a claim against the military if injury, illness or death was caused as a result of the MoD’s negligence.
Service personnel are able to claim against the military following a significant change in the law. The updated Crown Proceedings (Armed Forces) Act 1987 repeals Section 10 of the Crown Proceedings Act 1947 allowing members of the Armed Forces to seek compensation for injuries sustained during service, in certain situations.
What Are The Time Limits For Military Injury Claims?
When making military injury claims against the MoD, you will typically have 3 years from the date of the incident to make a claim.
These civil time limits are established within the Limitation Act 1980 with the purpose of preventing claims being brought indefinitely.
It is imperative that your military accident compensation claim is started within the time limits, to prevent it from becoming time-barred. Working with our solicitors means that we could ensure all paperwork related to your claim is filed on time, and work out an exact date of when your claim could become invalid.
If you’d like any more information about how the time limits can apply to your own civil claim, then please get in touch with our advisors or alternatively read our dedicated limitation period guide.
Can I Claim Through The Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS)?
Yes, you could claim through the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS). The Armed Forces Compensation Scheme is a government scheme which provides no-fault, lump-sum payments for injuries, illnesses or deaths caused by service after April 6th 2005. Compensation is paid from a tariff-based system with two main types of awards:
Tax-free lump sum payment for the physical pain and suffering, which can be up to £650,000 as a maximum
Guaranteed Income Payment (GIP) which is also tax-free, and a monthly payment
Who Is Eligible To Claim Through The AFCS?
Service personnel of the Armed Forces, Reserve Force members and members of the Royal Gibraltar Regiment are all eligible to claim through the AFCS.
Additionally, the scheme covers members who are actively serving and includes those who have left the Armed Forces.
What Are The AFCS Claim Time Limits?
To make an AFCS claim, your case will be subject to time limits. Per these, you will generally have 7 years from either:
The date of the military incident that led to your injury or illness
The date where an injury or illness was worsened by service
The date of first seeking medical help for the illness
The date of discharge
Moreover, there are certain situations where exceptions can be made for these time limits. If it can be shown that you didn’t bring a claim due to ill health or if your illness occurs later than these permitted time limits, you could be granted an exception.
How Can An AFCS Claim Be Funded?
AFCS claims can be brought without the need for a paid legal representative such as a claims management service or a solicitor. There are avenues where you can receive free independent advice, from charitable organisations or the Veterans Welfare Service.
However, if you choose paid representation, you will have to pay these legal costs yourself. In saying this, if you instruct a No Win No Fee solicitor such as those at Legal Expert, you wouldn’t have any upfront payments for a solicitor to begin working on your case, and wouldn’t be faced with ongoing charges while your claim progresses.
For more information on making an AFCS military injury claim, please get in touch with our advisors today.
Can I Claim Through Both The AFCS And The MoD?
Yes, you are able to claim through both the AFCS and the MoD as making an AFCS claim doesn’t affect your right to bring a civil claim if it can be shown that your injuries were caused by the Ministry of Defence’s negligent actions.
An AFCS claim requires no proof of fault, oftentimes leading to guaranteed, faster lump sum payments or GIP’s. This type of military injury claim acts as a safety net for those seeking compensation.
This differs from a claim made against the MoD as civil claims can be used to pursue full-value damages; encompassing the physical, psychological and financial impacts of your military injury.
Moreover, if you begin an AFCS claim and you receive compensation before your civil claim is complete, the MoD then has the power to deduct any compensation paid from the AFCS. This is to prevent double recovery, where a claimant is compensated twice for the same injuries.
If you’d like any more information on how military injury claims could help you seek much-needed compensation, please get in touch with our advisors today.
What Is Combat Immunity And How Will It Impact A Claim?
Combat immunity is a common law legal principle that protects the Ministry of Defence and other service personnel from civil liability in the event of injury or death caused during active, armed combat operations.
Per this principle, the MoD is relieved of their duty of care to service personnel, and prevents negligence compensation claims from being brought, if an active serving member of the military is injured during battlefield operations. Moreover, the purpose of this principle is to ensure that service personnel and commanders are free to act in high-pressure situations without the fear of legal repercussions if those decisions result in injuries or death.
This doctrine applies to:
Injuries sustained during active combat or engagement with enemies
Tactical decisions connected to the conduct of war
Harm suffered as a result of split-second operation decisions made during a hostility
For more information about whether combat immunity would impact your military injury claim, please get in touch today.
Examples Of Accidents In The Military
Below, we’ve provided an example of how a military injury claim could arise following negligence:
Army Accidents
There are various ways that injuries can be sustained within the British Army following negligence, including if:
During a night-time training exercise, soldiers are instructed to jump into a river from a high bridge. The officer in command fails to check the water depth before starting the exercise, failing to notice rocks underneath the water. This causes a soldier to suffer life-changing spinal injuries leaving them permanently paralysed.
Accidents In The Royal Navy
Accidents in the Royal Navy could lead to injury or death if, for example:
Due to incorrect storage of cleaning chemicals, an explosion occurs in a cupboard. Naval officers tasked with storing these chemicals were not adequately trained on how to safely organise the chemicals, and their commanding officers ignored explicit safety instructions on the handling and storage of these chemicals. As a result, a number of naval officers experienced severe chemical burns, chest damage and multiple lacerations following the explosion.
Royal Air Force Accidents
An example of how a Royal Air Force accident can occur is if:
The aircrew before a mission fail to properly calculate performance data of the aircraft. Due to this, the cargo plane is overloaded, resulting in a crash during takeoff. An agent is injured in the crash, sustaining a traumatic brain injury and a complex leg fracture.
Civilian Accidents Working With The Military
Civilian accidents often arise from breaches of safety protocols, inadequate training or an officer’s failure to provide appropriate protective equipment.
An example of how negligence could result in a civilian military injury could be if:
An office administrator was present during an explosion drill. However, the officer in charge failed to provide them with noise-cancelling headphones, resulting in permanent hearing loss.
These examples are by no means extensive, so if you’d like to discuss the details of your own military accident, please get in touch with our advisors today.
How Much Military Injury Compensation Could Be Awarded?
In civil military injury claims made against the MoD, compensation can encompass two main heads of claim covering the physical, psychological and financial harm caused by your accident.
General damages, the first head of claim, aims to compensate those injured for any physical injury or psychiatric damage caused by the incident. When this is being calculated, professionals can consider how the injuries have impacted your day-to-day life, and the extent of pain and suffering you’ve experienced in the aftermath of your accident.
Additionally, those tasked with calculating this head of loss can make reference to frameworks such as the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This document contains guideline brackets of compensation for an array of injuries and injury severities.
Below, we’ve provided a table with some of these guidelines to give an estimate of the type of compensation you could receive for your injuries in a military accident claim. Please, however, be aware that the top entry has not been taken from the JCG, and this table is not a guarantee of compensation.
Injury
Severity
Compensation
Multiple Severe Injuries + Special Damages
Various Very Serious Injuries as well as reducing earning potential, private medical costs and domestic care costs
Up to £1,000,000+
Brain/Head
Very Severe - limited if any response to environment
£344,150 to £493,000
Injuries Causing Paralysis
Parplegia - the injured person's level of depression, extent of their own independence and any impact on life expectancy will be considered
£267,340 to £346,890
Back
Severe - damage to both the nerve roots and spinal cord
£111,150 to £196,450
Amputation of the Legs
Above The Knee Amputation of One Leg
£127,930 to £167,760
Arm
Severe - injuries so serious they just fall short of amputation
£117,360 to £159,770
Foot
Very Severe - loss of the forefoot where there was a big risk of full foot amputation
£102,470 to £133,810
PTSD
Severe - inability to function to the level they could prior to trauma
£73,050 to £122,850
Pelvis/Hip
Severe (ii) - dislocation or fracture of the pelvis leading to impotence
£75,550 to £95,680
Neck
Moderate (i) - fracture or dislocation requiring spinal fusion in some situations
£30,500 to £46,970
Can Armed Forces Accident Compensation Cover Other Damages?
Yes, armed forces accident compensation can also cover any provable, relevant out-of-pocket expenses caused by your injuries. This is the second head of loss that forms a portion of your total settlement, which is more commonly known as special damages compensation.
These special damages may include:
Lost earnings, whether this be for time taken out of work during your recovery or even encompass the future impact on your earning capacity
Domestic, professional or gratuitous care costs
Medical expenses including any private medical treatments, ongoing medication costs or private surgery fees
Any associated costs of travel, such as taxi fares to and from medical appointments
In order to seek this compensation, you will need documents that prove the financial losses. This might include bank statements, payslips and receipts; all of which we could help you to gather.
Get in touch with our advisors for more information about how military injury claims compensation is calculated.
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How Can I Bring A Military Accident Compensation Claim?
In order to bring a military injury claim you will need to hold documentary evidence that proves who was liable for the injuries you sustained. However, you could be wondering what to do before you can begin gathering this evidence.
We’ve provided a streamlined list of the steps you can take to prioritise your health condition, whilst supporting your legal stance:
Seek Professional Medical Assistance
After any military accident, make sure to seek urgent medical assistance. Even if you think your injuries are minor, visiting a GP, urgent care clinic or A&E can help determine the full extent of harm caused, and create an official medical record of any treatments or medication you’ve been given.
This official record of medical assistance can be used as evidence in your claim, and is invaluable when determining the full scope of your pain, suffering and any psychological damage that was caused.
Begin Collecting Evidence
Once you have received medical assistance, you can then begin gathering evidence that links your injuries to negligence.
This can include comprehensive medical records, encompassing both service medical records and NHS medical records, incident reports and witness contact details of any service personnel that may have seen the incident.
Moreover, you could gather copies of your training logs or deployment records, photographic proof of faulty or defective equipment and copies of any Army General Incident (AGI) Reports or Safety Occurrence Investigations (SOI) can be really useful in your claim.
Our solicitors can help you gather this documentation and form a strong body of evidence that supports your military injury claim.
Ensure The Military Injury Has Been Reported
Military injuries should immediately be reported to your chain of command and recorded in your medical documents. Moreover, you should ensure that the accident is reported to the medical staff on site and your commanding officer.
This official record of the incident can also be used as vital evidence in military injury claims.
Record Your Ongoing Symptoms
Make sure to keep a record of your daily pain levels, any symptoms you experience as well as medical appointments, treatments or prescriptions you’ve received after the accident.
Additionally, note down any time you’ve had to take off work, and any expenses you’ve incurred following the accident. These comprehensive notes can be used to show the impact of your accident as well as the financial losses caused as a result.
Get In Touch With A Legal Professional
Contacting a specialist military injury claims solicitor can be hugely beneficial. They’re able to explain the complex procedures and processes when making your case, gather the evidence you require and provide a rough estimation of how much compensation you could receive if your claim were successful.
Claiming Compensation For Military Injuries With Legal Expert
Below we explore how Legal Expert’s specialist military injuries solicitors can help you seek the compensation you could be entitled to:
Why Choose To Claim For Armed Forces Accidents With Our Expert Solicitors?
At Legal Expert, our solicitors have years of expertise helping claimants seek compensation in military injury claims. With a personalised approach from the outset, some of the services offered by our solicitors include:
Support with gathering important documentary evidence that strengthens your claim
Making sure that your case is started within the permitted time frame
Connecting you with specialists to support your rehabilitation and recovery
Negotiating a settlement that reflects the harm caused by your military accident
Can Military Accident Claims Be Made On A No Win No Fee Basis?
Yes, military injury accident compensation claims can be brought on a No Win No Fee basis, through the use of a contract called a Conditional Fee Agreement.
This comes with a number of benefits for those looking to pursue compensation, particularly:
No upfront payments for a solicitor to begin working on your military injury claim
No ongoing solicitors’ fees during your claim’s progression
Nothing to pay towards the services of your solicitor if your claim were to fail
Rather, if your military accident claim was successful, then a small legally limited percentage would be taken from your compensation. This percentage, more commonly known as a ‘success fee’ is pre-agreed before your claim starts, and is capped in line with the Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013.
If this way of having legal representation sounds of interest to you, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our advisors today for a free case consultation.
Contact Our Solicitors For Legal Advice
To be connected with one of our advisors, you can reach us by:
Below, we’ve answered some of the most common questions about military injury claims:
Can I Make A Claim While Still Actively Serving In The Military?
You can still make a claim whilst still actively serving in the military, including as a reserve officer.
Can Military Injury Claims Be Made On Behalf Of A Loved One?
Yes, claims can be made on behalf of a loved one in the circumstance that they are unable to claim independently. This is called acting as a litigation friend, which is a court appointed position where you would handle the claims process on their behalf.
How Can I Claim If A Loved One Was Killed In A Military Accident?
If a loved one was killed in a military injury accident, you could be eligible to claim either through a civil claim against the MoD or through the AFCS.
Moreover, if the death occurred prior to 6th April 2005, you could seek compensation through the War Pension Scheme.
Will I Need To Take The MoD To Court If I Pursue A Claim?
In the majority of military injury claims, you will not need to take the MoD to court to settle a claim.
The majority of compensation claims made against the MoD can be settled without the need for litigation. However, our solicitors have decades of experience advocating for claimants even in the event that your claim goes to court.
What Are My Options If The AFCS Turned Down My Claim?
If the AFCS denies your claim, or if you’re unhappy with their decision, then you can contact Veterans UK and ask for a review. Under the AFCS, this is called a reconsideration. However, you must ensure to appeal the decision within a year of the date of your original notification of their decision.
Will My Military Career Be Impacted If I Claim?
Making a military injury compensation scheme should not legally or officially impact your career; additionally the MoD has failproof systems in place to prevent discrimination against those who make a claim, and the MoD are subject to the Equality Act 2010.
How Long Might A Military Injury Claim Take To Settle?
Military injury claims are typically settled within 6 months to 2 years for more straightforward cases. However, the duration of the case will depend on the complexity of your injuries, the severity and whether liability is disputed.
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