Grant Evatt is a former British Army Commando who has specialised in military compensation and AFCS claims for two decades and he is an authority in this complex area.
I am often asked by serving soldiers and veterans about their options when an injury or illness suffered during their military service, for which they received an award from the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS), gets much worse. Hopefully this brief guide will be of assistance.
Presumably the injury which was claimed for was
caused by service otherwise Veterans UK would have refused the application. If an injury or illness has deteriorated or, it has caused a further injury to develop, then you can apply for a
Review* of the earlier award.
Awards under the scheme are meant to consider the expected development of an injury or illness and so are usually made on a full and final basis, but awards can be revised if, due to deterioration, or further injury, the condition has worsened.
LEFT SERVICE
If you have just left service, you must meet the following criteria to apply for a
Service Termination Review:-
- Your application for review must be made within 1 year of your service ending; and
- The previous decision to make an award must have been made no more than 7 years before the day your service ended
The review can only be carried out
once for each decision made and the award will only be revised up if the injury or illness has
become worse or it has
caused a further injury to develop.
AN EXCEPTIONAL REVIEW – AFCS CLAIMS MADE WITHIN THE LAST 10 YEARS
To qualify for an exceptional review of an award made within the last 10 years, the review application must be sent to Veterans UK
within 1-year of the worsening of or the further injury developing.
The small print:-
- An Exceptional Review can only be carried out once for each decision made;
- The award will only be revised up if the injury or illness has become worse or it has caused a further injury to develop; and
- That the worsening is unexpected and exceptional and that it occurred within 10 years of the original decision from Veterans UK
REVIEW FINAL – AFCS CLAIMS MADE 10 OR MORE YEARS AGO
To qualify for an exceptional review of an award made 10 or more years ago, again, the application must be made
within 1-year of the worsening of or the further injury developing.
The small print:-
- A Review Final can only be carried out once for each decision made
- the award will only be revised up if the injury or illness has become worse or it has caused a further injury to develop and that worsening, or development, is substantial, unexpected and exceptional
IN SUMMARY
- You have only 1 year from the date the injury or illness became worse or it has caused a further injury to apply for a review of your AFCS award
- A review can be conducted only once
- If you apply within 10 years of the earlier award, the worsening or further injury must be unexpected and exceptional
- If you apply more than 10 years after the first award, the worsening or further injury must be substantial, unexpected and exceptional
How Veterans UK define
substantial, unexpected and
exceptional is anyone’s guess, but no doubt it will be done on a case by case basis. A good example are awards for mental illness. More and more troops and veterans are seeking support and treatment for mental illness, such as PTSD, and this is bound to increase in the coming years. I have spoken about the reasons why in earlier articles.
For ease of reference I have copied below the AFCS Tariff which covers mental disorders and have added in the amounts. Most troops and veterans that I help will first receive a Level 12 award of £10,000 as an INTERIM award. They should be automatically reviewed 2 years later, and if they are still suffering and are receiving medical intervention, the award can be taken up to a Level 10 which means they then also receive a GIP (Guaranteed Income Payment - remember that this becomes payable only if you have left the services).
Table 3 - Mental disorders
Item |
Column (a) |
Column (b) |
|
Level |
Description of injury and its effects (“descriptor”) |
1 |
6 £140,000 |
Permanent mental disorder, causing severe functional limitation or restriction.1 |
2 |
8 £60,000 |
Permanent mental disorder, causing moderate functional limitation or restriction.2 |
3 |
10 £27,000 |
Mental disorder, causing functional limitation or restriction, which has continued, or is expected to continue for 5 years. |
4 |
12 £10,000 |
Mental disorder, which has caused, or is expected to cause functional limitation or restriction at 2 years, from which the claimant has made, or is expected to make, a substantial recovery within 5 years. |
5 |
13 £6,000 |
Mental disorder, which has caused, or is expected to cause, functional limitation or restriction at 26 weeks, from which the claimant has made, or is expected to make, a substantial recovery within 2 years. |
6 |
14 £3,000 |
Mental disorder, which has caused or is expected to cause, functional limitation or restriction at 6 weeks, from which the claimant has made, or is expected to make, a substantial recovery within 26 weeks. |
It is important to note that it is not enough for a GP to suspect a type of mental disorder. Mental disorders
must be diagnosed by a consultant grade clinical psychologist or psychiatrist.
WHAT ABOUT COMPENSATION CLAIMS?
For a civil (legal) claim, which are almost always more valuable to the injured Claimant, there needs to have been proven negligence. If there is negligence and this caused the injury and financial losses, a claim must be settled, or court proceedings issued within 3 years of the negligent act or, within 3 years of the date that you acquired the knowledge that the injury was caused by the negligence of another. If you are outside those 3 years it will be tough to proceed down that road.
I hope you found this useful
I would be delighted to help you with your AFCS claims and any Review
Grant Evatt
22nd August 2018
(Figures above are correct at the time of publication)
*
gov.co.uk