Injured During Military Sport or Adventurous Training – Can You Make an AFCS Claim?

Injuries during military sport and adventurous training are not uncommon. Skiing, rugby, football, climbing and other organised activities all carry an inherent risk of injury.

Occasionally those injuries can have significant and lasting consequences. A question I am often asked is whether an injury sustained during military sport can give rise to compensation under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS).

The answer may well be yes.

The Armed Forces Compensation Scheme

The AFCS provides compensation for injury, illness or death caused by service on or after 6 April 2005.

Importantly, an AFCS claim is not the same as bringing a civil personal injury claim against the Ministry of Defence. There is no requirement to establish negligence in the conventional sense.

The important question is whether the injury was caused by service.

That can include injuries sustained during authorised military sport, physical training and adventurous training where the activity forms part of service.

For example, a serious knee injury sustained during an organised military skiing competition or training event may potentially fall within the scheme.

What happens after a claim is made?

Veterans UK will consider the circumstances of the injury together with the available medical evidence.

If entitlement is accepted, the injury is assessed against the AFCS statutory tariff. The level of compensation depends upon the nature and severity of the injury and the appropriate tariff descriptor.

This can become particularly important with orthopaedic injuries.

A knee injury, for example, might involve damage to the ACL, meniscus, other ligaments or cartilage. There may have been reconstructive surgery followed by a lengthy period of physiotherapy and rehabilitation.

The fact that somebody has returned to military fitness does not necessarily mean that there is no entitlement to an award. There may still be permanent symptoms or functional impairment which need to be properly assessed.

What about lost promotion or damage to a military career?

This is where the AFCS differs significantly from an ordinary civil claim.

A serving member of the Armed Forces may understandably feel that an injury has cost them promotion, affected their deployability or prevented them from pursuing particular appointments or career opportunities.

In a conventional personal injury action, financial losses can potentially form part of a damages claim where they can be established on the evidence.

The AFCS does not operate in that way.

Compensation for the injury itself is principally determined by the statutory tariff rather than by separately calculating every financial consequence of the injury.

Medical discharge and Guaranteed Income Payments

For the more seriously injured, the AFCS can also provide a Guaranteed Income Payment (GIP).

A GIP is intended to compensate for the longer-term effect of a service injury on future earning capacity.

However, entitlement should not be assumed simply because an injury has affected someone’s military career, or even because it ultimately contributes to medical discharge. Whether a GIP is payable, and at what level, depends upon the lump sum tariff award and the relevant provisions of the AFCS.

For a serving person who has successfully rehabilitated and remains fit for deployment, the immediate issue will usually be obtaining the correct tariff award for the injury.

Get the decision checked

My general advice is straightforward.

Lodge the AFCS claim (online or paper) by giving Veterans UK an accurate account of how the injury occurred, the treatment and surgery you have undergone, your rehabilitation and, importantly, any symptoms or functional problems which remain.

When the decision arrives, read it carefully.

The fact that Veterans UK have accepted the claim does not necessarily mean that the injury has been assessed under the correct tariff or descriptor. Mistakes are made.

If you are uncertain about an AFCS decision, particularly following a significant injury, it is worth obtaining specialist advice before deciding whether the award properly reflects your condition or whether the decision should be challenged. You have 12 months from the date of the award letter to file a request for a 'reconsideration'. 

At Alma Law, we regularly advise serving personnel and veterans on Armed Forces compensation matters and can review AFCS decisions where there is concern about the level of an award.

(Image: My right knee!)

G Evatt MD Alma Law

21.08.26