Exceptional Reviews
We are often asked what is involved in applying for an Exceptional Review and in our experience, these are one of the most difficult claims to succeed with because the hurdles are high. On the Veterans UK website this type of claim, called a Review in Exceptional Circumstances, is described in the following way.
"Where your injury or illness unexpectedly deteriorates or other problems develop, the award given may not be appropriate over the longer term. If this occurs within ten years of the original decision, you can request a review of your award. You can apply for this type of review if you are still in service."
The difficulty that most clients face is that they receive an award for an injury, illness or condition and then some years their health starts to deteriorate due to that original injury. For many, by the time they realise that they can seek a review in exceptional circumstances, they fall foul of the rigid regulations. This is because for this type of review you need to show three things:
- Evidence of an unexpected deterioration of the injury, illness or condition.
- That the deterioration has occurred within 10 years of the date of the original decision.
- You must apply for this review within 1 year of the start of the worsening of the injury, illness or condition.
The first problem for many claimants is that they have lost their original letter from Veterans UK outlining the original award so they have no idea when the time limit for claiming expires.
Secondly, if the injuries sustained by these claimants have been deteriorating for longer than 1 year at the time they make the application for this type of review they are already out of time.
Thirdly, many claimants have real difficulty putting together a good argument to show that the deterioration and their current condition was both unexpected and exceptional.
These are very difficult tasks for many claimants, and for some, they are completely beyond their capabilities so their applications are declined. We would therefore always advise seeking advice before submitting a letter to Veterans UK because the failure rate is high under the current regulations.