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Terms and Conditions

Methods of Pursuing Your AFCS Application

1. Before you make your decision on what to do next we are obliged under the Claims Management Conduct of Business to provide you with advice on the alternative options for you to pursue your claim.

2. You may pursue the claim yourself by one of these methods:

1. By contacting Veterans UK at the following address: Ministry of Defence, Norcross, Thornton Cleveleys, FY5 3WP where you can request an application form or by telephoning them on (0808) 1914 218 and requesting an application form.

2. Accessing their website where you can download a copy of the application form AFCSWPS0001. Their website address is: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/veterans-uk

3. You can contact a solicitors firm who specialises in military claims.

4. You can contact organisations like the Royal British Legion through their website https://www.britishlegion.org.uk and they will be able to explain their procedures for assisting with claims through both the AFCS and WPS.

The Services We Offer

3. At Military Injury we provide a service that takes your enquiry from the initial discussion on what has happened to you that has led you to consider making a claim through the AFCS to its natural conclusion where Veterans UK either declines your claim or makes you an award under the scheme.

4. We include in our service:

1. An initial telephone consultation to discuss your potential claim.

2. Assistance with completing the online application form.

3. Assistance if you wish to complete the application form manually.

4. Advice on the evidence needed to support your application.

5. The submission of your application to the MOD.

6. Corresponding with the MOD on your behalf for any follow-up information or further evidence needed.

7. Informing you of the decision made by the MOD on your application.

8. Advice on pursuing an appeal.

The Processes and Procedures of the Application

5. We will seek to establish the background of whether what has happened would qualify for a potential award of compensation we would discuss the following:

   • Which Service/Unit are you currently with?
   • Have you applied, if necessary, for EPAW? – Special Forces only?
   • What was the date of your incident?
   • What were the circumstances of how the incident happened?
   • What is the injury, illness or condition you are claiming for?
   • Do you have a medically confirmed diagnosis?
   • Who made that diagnosis, which is crucial for claiming for PTSD?
   • Why do you feel this was ‘caused’ by your service?
   • Where were you when the incident occurred?
   • Did you report this incident?
   • If you did to whom did you report it to?
   • Did you complete an Accident Record?
   • For sporting injuries what was the activity you were taking part in?
   • Was this event organized by the Armed Forces?
   • We ask for details of any witnesses that might be able to support the application.
   • What treatment was given at the time of the incident?
   • Are you claiming for an injury, illness or condition which you feel developed over a period of time rather than a specific date?
   • The length of time that you were exposed to the environment?
   • When did you first seek medical attention?
   • Were you medically downgraded for this injury, illness or condition?
   • Did you receive any hospital treatment for this injury, illness or condition, and if so, which hospital?
   • Are you on the waiting list for any surgery for the injury, illness or condition that you are claiming for?
   • We will finish the Vetting Procedure by asking you to tell us your story of the events that led to your claim in an informal manner by telling us a little more than what is on the application form. This is often very relevant for insertion at Part 7 of the application form because it can expand on any question within the process.

Methods of Completing a Claim Form

6. We have the ability to offer you four different methods of completing your AFCS application because we appreciate that you are mobile and often on deployment around the world and access to a PC may be limited.

7. We can process your application in any of the following ways:

1. You complete our online application form.

2. We send you a paper copy of the application form for you to complete and return to us for uploading into our secure electronic system.

3. We complete part of the application on your behalf during a telephone call[s] with you or if you provide the information by email or letter.

4. We will complete the whole application on your behalf during a telephone call[s] with you or if you provide the information by email or letter.

Documents We May Need From You

8. As part of your application we will assess what documents you will need to provide to us if we consider it necessary. These might include:

   1. A Copy of an Appendix 9 – Medical Downgrading.

   2. A Copy of a Calling Order or equivalent depending on your Service.

   3. A copy of any Executive Factual Report.

   4. Copies of any photographs of your injuries.

   5. A copy of any Medical Report you have been given.

   6. A copy of any MOD F510 that might have been completed.

Limitation Periods for Claiming Under the AFCS

9. You have 7 years to make a claim. There are some exceptions to this such as late onset illnesses. Former members of the UK Armed Forces can claim for a late onset illness at any time after the event to which it relates, as long as they do so within 3 years of seeking medical advice.

10. A late onset illness is a malignancy or other physical disorder which is capable of being caused by an occupational exposure occurring more than 7 years before the onset of the illness. Late onset also covers mental disorders which are capable of being caused by an incident occurring more than 7 years before the onset of the illness.

Types of Claim that We Will Process

11. Military Injury will be submitting claims for the following types of injury although it depends on the injuries that the clients come forward with. However, as previously explained, if in doubt we will submit the application and let the Medical Advisers at the MOD make the final decision.

12. Applications are considered by the MOD by reference to Body Zones and, where appropriate, injuries are allocated to one of five body zones depending on the area affected:

    • Head and Neck
    • Torso
    • Upper and Lower Limbs
    • Senses
    • Mental Health

13. These ‘Zones’ will obviously include the injuries like fractures, ligament damage, muscles tears, lacerations, burns, scarring, dislocations, and mental health conditions. The most common types of injury are ligament damages to the knees/ankles or the spine through the excessive physical demands of military life.

Reasons That the MOD Might Decline Your Application

14. There are a number of reasons that the MOD would decline a claim and we explain to the clients from the outset what these might be. They include:

15. The application is out of time under S47 of the SI 2011 No. 517 Armed forces and Reserve Forces (Compensation Scheme) Order 2011.

    • Injuries sustained in the course of normal home to place of work travel (and return).
    • Injuries predominantly caused by non-authorised sporting activities.
    • Injuries predominantly caused by attendance at social events.
    • Injuries predominantly caused by slipping, tripping or falling.
16. Benefit will not be paid for injuries which occur due to the use or effect of tobacco, the consumption of alcohol, drug abuse or consensual sexual activity. In most cases benefit will not be paid for injuries or illnesses which have occurred because of events or activities which happened to clients before they entered service or for illnesses that they were born with or have inherited from their family.

17. The MOD will also not pay for infections that have no external cause, i.e. appendicitis, infections that anyone can catch, i.e. mumps, chicken pox or measles because they argue that none of these can caused by their service.

18. As I mentioned in the response to Question 4 above that if there is any doubt we will submit the application to the MOD and let them make the decision. This gives the clients the confidence that we are giving them every chance of securing an award. Coupled with the fact that if in doubt – submit – the application in the knowledge that if it does not result in an award the client pays us nothing.

Potential Outcomes of the Application

19. Under the current Regulations there are 15 levels from Level 1 [most severe] to Level 15 [least severe]. Each tariff level has a corresponding level of lump sum payment.

20. The Tariffs are then supplemented by the use of ‘Descriptors’ which are simply a description of the injury/injuries awarded. In some cases the injury may be described by more than one descriptor.

21. The amount payable as a supplementary award will be added to the value of the lump sum for the descriptor to form the relevant amount. As I mentioned in my response to Question 8 above the MOD uses Body Zones and where appropriate, injuries are allocated to one of five body zones depending on the area affected:

22. The body zones affected determine how your award is calculated. Where you have been awarded for more than one injury, your lump sum award will be calculated according to the severity of your injuries and the number of body zones affected.

Examples of Potential Awards Based on Tariffs/Descriptors

23. Based on our experience of dealing with Military Injury claims the average awards for the following injuries depend on:

    • The severity of the injury.
    • Whether the client needed surgery.
    • How long they took to regain their full fitness – if at all.

Examples

• Ligament damage to the R Knee without surgery£ 3,000
• Ligament damage to the R Knee requiring surgery£ 6,150
• Laceration to the face with scarring £ 3,090
• Fracture to the L ankle requiring surgery£ 10,000
• Hearing Loss [H4L and H3R£ 6,150

Guaranteed Income Payment [GIP]

24. A situation could arise where your injury, illness or condition is so serious that the MOD will award you a GIP in addition to a lump sum payment.

25. The Regulations are that in addition to a lump sum award, a graduated GIP, payable for life, will also be paid to those whose injuries would cause a significant loss of earning capacity. This monthly income stream is intended to supplement any income and pension that they are able to earn.

26. The payment takes into account your age, salary, the severity of your injuries, the pension that you might have earned, the potential loss of promotions you might have gained and the pension that you will also be paid. If you have an injury or illness that has been awarded between Tariff Levels 1 to 11 you will be entitled to a GIP which is paid from the day after service ends.

Our Fees

27. Our service is provided on a ‘NO WIN NO FEE’ basis. Other fees may arise upon cancellation of this Agreement outside of the ‘cooling-off period’ – please refer to paragraphs 39 - 42 'Cancelling the Agreement' below.

28. If the application is unsuccessful, subject to paragraph 41 below, there is no fee and you pay us nothing!

29. If your application is successful our fee will be either [a] AFCS claims - 20% of your interim/final award + VAT, or [b] WPS claims a fixed one-off fee of £1,800 + VAT.  Any award made to you by Veterans Uk is paid DIRECTLY into your chosen bank account and only after you receive your money will we invoice you for our professional fees.

30. We are a small, dedicated firm, and once you receive your award we expect you to settle our invoice within 7 days of issue.  This allows us to help other servicemen and women and retain our team of staff.

Example of a Potential Award and the Fees - AFCS Claims

The client is awarded: £ 6,180.00
Military Injury Fee @ 20% £ 1,236.00 + VAT of £247.20
Total Invoice is £1,483.20

Therefore the client receives £4,696.80.

Example of Potential Award and the Fees – WPS Claims

The client is awarded £40.00 per week = £2,080.00 per year - for life!

Military Injury Fee is £1,800 plus VAT of £360.00 = £2,160.00.

We realise that you will only receive your War Pension payments weekly or monthly so we offer a repayment scheme where you can pay our invoice with the following options:

Option 1 – In one payment where we give you a 20% discount.

Option 2 – Quarterly by Standing Order where we give you a 15% discount - and we do not charge ANY interest.

Option 3 – Monthly by Standing Order where we give you a 10% discount - and we do not charge ANY interest.

Potential Compensation

31. We have no control over how the MOD will decide on your application but they are linked by reference to Body Zones and, where appropriate, injuries are allocated to one of five body zones depending on the area affected:
    • Head and Neck
    • Torso
    • Upper and Lower Limbs
    • Senses
    • Mental Health
32. These ‘zones’ will obviously include injuries like fractures, ligament damage, muscles tears, lacerations, burns, scarring, dislocations, and mental health conditions. The most common types of injury are ligament damages to the knees/ankles or the spine through the excessive physical demands of military life.

33. Whilst we are clear that we cannot provide you with an accurate assessment of the level of award that you might receive, because of the factors listed above, we are able to provide you with an estimate of claims that we have previously seen from the MOD.
    • Ligament damage to the R Knee without surgery£ 3,000
    • Ligament damage to the R Knee requiring surgery£ 6,150
    • Laceration to the face with scarring £ 3,090
    • Fracture to the L ankle requiring surgery£ 10,000
    • Hearing Loss [H4L and H3R£ 6,150

The Risks with Carrying out the Claim

34. There are no ‘risks’ with submitting an application through the MOD [AFCS/WPS] route because this is not a litigious procedure.

35. You do not need to instruct a lawyer to sue the MOD under the civil law of negligence because you are not making an allegation and they are not defending any legal action.

36. This process is made under the AFCS/WPS and simply requires you to provide information on how you sustained your injury, illness or condition which you feel was caused by your service.

37. Our role is to offer you the level of assistance in order to present an accurate, well-drafted application, supported by the appropriate evidence and submitted within a time-frame under the Regulations.

38. The only risk in making this application is that you will be required to sign a Declaration on the application as follows: “If I knowingly give false information I may be liable for prosecution” and not being totally honest in your application is your only risk.

How You May Cancel Your Claim

39. You have a 14-day ‘cooling-off’ period during which time you may cancel your claim for any reason without incurring any charges.  The 'cooling-off' period commences the day after you sign the Authority to Commence Work form and you may cancel by using any of the following methods:  (1) By post to Military Injury Ltd, PO Box 950, Taunton, TA4 3WR, (2) by email to [email protected] or (3) by telephoning us on 0333 200 0069.  If you telephone us out of hours and leave a voicemail message confirming that you wish to cancel your claim, we will accept that as formal notification of your decision even if we do not pick up the message on the day that you call. 

40. After the cooling-off period has expired you may still cancel your claim but you will be liable to pay us a cancellation fee of £300 including VAT to cover the work that we have done.

41. We reserve the right to end this Agreement and make a charge of £500.00 including VAT for the work we have carried out in processing your claim if you:

    • Act unreasonably by deliberately or negligently providing false information that results in Veterans UK declining your claim.
    • Provide information in the mistaken belief that it was correct that results in Veterans UK declining your claim.
    • Provide information that you failed to check the accuracy of which results in us incurring time and cost in processing your claim.
    • Fail to declare to us any injury, illness or condition which you had prior to joining the military that results in Veterans UK declining your claim on the basis that it was a pre-existing injury, illness or condition and irrespective of the fact that you passed the pre-enlistment medical.
    • Fail to respond to reasonable requests for information required by us in order to prepare your application for submission to Veterans UK.
    • Fail to respond to reasonable requests for information required by Veterans UK within the time limits prescribed under the AFCS or WPS Regulations which results in Veterans UK declining your claim by regarding it as having never been made.
    • Do not follow the advice or reasonable recommendations made by us which results in Veterans UK declining your claim.

42. We ask you to provide us with accurate information and clear instructions which allow us to do our work properly. You must not ask us to work in an improper or unreasonable way, deliberately mislead us, and you must co-operate with us in order for us to secure your compensation award.

Complaints Procedure

43. We are committed to providing a high-quality legal service to all our clients. When something goes wrong, we need you to tell us about it. This will help us to improve our standards.

44. We follow the guidance provided by the Claims Management Ombudsman which is part of the Financial Ombudsman Service which includes the summary resolution communication, time limits for resolving complaints and how we produce a final response.

Receiving Complaints

45. If you have a complaint, please contact us with the details. You can do this either:

1. By letter to:

Military Injury Ltd
86 – 90 Paul Street
London
EC2A 4NE

2. By Email to: - [email protected]

3. By telephone to: - 0333 200 0069

Responding to Complaints

46. We reserve the right to decline to consider any complaint raised more than 6 months after the complainant became aware of the cause of the complaint.

47. We will send a written or electronic acknowledgement of any complaint received within 5 business days of receipt of any such complaint, giving the job description of the person handling the complaint, together with a copy of this internal complaint handling procedure.

48. Within 4 weeks of receiving the complaint, we will either send the complainant a final response or a holding response, explaining why it has not been possible to deal with the complaint within 4 weeks and indicate when further contact will be made, which will be within 8 weeks of the original complaint.

49. If a final response cannot still be provided within this 8-week timescale then the complainant will be informed of this and the reasons why, and advised of their right to make a complaint to the Claims Management Ombudsman.

Right to complain to the Claims Management Ombudsman

50. If a client is dissatisfied after using our Internal Complaints Handling Procedure then they can make a complaint to the Claims Management Ombudsman.

51. Complaints may be made in writing, by email, by telephone or any other form to

    Claims Management Ombudsman
    Exchange Tower
    Harbour Exchange
    London
    E14 9SR

    Get in touch by phone:

    • 0800 023 4567 (free to call on mobiles or landlines)
    • (18002) 020 7964 1000 (calls using next-generation text relay)
    • +44 207 964 1000 (if you're calling from abroad)

Co-operating with the Claims Management Ombudsman

52. We are committed to co-operating with both our clients and the Authorities, in dealing with any complaints.

53. Where the Ombudsman requests assistance in connection with the investigation, consideration or determination of complaints under the ombudsman scheme we will provide such assistance in connection with those matters as it is reasonably able to give.

54. We will send you a prompt written acknowledgement or a summary resolution communication (if the complaint can be resolved within 3 working days).

55. We will keep you reasonably informed about the progress of your complaint and send you a final response.

Summary

56. We hope that you will pursue your claim through Military Injury Ltd and we are here to offer you the advice on how the AFCS/WPS schemes operate, what the time limits are for making a claim, the types of evidence you will need, the timescales for processing claims through the MOD and why we feel we have the necessary expertise to look after your application in a professional manner.

Yours sincerely

Alan V Scott-Davies LLB (Hons)
Managing Director

Military Injury Ltd January 2019