Key features of the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS)

The key features of the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) are:

• The AFCS provides benefits for illness, injury or death caused by Service where that cause was on or after 6 April 2005 irrespective of which AFPS a person is a member of.  The AFCS replaced War Pensions Scheme (WPS) and AFPS 75 attributable benefits. 
  
• It provides a tariff-based lump sum award for pain and suffering for significant qualifying injuries and illnesses, which takes into account the expected level of deterioration.  Larger payments will go to the more seriously disabled.  The tariff has 15 levels of award, which will be reviewed periodically.  The current maximum is a £285K lump sum. 
  
• It also offers a tax-free Guaranteed Income Payment (GIP) for life for those at the higher levels of the tariff (1-11) to compensate for loss of earnings capacity.  The value of the income payment is set at different levels, dependent on the expected degree of lost earnings capacity caused by the disablement.
  
• Dependants.  For an attributable death, a taxable Survivor’s Guaranteed Income Payment (SGIP) will be awarded.  An additional tax-free bereavement grant of £20K would be paid for death in retirement.  For deaths in service, if a member of AFPS 05, the widow(er), civil partner or eligible partner will receive a lump sum of four times pensionable pay from AFPS – part of the bereavement grant would only be payable if the member’s salary was below £20,000.  If a member of AFPS 75, the full bereavement grant of £20,000 would be payable.  There will also be a Child’s Payment (CP). 
  
• For the first time, tax-free in-Service lump sum awards for injury will be paid for pain and suffering, including for injuries arising from warlike acts and terrorism.
  
• The scheme is designed to be administratively straightforward for the majority of claims.  It is run by Service Personnel & Veterans Agency (SPVA) administrators with access to specialist medical advice.
  
• The Scheme uses the "balance of probabilities" standard of proof, in line with similar schemes for civil claims.
  
• There is a time limit to claim of 5 years from the event, when medical advice was first sought or after retirement where no particular incident caused the condition – whichever is the earliest.  There is an exceptions list for late-onset conditions and discretion within the Scheme for exceptional cases.
  
• There is no regular review mechanism.  Awards are, in general, full and final with provision for interim awards where the long-term prognosis is unclear and for review in exceptional cases where significant unexpected complications arise.  There is an internal reconsideration process and an independent appeals process using the Pensions Appeal Tribunal, and Social Security Commissioners, Court of Appeal and the House of Lords on points of law, which is compliant with the European Convention on Human Rights.
  
• The Scheme is supported by the War Pensions Welfare Service.
  
• It is a no-fault scheme; a claim against the Scheme does not prevent individuals making a claim for negligence against the MOD.
  
• These compensation benefits are in addition to those non-attributable benefits under AFPS 75, AFPS 05 or RFPS on medical discharge or death-in-service, but there is a "netting off" to avoid double compensation eg for loss of earnings capacity.