Injury compensation claims

New official figures released by ‘Defence Analytical Services and Advice’ reveal that nearly two thirds of appeals against an initial refusal to grant injury compensation to wounded servicemen and women are successful. Under the current scheme decisions on awarding compensation are taken by the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme. They are increasingly coming under pressure for being too harsh in their assessment of compensation claims.

1,445 cases of servicemen being refused compensation were appealed in the period from 2005-2009. Due to a backlog of cases, a decision on the appeal has been made in only 1,265 of these cases. In 845 cases they were successfully awarded an injury compensation payout that they were refused the first time around. In some cases where an initial payment was granted, that amount was increased to a more suitable figure.

The Armed Forces Compensation Scheme has been controversial ever since its introduction in 2005. Many widely believe that the scheme provides insufficient amounts of compensation to wounded soldiers, and the scheme is set to be revamped by Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth.