Many of our cases are funded with a No Win No Fee agreement. This means that there’s no financial risk* to you when making a compensation claim.
At the start of your case, we'll discuss funding options with you, advising you which we think is most suitable. If you have legal expenses insurance (LEI), this may be best for you. Legal expenses insurance is included in many household or car insurance policies, so it’s always worth checking whether you’re already covered.
If we think you're best supported by a No Win No Fee* agreement, we'll explain the process clearly. You'll only have to pay anything if your claim is successful – your opponent will pay most of our fees, with the remaining costs coming out of your compensation settlement.
Please visit our No Win No Fee page for more information on how it works.
How much compensation you receive after an off-duty accident or injury will depend on a few factors related to your condition, its circumstances, and the support and rehabilitation you need.
When calculating your compensation, we'll take the following things into account:
- Your age, rank and specialism
- The pain and suffering caused by your injury or illness
- Loss of your service earnings caused by delayed promotion or medical discharge
- Loss of any civilian earnings
- Loss of pension contributions / resettlement grant
- Loss of a commitment bonus
- Loss of specialist pay and allowances
- Loss of service benefits including loss of subsidised quarters and Learning Credits
- Your care and support needs – both now and in the future
- Modifications to your home
- Mobility aids
Any settlement is paid by the Ministry of Defence, out of a specific budget set aside for these situations. It doesn't come out of your unit’s budget, and it doesn’t come out of the budget which pays for kit, equipment and other resources.
For more information, call us on 0800 022 3321 and we'll be happy to discuss your options in a free initial consultation.
There are various circumstances where you could make a claim for compensation if you’ve been injured while off duty.
Some of the reasons you may have been injured while off duty could include:
- Assault
- Road traffic accidents
- Burns
- Slips, trips, or falls
- Accidents while on holiday
- Accidents in the gym or during a sport.
Contact us if you’ve sustained an injury while off duty through any of the above or some other cause. We’ll listen to what happened to you in a free initial consultation and advise you on if you could make a claim.
As a member of the armed forces, you have the same right to make a compensation claim for an accident or injury that occurred because of negligence as civilians, and you're entitled to claim compensation for accidents that occurred while you were off duty too.
If you're claiming for an accident that occurred during your service, the claim will be brought against the Ministry of Defence. If the accident occurred while you were off duty, we'll determine the party liable for your compensation during the claims process.
The majority of military accidents do not happen in combat. Where injuries are sustained in combat, the MoD may be able to use the defence of “combat immunity”. Combat immunity essentially provides the MoD with a defence if your injury was sustained at time when engaged with an enemy. However, even in these situations, if negligence was partly or fully to blame for your injuries, you may still have a legal claim.
If you’re unsure whether you can make a legal claim, please call our military experts on 0800 022 3321 for a free consultation.
The Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) is a government scheme that provides compensation for off-duty accidents, illness and death caused by service on or after 6 April 2005.
Unlike a legal claim, the AFCS does not require you to establish that anybody else was at fault. This means that you could be able to claim under the AFCS in circumstances where there is no legal claim.
However, the AFCS is a tariff based system – it does not look at the way your injury will affect you as an individual, or what financial losses you will actually incur. For this reason legal claims made through the courts will almost always result in significantly more compensation than claims made through the AFCS.
It's accepted that members of the armed forces have no choice where they're deployed, or in the activities they're required to undertake. This means that compensation could be paid from the scheme for injuries caused in a number of ways, including those that occur during:
- Operations
- Training
- Service-approved sports
- Exercise to maintain military fitness
Both regular and reserve forces can apply for compensation through the AFCS, whether you're still serving or a veteran.
Compensation is paid as a lump sum on a tariff-based system determined by the severity of your injuries, and can range from a minimum of £1,200 to a maximum award of £570,000. You could claim through the AFCS as well as claiming through the courts.
You can find out more about the AFCS here, or alternatively you can contact our solicitors on 0800 022 3321 for a free consultation if you have any specific questions.
To start your claim for an off duty military injury, contact our specialist solicitors today. We’ll set up a free initial consultation where you can discuss what happened to you with an expert. We’ll advise you on if you’ve a claim, how much it could be worth, and how you can fund your case.
There’s no obligation for you to go any further than this free initial consultation if you decide against making a claim. But if you choose to go ahead with our solicitors, we’ll begin by collecting all available evidence to support your claim.
Evidence can vary from claim to claim, but things we can use as evidence include:
- Witness statements
- CCTV footage
- Photo or video evidence
- Independent medical expert testimony
- Medical reports
- Police reports.
We’ll then contact the MoD, AFCS, or external non-military organisation responsible for your injuries and inform them we intend to claim.
What happens next depends largely on whether they accept they were responsible. If they accept responsibility and agree with how much compensation we’re claiming for, it’ll be much easier and faster to settle your claim.
However, we may need to take your claim to court if they dispute blame or the proposed compensation amount. In some instances, we may advise you that it’d be better to take your claim to court to get you as much compensation as possible. But if we don’t think this, we’ll do all we can to keep your claim from going to court, making the process as stress-free for you as possible.
If we need to take your claim to court, we’ll make sure you’re fully prepared and as comfortable as possible. Many claims can be settled out of court, even if trial dates have already been set.
We can’t state how much compensation you could be entitled to until we know what happened to you.
Compensation amounts are unique to the claim, so there’s no set amount you could get. Any money you’re entitled to claim will be calculated based on:
- The circumstances around your accident
- The type of injuries you sustained
- Your pain and suffering
- Your care neds in the long-term
- Expenses, such as medical expenses or travel expenses for hospital appointments
- Modifications you need making to your home
- Specialist treatment, therapies, or equipment you need
- Loss of earnings through being unable to work, such as military pension and promotion opportunities in the MoD.
Please contact us to tell us more in a free initial consultation. We’ll be able to put a value on your claim when we know more.
In most circumstances, you’ll need to make your claim within three years of the date of the accident. If you’re claiming on behalf of a loved one who lost their life due to an off duty military accident, you’ve three years from the date of their death.
If the accident took place before your 18th birthday, the time limit doesn’t start until your 18th birthday, giving you until you’re 21 to claim.
The time limit doesn’t apply to people who lack the mental capacity to make their own claim. So, if your loved one lost their mental capacity because of the accident, you can claim on their behalf at any time.
In any event, we always urge clients to begin the claims process as soon as possible after the accident. The evidence will be easier to gather, and the details will be fresher in your mind and the minds of any witness who can help your claim.
Our military injury team have been helping service men and women claim against the MoD since 1987. The team includes several former military personnel, and includes:
- Simon Harrington, who has over 15 years of experience bringing claims against the MoD. Simon specialises in cold injury claims, having helped hundreds of service personnel to claim over £10 million in compensation for their injuries.
- Andrew Buckham, who served in the Army for seven years before joining Irwin Mitchell. Andrew specialises in claims relating to serious and fatal injuries. He is also a trustee for the Defence Medical Welfare Service
- Amanda Marsh, who has over 20 years experience acting for clients with serious personal injuries. Amanda has 'encyclopedic knowledge of the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme.' (Legal 500)
Meet our military injury team.
