War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Tribunal

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1. Overview

You can appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Chamber) if you disagree with a decision about your war pension or compensation.

You must appeal within 1 year of getting your decision letter.

The tribunal is independent of government and will listen to both sides of the argument before making a decision.

There are different tribunals in Scotland and tribunals in Northern Ireland.

Decisions the tribunal can make

The tribunal will decide whether your injury was caused or made worse by serving in the armed forces.

If it was, it can then make decisions about:

  • your entitlement to a pension or compensation
  • how much pension you get
  • your entitlement to extra allowances, for example for mobility needs
  • pension start dates
  • withheld pensions

The tribunal deals with appeals for the 2 pension schemes currently running, which are:

  • the War Pensions Scheme - for injuries caused or made worse by service before 6 April 2005
  • the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme - for injuries caused by service from 6 April 2005 onwards

Help you can get

You may want to get legal help or advice before you appeal.

You may also be able to get help from organisations including:

2. How to appeal

You should appeal within one year of getting your decision letter.

Before you appeal

Write a letter to Veterans UK and ask them to reconsider their decision. Explain why you think the decision is wrong and give any information not included in your original claim.

They will look at your case again and write to you with their decision.

Veterans UK
Norcross
Thornton Cleveleys
Lancashire
FY5 3WP

Veterans UK was previously known as the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency (SPVA).

If you’re still unhappy

You can appeal to the War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation tribunal if you’re still unhappy with the decision made by Veterans UK.

If the decision was made before 6 April 2023

Contact the Veterans UK helpline and ask for an appeal form to take your case to the tribunal. Fill it in and send it back to Veterans UK.

Call if you need help filling in the form.

Veterans UK helpline
veterans-uk@mod.uk
Telephone: 0808 191 4218
Find out about call charges

If the decision was made on or after 6 April 2023

Complete and return form WPAF1 to War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation tribunal by post or email.

You can also ask the tribunal to send you a printed form.

PO Box 10875
Arnhem House
Leicester
LE1 8FE

armedforces.chamber@justice.gov.uk

Late appeals

In some cases you’ll be allowed to appeal after one year, but you must explain why your appeal is late. You cannot appeal against any decision after 2 years.

3. After you appeal

Veterans UK will send you a copy of their response to your appeal. They’ll also send a copy to the tribunal and your legal representative if you have one. The response will contain information given in your claim and the evidence used to make the decision under appeal, such as medical reports that you may regard as confidential.

It can take several weeks for Veterans UK to do this.

You can choose to reply in writing (a ‘written submission’) explaining why you disagree with the facts they used - you must do this within one month of receiving the copy.

You can also send any other evidence to support your case to the tribunal.

War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation
PO Box 10875
Arnhem House
Leicester
LE1 8FE

War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Appeals tribunal armedforces.chamber@justice.gov.uk
Telephone: 0330 808 4458
Find out about call charges

The tribunal will give you a date and time for your hearing. They may ask for more information if they need it.

There are different tribunals in Scotland and tribunals in Northern Ireland.

4. The tribunal hearing

There are different tribunals in Scotland and tribunals in Northern Ireland.

Your hearing will take place by phone, video or in person.

In person hearings are usually held in major cities across England and Wales. You’ll be told where you have to go.

The tribunal will give you at least 14 days’ notice of the date of any hearing. You should be given a hearing within 4 months of the tribunal receiving a response from Veterans UK.

You must tell the tribunal if you cannot make it to the hearing - they might arrange another date if you have a good reason.

The tribunal might hold the hearing without you if do not attend.

Prepare for the hearing

You can go to the hearing on your own or ask someone to help represent you. You can also call a witness to support your case.

If you or your witness or representative is outside the UK and wants to give live video or audio evidence, contact the tribunal to request it. Tell the tribunal what country you, the witness or representative is in and what type of evidence is being given. You must do this as soon as possible.

Organisations that can help represent you include:

Take your appeal papers and the documents you’re using as evidence to the hearing. You should give copies of any evidence to the tribunal and Veterans UK before the tribunal hearing.

Tribunal panel

The tribunal is made up of:

  • a judge
  • a medical member
  • a service member

What happens at the hearing

The judge, tribunal members, Veterans UK and your representative (if you have one) will ask you questions about your case.

The tribunal will then question any witnesses you’ve brought to the hearing.

You’ll usually get a decision from the tribunal on the day of the hearing.

Expenses

You might be able to claim expenses or compensation for:

  • travel (only in the UK)
  • living expenses for the time you’re away from home
  • loss of earnings

More information

You can find out more about expenses or contact the tribunal for more information.

War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Appeals tribunal
armedforces.chamber@justice.gov.uk
Telephone: 0330 808 4458
Find out about call charges

5. If you lose your appeal

You can ask the tribunal for permission to appeal to the Upper Tribunal (Administrative Appeals Chamber) if you lose your appeal.

You must ask for permission to appeal within 6 weeks of getting the decision.

The Upper Tribunal will look at the case to see if the original decision was correct.

Reasons for appealing

You can only appeal if you think the decision was wrong for a legal reason, including if the tribunal did not:

  • follow the right procedures - for example it did not tell you in time about the hearing
  • give proper reasons for its decision, or back up the decision with facts
  • apply the law properly

Before appealing, ask the original tribunal for the written statement of reasons for its decision.

Contact the Upper Tribunal

Upper Tribunal (Administrative Appeals Chamber)
Telephone: 020 7911 5662
Fax: 0870 324 0028
Typetalk: 18001 020 7071 5662
Find out about call charges

Upper Tribunal (Administrative Appeals Chamber)
5th Floor Rolls Building
7 Rolls Buildings
Fetter Lane
London
EC4A 1NL

6. Legislation

The tribunal will make decisions based on:

The tribunal must follow the rules and process set out in the: