War Pension Scheme (WPS)
A compensation scheme for veterans for any injury or illness which has been caused by or made worse by their service in His Majesty's Armed Forces.
Overview
The War Pension Scheme (WPS) compensates for any injury, illness or death which was caused by service before 6 April 2005.
There are 2 main types of WPS awards. Which one you get depends on the level of your disablement:
- a gratuity is a tax free lump sum payment for disablement less than 20%
- a pension is an ongoing tax free payment paid weekly or monthly for disablement more than 20%.
If your condition is Noise-Induced Sensorineural Hearing Loss and your disablement is less than 20% we will not be able to pay you a pension or lump sum.
The rules of the scheme and the value of the payments awarded are set by Parliament. The value of the payments increase each year in line with the consumer price index.
The Armed Forces Compensation Scheme provides compensation for any injury, illness or death which is caused by service on or after 6 April 2005.
Who is eligible?
You can claim under the WPS if you are no longer serving in His Majesty’s (HM) Armed Forces and your claimed disablement arose before 6 April 2005.
There are other similar minor schemes available, please see the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme Statement of Policy (JSP 765) for full details.
Important information:
Free independent advice
You do not need a paid representative such as a solicitor or claims management company to apply for compensation. Free independent advice is available from the Veterans Welfare Service or other charitable organisations.
Paid representation
If you choose paid representation, we cannot meet the cost of this and you will have to pay these costs yourself. Where someone is representing you on a ‘no-win no-fee’ basis this usually means that they will keep a share of your payment to cover their fees. You may wish to check how much of your payment will go to your representative before you agree to paid representation.
Time limits for claims
There are no time limits for claiming, but any award will only be paid from the date of your claim.
How to make a claim
To make a claim, visit our Apply for Armed Forces Compensation or a War Pension page.
Process Map
Guidance on the WPS claim customer journey will help you understand how we process your claim.
To view the accessible version please select the download option.
If you are a Nuclear Test Veteran (NTV)
If you think your condition was caused by exposure to ionising radiation during the UK nuclear test programme it may speed up your claim if you also complete the additional Nuclear Test Veteran (NTV) Priority Claim: Enquiries/Request Form.
Download and complete the claim form.
If you cannot download or print the form, phone or email the Veterans UK helpline to ask for a copy.
Medical Discharge
If you are medically discharged from HM Armed Forces, your service documents may be referred to Veterans UK. In certain circumstances, we will automatically consider whether you are entitled to an award under the Scheme - you do not have to do anything.
We will consider any injury, illness or disease identified as the main reason for your medical discharge, and any associated conditions.
What happens next
In order to consider your claim, we will collect relevant information from sources both inside and outside the Ministry of Defence. Once we have this information, we decide what other information we need. This could be a report from your GP or Medical Officer, or if you have had recent hospital treatment, a copy of your medical records from the hospital concerned.
If you can provide copies of any supporting documentation such as reports from your Medical Officer, copies of orders, accident/incident reports, please do so as soon as possible. This may help us deal with your claim quicker.
Sometimes we cannot decide on the up-to-date medical information alone, or you may not have visited your GP for a while. If this is the case, we may arrange a medical examination with an appointed doctor.
You will receive a letter with the reasons for decision.
You should let us know if you receive any other compensation for the same disablement for which you are getting a War Pension or if you start to receive any other benefit, pension or allowance from the Department for Work and Pensions. We may reduce your War Pension or lump sum. We do this because you cannot be compensated twice for the same disablement.
You must let us know immediately about any changes in your circumstances so that we can make sure that you are getting the right amount of money.
What to do if you disagree with our decision
If you do not agree with our decision and you think there are some facts Veterans UK may not have known when we made our decision, you should contact us and ask for us to review your claim.
We will notify you of the outcome of the review. If you still feel our decision is wrong you can appeal to an independent tribunal.
How to apply for a review
If we have made an assessment, we will normally not look at your case again unless you ask us to.
If we have awarded a pension or allowance for a limited period, we will look at your case again at the end of that period.
You can ask for a review at any time. There is no time limit for asking for a review.
Further conditions
If you have already claimed a War Pension and you have an additional condition which you think was also caused or made worse by service in the armed forces before 6 April 2005, you can apply to claim for a further condition.
Other help and allowances you may be entitled to
Find out more about:
- treatment allowance and other help that you may be entitled to
- other allowances that may be available to you.
If you need help
If you require legal advice on the scheme you should go to an independent adviser.
If you have any questions, contact Veterans UK.
This guidance provides general information only. Every effort has been made to ensure that the information is accurate, but it is not a full and authoritative statement of the law. The Scheme rules are the authoritative document and can be found in the Service Pensions Order legislation.
Updates to this page
Published 21 February 2020Last updated 7 November 2022 + show all updates
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The section how to make a claim has been updated to include a link to a new page with all the information needed about making a claim.
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Included attachments explaining the WPS claim customer journey
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Trial of online claim system is now closed while feedback and process is assessed.
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Online claim information added to the 'How to make a claim' section.
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Added Nuclear Test Veteran (NTV) Priority Claim: Enquires Request Form.
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Amended text.
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Text added to overview with link in view about the current COVID-19 situation.
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First published.