Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre (JCCC)
Management of British armed forces casualties and compassionate cases 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
Contact us
For casualty and compassionate cases contact our 24/7 telephone helpline 01452 519951
For other enquiries please use the contacts below:
| Graves | 01452 712612 ext 6304/6442/7659 |
| Deceased estates | 01452 712612 ext 6323/6301 |
| Inheritance tax | 01452 712612 ext 8174 |
| Historic military commemorations | 01452 712612 ext 6303/6082/5520 |
| Licensing | 01452 712612 ext 7330/6303 |
These numbers operate normal working hours.
Email: dbs-jcccgroupmailbox@mod.gov.uk
Postal address:
JCCC
Innsworth House
Imjin Barracks
Gloucester
GL3 1HW
Fax: 01452 510807
Actions to be taken now
Armed forces service personnel
What you need to do:
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update your next of kin and emergency contact on Joint Personnel Administration (JPA)
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make a will and enter details of the will’s location on your JPA record
Guidance for regulars and reserves on writing and recording wills as well as their storage and eventual disposal on death or completion of service is available in DIN 2020DIN01-115 – Tri-Service Arrangements for the administration of service wills.
Access is via MOD IT systems only.
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circulate the JPA P001 (a credit card sized form given to you by your Unit) to your family and friends, with your details (rank, name, service number.) written on the card
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download the on your Smart phone and share with your family and friends
| Next of kin | this is your closest living relative |
| Emergency contact | is the person you chose to be called first if you have an emergency |
Here is a short film outlining the role of the JCCC for you as a service person.
This film can only be viewed on personal devices.
Families and loved ones
What you can do to prepare:
- encourage the serving personnel to update the next of kin, emergency contact and will details on JPA
- ask the serving personnel for the JPA P001, a card which provides details about who to call in an emergency
- ask the serving personnel to download the and share to your device
Useful information to give the JCCC when you call:
- rank, name, service and unit
- service number
- date of birth
- details of the compassionate case
Here is a short film outlining the role of the JCCC for you as a family member or loved one of service personnel.
This film can only be viewed on personal devices.
Service Personnel Families Brief
Bereavement guide for families of service personnel
Families who have lost a loved one will receive a hard copy Purple Pack via their visiting officer. This online extended version contains further information, links, guidance and support.
Within the Purple Pack, you will find information on:
- immediate issues faced by families
- funerals
- entitlements and benefits
- various support networks
You can access the Purple Pack here
The JCCC Virtual Contact Card
Should your family need to contact the Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre (JCCC), the JCCC Virtual Contact Card allows you to store the JCCC’s 24/7 telephone number and contact details in your smartphone along with your Service Number to help JCCC assist them in the event of an emergency.
Once downloaded, you can open the JCCC Virtual Contact Card in your contacts and edit it to include your Service Number. This contact can then be saved and shared with your family to give them the information they need if they have to contact us.
All you need is your smartphone. Open this page on your mobile device and download the JCCC Virtual Contact card.
The format of the JCCC Virtual Contact Card may vary depending on your device and operating system. Older devices may not support vCard files.
Always remember to keep your personal data on your mobile device safe with a password and/or biometric authentication.
Download the
(if this link does not open automatically on your smartphone, please copy the link to a new browser window)
For more help please refer to the JCCC Virtual Contact Card user guide
Accessible Version
Casualty reporting
If a casualty occurs, the nominated emergency contact and next of kin will be informed. The JCCC may be able to approve the travel of next of kin to the bedside of a casualty if appropriate.
If personnel die in service, the JCCC will make the post-death arrangements and can provide advice on:
- repatriation
- funeral entitlements
- marking of graves
- estate issues
| Casualty Notifying Officer | is the person who tells you about the casualty in the first instance |
| Visiting Officer | is the person provides you with long term support |
Telephone: 01452 519951
If you have questions on financial matters relating to service in the armed forces, you should call the Veterans UK Freephone helpline: 0808 1914 218 (from outside the UK call: +44 1253 866 043).
Armed Forces Incident Centre
The Armed Forces Incident Centre will be activated if a mass casualty incident occurs involving any defence personnel to handle enquiries from families and provide updates on the incident. However, in the early phases of a major incident, information will be limited as the JCCC will be concentrating its efforts on informing emergency contacts/next of kin about those who may have been injured.
Activation will be published through the media and service command headquarters at which time the phone line will be active.
Compassionate casework
Serving personnel can be returned on compassionate grounds in the event of an unexpected death in the family, serious illness or serious family crisis. Expected events, such as a scheduled surgery, are considered welfare cases and are handled by the unit.
The JCCC work with service welfare organisations to decide what travel and assistance can be provided. In the most serious cases, the individual will be returned to the UK the fastest way possible.
Important information:
- serving personnel must be abroad
- travel to the UK only is provided
- commanding officers must approve compassionate leave
- parents, legal guardians, spouses, siblings and children are in scope, but not grandparents or partners
MOD Civilians
Entitled MOD Civilians are also provided with the same services regarding casualty reporting and compassionate cases. Please contact the JCCC Operations room for more details should you feel that this may affect you.
Telephone: 01452 519951
Funerals and graves
Important information:
- serving military personnel are entitled to a service funded or private funeral
- a £1,000 funeral expenses grant will be given to the next of kin, or executor
- private funerals are paid for by the family but an additional grant of up to £4,314 is reimbursed to the next of kin, or executor, on production of a receipted funeral bill
- for service funded funerals, the majority of the undertaker’s bill is settled by the unit
| Executor is the person appointed to administrate the estate of a deceased person |
Depending on whether the deceased is buried or cremated, service funded funerals will also include the offer of:
- a military pattern headstone, or an urn plot marker, or entry in a book of remembrance
- the future maintenance of a military pattern headstone
The MOD offers to maintain headstones marking the graves of those who have died in military service (since 1 January 1948), provided the individual receives a service funded funeral. The grave is marked by a military pattern headstone and any deeds are held by the JCCC.
The graves of those who died in the two world wars are maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Each year, the JCCC collates a list of the names and brief details on the circumstances of death for those who died in paid military service in the previous year. This information, along with inputs from the 3 services is considered by a panel of senior officers and officials, who decide if the circumstances of an individual’s death meet the qualifying criteria to be added to the armed forces memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum. The panel sits in the spring and qualifying names are added to the wall in the late summer. Further information can be found in the MoD Guide here
Rolls of Honour are also maintained by each service and list the names of all those who have died in paid military service since 1 January 1948.
Deceased estates casework
If there is an in service death, and the individual left a valid will, the JCCC must liaise with the appointed executor on estate issues. If there is no will, the JCCC will liaise with the next of kin (NOK) and their Visiting Officer.
The JCCC can offer advice on:
- estate payments
- return of personal effects
- inheritance tax exemption for a death linked to active, war like or emergency service
Inheritance tax exemptions are automatically granted on the estate of qualifying serving personnel by the JCCC, but exemptions on the estates of veterans must be applied for by the next of kin or executor by contacting JCCC Deceased Estates
The Ministry of Defence currently holds funds due to the estates of personnel because an appropriate relative was not found. This list can be found on the unpaid estates page.
Commemorative funerals
The Commemorations team or “War Detectives” is responsible for the research and identification of historic casualties.
See who we are and what we do.
Find out how to contact us.
Complaints
If you have a complaint regarding the service JCCC has provided, please submit your concerns in writing, providing as much detail as possible using one of the two options below:
Written complaint letters should be sent to:
Officer in Charge
Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre
Innsworth House
Imjin Barracks
GLOUCESTER
GL3 1HW
If you wish to submit you complaint via email please use the email address below:
DBS-JCCCGroupMailBox@mod.gov.uk
JCCC will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within five working days and will aim to respond with 20-working days. All complaints will be handled personally by the Officer in Charge.
For Armed Forces Personnel - the JCCC complaint procedure does not affect your right to raise a Service complaint if you believe that you have been wronged.
Additional support
Updates to this page
Published 19 June 2013Last updated 23 February 2024 + show all updates
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Guidance around the complaints system has been included.
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Funeral budget has been increased from £3,904 to £4,314
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Update to some of the guidance
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JCCC Vcard user guidance added.
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Replaced Virtual contact card with version 3.1 with further iphone fixes
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Replaced virtual contact card with updated version with iphone fixes
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Added the JCCC Virtual Contact Card
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Phone line fault now fixed so fault message removed.
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Added an update on the 2 October 2020 about a phone line technical fault.
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Updated contact details.
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Updated the commemorative funeral section
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Update to the Tri-service DIN
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Replaced transcripts
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Amendment to funerals grant amount
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Updated the email address.
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Link added to the commemorations casework
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Update to the MOD ice section
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Included information on the Purple Pack
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Updated information on the whole page.
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The JCCC has launched a new mobile app and briefing films to help service personnel and their families access their services.
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Updated the Estates of Deceased Service Personnel list.
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Text changes under Estates Casework, Funerals and Graves, JCCC Post Death Administration and contacts.
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Updated estate of deceased service personnel as at 1 February 2015.
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Updated contact details
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Updated list as at 31 July 2014.
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Updated to reflect organisational changes within MOD.
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First published.