AFCS Help

What this site is about

I launched this website in February 2022. It was kept going by a wonderful group of supporters who wanted fair treatment by Veterans UK, when I couldn't afford renewed subscription fees for the site because Veterans UK kept under-assessing and delaying my AFCS decision. Oh, the delicious irony.

If you have any feedback, spot anything that is missing or incorrect, please let me know on Instagram @AFCSHelp

This is a personal site, aimed at helping you with decisions when you make an application to the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme. It was cathartic for me as the AFCS process was horrible, took years, and made my health worse.

I will deal predominantly with applications to do with mental health, as that's what my application was about, but a lot of the information is generic across all types of claims.

Please note, the information on this site is not legal advice and I cannot give specific advice for your claim.

I hope this site will be a down to earth, supportive source of basic information.

If you wanted to make a will, you could search the internet and find loads of sites giving you background information about making a will. Even after reading about wills online, you'd still get a professional, probably a lawyer, to draft your actual will and make sure it was witnessed properly.

There aren't many such sites giving background information about applying to the AFCS. There are more and more sites offering help, free and paid, if you get in touch.

I hope that this site will give you information and explanations about an AFCS claim, without having to ring anyone or tell fifteen or more people your backstory.

There are various organisations that can help with an AFCS claim, and hopefully I explain here how they can help, and the differences between them.

So grab a brew or wet, and skip straight to the Awards page to see how much you could get...

Just kidding, you've already been there and now you've come to find out how to apply.

Got your attention for the important bit

This site is not legal advice

Nothing on this site constitutes legal advice.

I'm not being difficult or avoiding helping individuals. I have to be clear about it. Otherwise if someone takes it as legal advice, I can be sued without insurance and struck off as a lawyer.

I am a non-practicing solicitor. That means what it sounds like - I don't practice law any more, and I'm not insured to offer legal advice.

I am not an expert on the AFCS. I have read a lot about it and I’ve been through the process of my own application.

I feel passionately that the administration of the scheme is at best incorrect, and at worst downright harmful.

I want to change the way it is administered, and help people navigate through the mess it's currently in.

If you want or need professional advice about the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme or about your own application, please speak to a military charity and / or a practicing solicitor with experience of the AFCS.

If they are all closed and won't reopen for weeks, you could try Veterans UK or their Veterans Welfare Service, but from my experience I wouldn't recommend them. I'd rather ask next door's cat.

Please see details around this site about the differences between these services.

I hopefully don't need to explain the difference with a cat.

I am not affiliated with any charities, with Veterans UK or any lawyers or law firms. I have asked if I can refer to the ones I've spoken to, but I have not been able to get permission, probably because I use naughty words on this site. They probably don't wish to be publicly associated with me.

This little site did, however, get referenced by the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme Quinquennial review 2022/23, so it can't be that bad.

My posts on this site and associated social media are merely my opinions. I will try and be as objective as I can, but I do occasionally have a rant. This may be tongue in cheek, and may contain military humour. AFCS can make you angry.

Hi, I'm James, Fairy, or Fairy Cakes.

I used to be a Puma helicopter pilot in the RAF. I had what the doctor called an adjustment reaction (stress) in 2008, and I left the RAF in 2011.

In 2018 I was diagnosed as having PTSD, and I was told by the shrink that I probably had it for years.

I began my AFCS process in 2018 after my diagnosis. In 2019 I formally applied to the Scheme. At the end of November 2023, after numerous rejections, applications and procedural appeals, the content of which made my PTSD worse, I concluded my AFCS claim. Unfortunately 4 years is pretty quick by comparison to others, and each day you wait can feel like weeks.

I learnt a lot about the Scheme during my application, particularly relating to mental health claims. I learnt a lot about the body that administers AFCS, called Veterans UK.

I hope sharing my experience can help you too.

After leaving the RAF I retrained as a solicitor and qualified into healthcare law. This mainly involved helping defend clinical negligence claims against the NHS, and representing NHS Trusts at inquests. This experience gives me an invaluable perspective with which to view the AFCS process, as many parts of the scheme are similar to negligence and inquest cases.

I quit the law in 2017, thinking I was unable to cope with a demanding civvy job and family life. This was before my diagnosis of PTSD.

I don't deny that this site and blog are self therapeutic. During my case it helped me take back a little control of my own life and story during the interminable delays, incompetence and passive aggression meted out by Veterans UK.

I really hope reading the information here makes those initial hurdles dealing with AFCS a little easier for you to jump, and gives you a familiar voice while going through what is a really tough process.

afcshelp.co.uk on the Veteran State of Mind Podcast with author, historian and, most importantly, machinegunner Geraint Jones.

Ep 189 VSOM Podcast on Spotify

Ep 189 VSOM Podcast on Apple Podcasts