Since 1987, Service and ex-Service personnel who have suffered loss or injury due to negligence by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) have been able to make a compensation claim under common law.

Before this, the law (Section 10 of the Crown Proceedings Act 1947) prevented Service and ex-Service personnel from making such claims. This restriction was removed by the Crown Proceedings (Armed Forces) Act 1987, but the change was not applied to events that happened before 1987.

Governments aim to maintain stable and predictable financial outgoings and making changes to the law for past events can create unexpected financial challenges. For this reason, successive governments have followed the principle of not making retrospective changes to compensation schemes, pensions or other benefits. This approach helps to ensure these schemes remain sustainable and affordable in the long term.

The government has no plans to change the law to allow claims for events that occurred before 1987.
However, the War Pension Scheme (WPS) provides compensation for injuries, illness, or deaths caused by service before 6 April 2005, including hearing damage. The WPS is a "no-fault" scheme, which means that you do not need to prove that the MOD was negligent or at fault for your injury or illness. Instead, you only need to show that your condition was caused or made worse by your service.

Ex-Service personnel who suffered hearing damage due to Service before 1987 can apply for support through this Scheme. You can find more information about how to make a claim under the War Pension Scheme on the government website. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/war-pension-scheme-wps

Ministry of Defence