Armed Forces: Civil Proceedings

(asked on 4th November 2020) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the effect of the Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill on service personnel’s ability to make civil claims against his Department.


Answered by
Johnny Mercer Portrait
Johnny Mercer
Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
This question was answered on 9th November 2020

Service personnel and veterans will continue to be able to bring claims relating to overseas operations against the MOD. While the Bill will introduce a six year longstop for personal injury and death claims, the clock for those claims won't start until the date of knowledge. This means that for conditions like PTSD, that may not be diagnosed until much later, the six years would start from the date of diagnosis not the date of a deployment on an overseas operation.

Service personnel and veterans will also continue to be able to access the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme, including for claims relating to overseas operations, which has a seven-year time limit for bringing claims.

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