AFCS PTSD compensation

Which scheme covers your PTSD claim

The date of the service that caused the condition decides the scheme, not the date you were diagnosed and not the date you claim. Service on or after 6 April 2005 falls under the AFCS. Service before that date falls under the War Pension Scheme, which assesses PTSD by degree of disablement and pays a weekly tax-free pension rather than a tariff lump sum.

This matters for mental health more than for most conditions, because the gap between the events and the diagnosis is often long. A veteran diagnosed in 2026 with PTSD arising from service in the 1990s is a War Pension case, not an AFCS one. Our AFCS versus War Pension guide sets out the border, and the War Pension PTSD page covers the earlier route.

How mental health is assessed on the tariff

The AFCS sets out its descriptors in nine tables, and mental disorders have a table of their own. The assessor places the condition on the fifteen-level tariff by looking at how severe it is, how much it affects your functioning, and what the prognosis is, rather than by applying a fixed diagnosis-to-level mapping.

That is why no honest source will quote a single figure as the PTSD payout. Two people with the same diagnosis can sit at different tariff levels because the effect on their lives differs. What you can say with confidence is the structure: the level sets the lump sum, and the level decides whether a GIP is payable.

The AFCS tariff table lists the current lump sum at each of the fifteen levels, and the AFCS calculator will show the figures for a level once you know where your award sits.

When PTSD attracts a Guaranteed Income Payment

If the mental health condition is assessed at tariff level 11 or above, a Guaranteed Income Payment is paid on top of the lump sum: a tax-free, index-linked monthly income for life. Levels 12 to 15 pay the lump sum alone.

For a condition that ends a career, this is usually the larger part of the award by a wide margin. The GIP is set as a percentage of final salary by band, then adjusted by an age factor, so a younger member medically discharged with a serious mental health condition receives a higher monthly payment. Our GIP page explains the bands in full.

What supports a mental health claim

Service records and medical records do most of the work. What helps is a clear thread from the service events to the diagnosis, and a current clinical account of how the condition affects daily functioning, work and relationships. Where treatment has been through the NHS rather than through service medical services, those records need to be identified so they can be obtained.

The scheme is no-fault, which means you do not have to establish that anyone was negligent or that the chain of command failed. You have to establish that service caused or worsened the condition. That is a materially lower bar than a civil claim, and it is worth being clear about, because the two are often confused.

If a condition worsens after an award is made, the award can be looked at again, and interim awards are used where the position is not yet settled.

The seven-year time limit

AFCS claims carry a seven-year time limit. It runs from the date of the incident, or from the date the condition worsened, or from when you first sought medical advice for it, or from discharge, depending on which applies to your case. There are exceptions, and late claims are not automatically refused.

For mental health this is the provision that causes the most anxiety, because people often seek help years after the events. If you are outside what looks like the limit, make the claim anyway and let Veterans UK apply the exceptions rather than ruling yourself out.

Claims and questions go to the Veterans UK helpline on 0808 1914 218, and the full contact routes are on our War Pension and AFCS contact page.