War Pension contact number

War Pension and AFCS: the Veterans UK Helpline

The Veterans UK Helpline handles War Pension Scheme and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme enquiries: new claims, existing awards, reviews, payments and allowances. The freephone number is 0808 1914 218, and lines are open 8am to 4pm Monday to Friday.

From outside the UK, call +44 1253 866 043. You can email [email protected], or write to Veterans UK, Ministry of Defence, Norcross, Thornton Cleveleys, FY5 3WP, United Kingdom.

The helpline is also where you request paper claim forms if you cannot download or print them, including form WPS0012 for a deterioration review.

AFCS: the same helpline, and which route does what

There is no separate AFCS telephone number. The Armed Forces Compensation Scheme shares this line with the War Pension Scheme: the same 0808 1914 218, the same overseas number, the same email address, the same Norcross postal address and the same 8am to 4pm hours. Every AFCS page on gov.uk routes contact back to that one helpline, so if you have been hunting for a dedicated AFCS number, you have already found it. What differs between the two schemes is not the number but the route, and several AFCS steps are written routes rather than phone calls.

Starting a new AFCS claim

You claim online through the gov.uk apply service, and one form covers both schemes, so you do not need to work out in advance whether your case is AFCS or War Pension: the date of the injury or illness decides that, and our AFCS versus War Pension page explains the border. If you cannot use the online service, call the helpline or email [email protected] and ask for a paper form; it comes with a pre-paid envelope. Our how to claim AFCS page walks through the evidence.

Expect an acknowledgement within 5 working days. If Veterans UK asks you for further evidence you have 3 months to supply it or the claim is closed, and once a decision is notified you should allow up to 20 working days for any payment to arrive.

Fast payment is a separate application, for serving personnel with injuries on or after 9 May 2011, and it has to be made within 6 months of the injury. The form is a download from gov.uk; if you cannot download or print it, phone or email the helpline for a copy. The AFCS tariff tables show how injuries are banded.

Reviews and reconsiderations are written routes

All requests for review of an AFCS award must be made in writing to Veterans UK, signed by you or by someone acting on your behalf, and must say why you think the award should be reviewed. The helpline can tell you where to send it but cannot start a review for you. If you disagree with a decision outright, ask for a reconsideration in writing within 12 months of being notified, and someone who was not involved in the original decision will look again. Beyond that the route is an appeal to an independent tribunal, which is a separate process.

An award can be reduced or removed on review, but only in very limited circumstances and only where there is strong evidence of a mistake or ignorance of a fact. Starting work, or recovering faster than expected, does not cause a reduction. If an interim award is reduced on review you will not have to repay anything.

GIP, AFIP and awards already in place

A Guaranteed Income Payment is an AFCS award, so GIP queries go to the same helpline; no separate GIP line exists on any official page. See our GIP page for how the payment is built.

Armed Forces Independence Payment works differently in one respect: Veterans UK issues the AFIP claim form automatically to people whose GIP is in Band A to C, so you should not need to apply cold. If the form does not arrive, contact Veterans UK on the same number. There is no deadline for claiming AFIP.

For an existing award, an interim award, or a change of address, the helpline is again the right call. Veterans UK warns interim-award holders in particular that if you move and do not tell them your new address you may lose money, and any change in your circumstances has to be reported straight away.

Free help with a claim, and the Northern Ireland number

You do not need a paid representative such as a solicitor or a claims management company to apply for compensation. Free help comes from Veterans Services, which since 8 June 2026 is the gov.uk name for MOD welfare support: it brings together the Veterans Welfare Service, Defence Transition Services and Integrated Personal Commissioning for Veterans. Expect to meet the old Veterans Welfare Service name for a while yet, including on some gov.uk AFCS pages. Veterans Services can help you apply for AFCS or a War Pension and can explain AFPS entitlements.

In England, Scotland and Wales, call 0808 1914 218 and select option 6. Northern Ireland has a genuinely different number: 07387 050564. From overseas, call +44 1253 866 043 and select option 6. Hours are 8am to 4pm Monday to Friday except public holidays, and they aim to contact you within 5 working days. Have your service number and National Insurance number ready, because the referral asks for both.

Your AFPS service pension is a different number

This is the distinction that causes most of the wasted calls. The War Pension Scheme and the AFCS are compensation for injury or illness caused by service. Your AFPS pension is the pension you earned through your career, and it is administered separately.

For AFPS pension enquiries, including forecasts, preserved pensions and payments in retirement, contact the Joint Personnel Administration Centre on 0800 085 3600 from the UK, 0044 141 224 3600 from overseas, or 94560 3600 on the military network. The email address is [email protected], and the postal address is JPAC, Mail Point 480, Kentigern House, 65 Brown Street, Glasgow, G2 8EX.

Our JPAC page explains what that office does, and Veterans UK explained covers the wider organisation.

Which number do I need?

Call the Veterans UK Helpline on 0808 1914 218 if your question is about an injury, an illness, a disablement assessment, a tariff award, a Guaranteed Income Payment, a war widow's pension, or a claim or review under either compensation scheme.

Call JPAC on 0800 085 3600 if your question is about the pension you built up through service: how much it will be, when it is payable, a forecast, a lump sum, commutation, a preserved pension or a payment that has not arrived.

If you genuinely have both, which is common after a medical discharge, you will need both numbers, because neither office can answer for the other.

What to have ready before you call

Have your service number, National Insurance number and date of birth available, plus any existing claim or award reference. For a compensation query, knowing roughly when the injury or illness occurred saves time, because the date decides whether the claim sits under the War Pension Scheme or the AFCS.

If you are calling on behalf of someone else, including a bereaved family member calling about a war widow's pension, be ready to explain your relationship to the member; Veterans UK will explain what authority it needs before it can discuss a case.