Challenging and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme decision
I am seeking help and advice with an Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) claim that was recently rejected. I claimed for hearing loss but it was declined based on it being submitted outside the specified 7-year time limit. I intend to challenge the decision but thought I’d ask folk for advice or experiences on how best to approach it. My thoughts so far:
1. AFCS have declared my date of injury as 1 Jun 2008, but this is the date I attended hospital for additional and more advanced hearing tests. I would argue that it is impossible to pinpoint the injury date for hearing loss as annual medicals and hearing tests are considered routine examinations and cannot be accurately described as the injury date.
2. I am still serving and my hearing continues to decline. If the AFCS consider the injury date as 1 Jun 2008 and the 7 year time limit applies, then I would like to understand my position if my hearing medical category drops again from H2 to H3. This is very likely and given their argument, I would contest that this would become a new date of injury and the 7-year clock would start again, allowing me to re-submit a new claim.
3. Despite the AFCS considering the injury date as 1 Jun 2008, I was not informed of the hospitals letter at the time and I was not in a position to properly consider my position and options available. I was only made aware of the letter as my hearing declined again in 2017 and the Doctor carrying out my medical read my notes and highlighted the letters content to me. The MOD cannot prove that I received the letter and I would argue that there should have been a more robust process in place to ensure I had received the specialists letter, and that I understood the information contained within it.
4. During this years PME, my MO said that claiming for hearing loss under the AFCS is only a recent addition and that the 7-year time limit should perhaps start from this date and not the date of injury. It is possible that the failings to inform me mentioned above in point 3, were due to hearing loss not being part of the AFCS in 2008.
5. Lastly and most importantly, I have just recently returned to flying and I still feel that I am being let down by the MOD. As already mentioned, my most recent hearing test was a slight decline on last year and given my H2, I thought additional examinations and procedures were mandated. Despite me raising it at my last PME, I have not seen or received any such tests and/or information and I would argue that my noisy work environment continues to expose me to an increased loud noise risk and that the MOD have failed to properly assess the long term impact it will have. This point may end up in me being grounded, but I'm more concerned with my long-term health and highlighting the continuing procedural/medical failings of the service!!!
I maybe clutching at straws here and despite the potential compensation not being a huge amount, I’m challenging out of principle. The university letter says my hearing loss is down to my work environment but I’d like some formal recognition by the AFCS/MOD in lieu of the history, ambiguity and failures mentioned above.
Cheers Grand Jury