Doobs.
Start collecting all the information about your injury NOW! It is a lot easier for the VeteransAgency to process your claim if you present them with all the facts in one go.
Thing to do:-
1) Speak to the med centre and get a copy of the incident or your F med report that first highlights the injury. Then back it up with more recent medicals that show you still suffer from that complaint.(this is in case point 5) goes missing in the post?)
2) If it was a reported accident get a copy of that, It could be anything from a Injury book in the hangar,Gym or Guardroom to a form 5 or an Aircraft Accident Report (The latter leaves no doubt that it was an injury received whilst on duty).
3) Get a copy of WPA-leaflet-1. It is the notes on pensions and gives all the info required. or look at
www.veteransagency.mod.uk.
4) On your discharge date phone the Veterans agency 0800 169 22 77 to register your claim, they will send you an acknowledgement letter and forms to fill in. It is from this date that you will be entitled to any back pay if the process takes any amount of time. (if you leave it for a few months it does not get backdated to your discharge date. only to the date you registered.)
5) Write a letter to 'Disclosure 3 (Medical)' in Glasgow to get all your Docs.
This again helps with the process as you will have your full medical history to hand. (If RAF, sorry I don't know who to write too).
6) Speak to your local Royal British Legion as a back up in case you need some advice, they have legal experts that can help.
The Veterans agency will also be checking your medical history in the same way, and may well make an appointment for a doctor to visit you. He/She will then assess your injury and report back.
If you feel you have had any other problems attributed to service Hearing/Knees etc, mention it as they may affect you as you get older, the Doctor will make a note of it just in case.
You may not be entitled to a pension for everything you claim for, somethings are put down to age and lifestyle. but if you are honest and can prove it is due to your time in the Service, the Agency are very good and fair.
Claims are dealt with in 2 ways, below 20% you will receive a lump sum normally not much more than £2-£3000, over 20%, £26.96 to %100 £134.80 a week tax free. Officers £1407 - £7034 a year (2006-7 rates).
I left in 2000 and it took nearly a year to get my pension, this was mainly my own fault as I was working out of the country, but to demonstrate their commitment the Agency rang me to ask a question and couldn't understand why I was still in bed at 2 in the afternoon until I pointed out that I was in San Diego. but even after the year I still got the money back dated to my discharge date which was the date I registered.
Hope it all helps and Good Luck
