Crown immunity for the Ministry of Defence (MOD) in relation to claims brought
against the MOD by Armed Forces personnel was removed by the Crown
Proceedings (Armed Forces) Act 1987, this came into effect on the 15th May 1987.

The impact of this is that whilst military personnel had previously been unable to
lodge personal injury claims against the MOD, anyone serving after 15th May 1987
may be eligible to lodge a claim for any personal injury suffered that was attributable
to negligence on the part of the MOD since that date.

The MOD has now accepted that it is liable for noise induced hearing loss (NIHL)
suffered by it’s employees who served since 15th May 1987. Following negotiations
there is a scheme to which the MOD has agreed which allows service personnel (incl
veterans) to lodge claims for NIHL outside of the normal 3 year time limit applicable
to personal injury claims.

This scheme is known as the Matrix Agreement and claims for NIHL (caused by
military service) under this scheme must be lodged by 23:59 on 30th January 2026.
There are a number of legitimate solicitors seeking to enlist high volumes of NIHL
claimants and there are many advertisements appearing all over social media
offering their services on a no win no fee basis.

Sadly, there are also a number of scams being advertised so please be alert. We are
led to understand that anyone advertising under the name Armed Forces Hearing
Help and using the official MOD logo on their advert is doing so without permission
and is therefore likely to be a scam.

Whilst we are not in a position to advise on who to submit a claim through, the
following are amongst those considered to be legitimate:

VETERANS FOR VETERANS
Website: https://veterans-for-veterans.co.uk/
Email: [email protected]

JUSTICE 4 HEROES
Website: https://justice4heroes.org
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 0800 776 5622

Further information can be found on the Royal British Legion website here Military
hearing loss claims | Royal British Legion