Military Hearing Loss Claims

Noise induced hearing loss is a condition where structures and/or nerve fibres in the inner ear that respond to sound are damaged.

This type of hearing loss, termed “noise-induced hearing loss,” is usually caused by exposure to excessively loud sounds and cannot be medically or surgically corrected.

NIHL can be caused by one-time or repeated exposure to noise levels over 85 decibels.

UK military personnel can be affected by NIHL as a result of explosions and the discharge of weapons during their military service.

NIHL is a physical disability and it can also affect a person’s long-term mental health and you may be entitled to armed forces hearing loss compensation.

• Speech and other sounds seem muffled.
• Difficulty hearing high-pitched sounds such as a phone.
• Trouble understanding conversations when you are in a noisy place.
• Trouble understanding speech over the phone.
• Trouble hearing difference between letters s and f, p and t, or sh and th.
• Asking others to speak more slowly and clearly or more loudly.
• Turning up the volume of the television or radio.
• Ringing in the ears also known as Tinnitus.
• Hypersensitivity to certain sounds which can cause pain.

If you believe you have suffered hearing loss as a result of serving in the Armed Forces your hearing can be tested using an audiogram or an audiometry test. These will display your ability to hear certain types of sound that are essential to functional hearing.

Our military injury legal experts are vastly experienced in working closely with medical professionals to ensure your hearing loss is fully diagnosed.

For a successful civil claim against the Ministry of Defence (MOD) for NIHL, due to being exposed to excessive noise, you will need to prove you have suffered hearing loss.

In civil claims it will also be necessary to prove that it was caused by negligence: usually a failure to provide you with adequate protection and to regularly monitor your hearing.

If your hearing wasn’t adequately monitored, and you were not subsequently protected from further dangerous levels of noise, that may have resulted in you being medically discharged or medically downgraded and thereby experiencing financial loss.

At Hudgell Solicitors our military injury experts can assess the details of your claim and advise you on which course of legal action to take for the maximum compensation award available.

Civil negligence claims are not limited to a maximum compensation amount, unlike the AFCS scheme, and can therefore often lead to higher awards. These claims also consider loss of past earnings, future earnings capacity and pension loss amongst other heads of loss.

We therefore strongly advise using our expert team of military injury lawyers should you be considering applying directly to the AFCS scheme as 30% of claims without legal support are rejected.

Our expertise is provided on a no win no fee basis and we will ensure your application to the AFCS clearly evidences your injuries, and the impact of them.

For the more serious hearing loss injuries achieving a certain level of damages, claimants can also be awarded a tax-free monthly payment (Guaranteed Income Payments) paid from the end of military service for life, which is calculated as a percentage of their salary.

Our team of expert military injury solicitors can also help in contesting compensation offers made through the AFCS, as we can advise on the level of damages which we feel should be offered, and whether we feel awards should be contested.

We can also request ‘exceptional reviews’ of (AFCS) damages awards when a military injury unexpectedly deteriorates, or should further problems develop beyond those anticipated, years after an award has been made.

In a civil claim the amount of compensation you receive for military noise induced hearing loss will depend on the severity of your injury. Other details that will be considered are your age and the impact your hearing loss will have on your future earnings and loss of promotions or pensions.

Civil military injury compensation claims usually have to be started within a three-year time limit from the injury being suffered. However, there are a number of situations and circumstances under which this time limit can be extended, so it is advisable to seek legal advice even if you feel you may be out of time.

AFCS claims have a time limit of 7 years.

It is rare for military injury claims to go to trial and most cases settle out of court. Settlements are funded by a specific Ministry of Defence budget for those who have suffered injuries due to negligence.

This is often a concern raised by those who suffer an injury which is not career-ending, but the MOD is not allowed to discriminate against personnel who bring compensation claims against it after an injury, much like claims against employers for injuries suffered in civilian workplaces.