Not sure if this makes the difference on whether its a war pension or not, but in my case i was on duty when my injuries occurred. Basically on the last day of a SNCO's course in Wiltshire, i got posted back to Scotland and was told to report there the following day, to then head back out to the Gulf. I was given a rental car and off i went and basically fell asleep at the wheel, smashed the bejesus out of myself and eventually had my medical board and was discharged. The key thing being that the injuries were deemed directly attributable to the orders i was given, i was on duty and i was therefore classified as a war pensioner.
I got a one off lump sum and an index linked, tax free monthly payment and have continued to do so since 1990. Only had one review in that time, but as my injuries will never heal(severed nerves), there's no chance of me making a miraculous recovery.
It doesn't make a difference because your circumstances do not appear similar to that posted by Skee777. You were on duty and under a directive but Skee777 issue seems to evolve about his condition (osteoarthritis of the knees). He does not state how he came to develop osteoarthritis, but as I pointed out in my response to his post, if he develops osteoarthritis of his knees whilst in Service, Veterans UK medical assessors will almost certainly reject any claim for his condition to have been either attributable or caused by Service - since 1990 I've been at loggerheads with VUK and even been to a full 1st Tier Tribunal who rejected my appeal for osteoarthritis to my knees to have been attributable to Service.
I even attempted to sue the MOD but of course there is always a way around anyone who wants to issue proceedings against them - Section 10 Crown Proceedings Act 1945 prevents any Service Personnel from litigating against the Crown even if there is medical negligence. In my case they buried the evidence of the trainee surgeon making a mess of my feet, but under the rights of disclosure I managed to secure my relevant medical records in 1995. Before the operation I was Army Tennis Champion and looking forward to a successful (Tennis) career having been selected to the Army Tennis Team at the age of 18. Also was Army Junior Table Tennis Champion. Never played any sport again after that operation and they didn't even apologise lol. I was ceremoniously dumped out of the Army in 1979 with a medical discharge.
Many ex service personnel have posted on here the fact they have over-exercised their joints which have brought on osteoarthritis but I can say with almost absolute certainty Veterans UK doctors will rigorously reject meeting any such claim as there is significant judicial precedent to show that being in Service does not cause osteoarthritis. In some cases (not prevalent) an injury to a joint may result in early onset osteoarthritis and there is merit in making a claim in such cases, but unless there is traumatic 'cause' my experience tells me a claim for osteoarthritis of the knees will undoubtedly fail.
Lots of ex Service personnel seem to believe that if they are subjected to extreme physical exercise as part of their everyday function this has caused them to develop knee joint problems and they can state that because they've been subjected to such extremes it has been caused (attributable) by their Service.
From what I read regarding your situation; you were involved in an accident causing injury whilst on duty so there appears to be no similarity with Skee777. Your circs are one of 'cause and effect' where you can clearly demonstrate the chain of events whereas Skee777 cannot. The cause of your injuries were brought about by the accident whilst on duty so your claim was probably fairly straight forward.
By way of caveat though, Skee777 may have other parts to his story which may well change the dynamics of this thread and result in a more clear cut claim for him. He will have to post more detail for the sake of clarity. EG he may have had operations to his knees where the surgeon didn't do a good job (as in my case) resulting in the 'cause and effect' scenario I mentioned earlier. Medical negligence by an Army surgeon is generally treated as attributable if not caused by Service.
