What is the difference between the AFCS and a War Pension?

These are two entirely separate schemes, and you do not choose between them. Which one applies turns on a single date: 6 April 2005. Injury or illness caused by service on or after that date falls under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme; anything attributable to service before it falls under the War Pension Scheme. Both are run by Veterans UK and both are tax-free.

How each one pays

• AFCS — a tariff award. Compensation is a lump sum fixed by a 15-band tariff, from £1,236 at band 15 for a minor injury that fully heals to £650,000 at band 1 for catastrophic injury. Bands 1 to 11 also carry a Guaranteed Income Payment: a tax-free monthly income for life, set as a percentage of your basic salary when you were injured.
• War Pension — a weekly pension. There is no tariff. A medical board assesses your degree of disablement as a percentage; 100% pays the full standard weekly rate and 20–99% pays that rate in proportion, so 50% disablement pays half. Below 20%, you get a one-off gratuity instead of an ongoing pension.
• War Pension supplements. The weekly pension can be topped up with Unemployability Supplement and Constant Attendance Allowance (both for 80% disablement and above), Comforts Allowance, and Age Allowance once you are over 65. The AFCS has no equivalent range of add-ons.

Deadlines, and service that straddles the line

The time limits differ sharply. An AFCS claim must normally be made within seven years of the injury, of leaving service, or of becoming aware of the condition. A War Pension has no statutory time limit at all — though evidence gets harder to find as the years pass.

If you served either side of April 2005, you are not confined to one scheme: different injuries can be claimed under whichever scheme covers the service that caused them. Ask Veterans UK (0808 1914 218) for form AFCS1 or WPA3 accordingly. In both schemes the benefit of the doubt principle applies — if the evidence on whether service caused the condition is evenly balanced, the decision must go your way. A refusal under either scheme can be appealed to the same independent First-tier Tribunal (War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation), and a War Pension award also supports priority NHS treatment for the condition it covers.