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Ministry of Defence Accommodation Claim

Leigh Day's discrimination experts are currently investigating claims against the Ministry of Defence on behalf of thousands of service personnel. Get in touch today to find out how you can join the potential claim.

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Register your interest in joining the claim
Complete our short form

The Ministry of Defence may have discriminated against thousands of service personnel who are required to pay for their Single Living Accommodation. The current Ministry of Defence allowances policy leaves many young or unmarried service personnel paying substantially more for their accommodation than those who are over 37 and/or married.
 
In a 2021 report, the National Audit Office told the Ministry of Defence that their allowances system may be considered discriminatory but since then there has been no change and service personnel across all branches continue to be unfairly charged for Single Living Accommodation, often of a poor quality.

We want to get you the compensation that you could be owed and to change the unfair way the Ministry of Defence handles accommodation.

The Ministry of Defence is taking steps to tackle some of the unfairness in their approach to accommodation, but it is unlikely to compensate you for your losses unless you bring a legal claim against them.
 
You fight for us, let us fight for you.

 

Register your interest in joining the claim

How much compensation?

The amount of compensation will depend on the amount of time you have spent in Single Living Accommodation and the amount that you have paid for this accommodation throughout your service.

If the potential claim is successful, for the majority of claims we will be looking to achieve five-figure compensation.

Register your interest in joining the claim

This claim is being brought on behalf of individuals who do not qualify for an allowance in respect of Single Living Accommodation. This may be as a result of age and/or marital status. Those entitled to claim are:

  • Army/Strategic Command – Under 37 or over 37 and unmarried
  • Royal Navy/RAF – Unmarried

If you think you might have been unfairly denied this allowance, please get in touch by completing our short form. If you meet our eligibility criteria, we will seek compensation from the Ministry of Defence.

Once you’ve filled in the form, we will take the following steps:

  1. Leigh Day will send you an automated confirmation of receipt to let you know we have received your information
  2. Provided you meet the service’s eligibility criteria, we will then send you our retainer documents and you can become our client.
  3. Once you are signed up as a client we will bring a service complaint on your behalf.
  4. Once we have received the response to your service complaint, if it is unsatisfactory, we will consider bringing a legal claim on your behalf.

We would like to hear from service personnel current paying for Single Living Accommodation. Those who are eligible to bring claims are:

  • Army/Strategic Command – Under 37 or over 37 and unmarried
  • Royal Navy/RAF – Unmarried of any age

In the UK our Courts and legal system are divided into three jurisdictions: England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

As long as your employment with the Ministry of Defence is substantially managed and directed in England & Wales we should be able to bring a claim on your behalf whether or not you have spent time serving overseas.

Unfortunately, we will not be able to deal with enquiries received from people who are substantially based and managed in Northern Ireland and would recommend that local advice services are contacted.
Contact us

Please get in touch by filling out one of our forms, or alternatively, you can contact us by email.

We will be seeking damages for the full amount paid by you for Single Living Accommodation, these are known as ‘pecuniary damages’.

For instance, an unmarried person under 37 who has been in Single Living Accommodation for 5 years paying £150 per month, will have paid out £9,000. The amount of compensation increases based on how many years you have spent in Single Living Accommodation.

We will also be claiming what is known as ‘non-pecuniary damages’ for disruption to life, which will be based on the inconvenience caused by your having to pay for your Single Living Accommodation while others received it for free.

We cannot give an exact figure for the compensation at this stage as this is dependent on both the outcome and your individual circumstances. You will only receive compensation if the claim is successful.

Claims will be brought under a ‘no win no fee agreement’, with Leigh Day taking 35% inc. VAT of any damages awarded. 

This means that if the claims are not successful, you will not have to pay any of our fees. As we will bring this claim in the Employment Tribunal the risk of you being required to pay the MoD's costs, in the event that the claim is unsuccessful, is minimal.

Yes. In 2021 an officer in the Royal Navy won a similar discrimination case regarding the types of accommodation offered to single people by the Ministry of Defence.

We are only able to bring claims for those who are currently serving. If you have paid for Single Living Accommodation within the last 6 months you may have a claim but we are unable to assist you with it.

If you have another problem with the Ministry of Defence we recommend that you review the guidance on the government website regarding making a complaint.

If you feel you have been discriminated against by the MoD in another way or if you want to challenge an issue that impact a large number of service personnel then please contact us.

Whilst it is impossible to give an entirely accurate estimate, as this will largely depend on the approach of the MOD, we anticipate that this claim could take four years to be resolved.

Bringing a claim or complaint of this type ought not to impact on your employment. People bringing this type of claim are usually protected by whistleblowing laws.

As we are bringing this as a group claim we anticipate that you will be one of large number of personnel involved and the risk of being singled out for participating is minimised. We are experienced in representing people in group employment claims against their current employer, for example we are representing over 85,000 people in equal pay claims against the major supermarkets and retailer Next.

A service complaint must be brought within six months of your last payment for Single Living Accommodation.

We tend to communicate through email, telephone, and post, but if you have any specific communication needs please let us know and we will do our best to accommodate you.

You can also give us permission to communicate with you through a friend or relative.

We understand that that life can get in the way of legal action, and the thought of bringing a claim can be daunting. As your claim will be part of a group action you will be one of many who are claiming. We have robust systems in place and have processes to make this as easy for you as possible. We are renowned as experts at this type of work.

Once we have received your instructions you may have as much or as little involvement as you like. Additionally, as noted above, you may engage with the claim through an adviser or another intermediary.

Contact our team via email modclaims@leighday.co.uk 

  • Legal action launched against MOD for alleged discrimination over housing costs Forces Net 5.3.24
  • Military personnel to take legal action over housing costs, lawyers say Independent 1.3.24
  • More than 2,000 military heroes sue over 'unfair' cost of armed forces housing in £30m age discrimination lawsuit - as experts warn MoD could face eye-watering £100m bill Mail online 29.2.24
  • Charging for MOD housing by age behind the times, says housing claim solicitor Forces News 15.11.23
  • Ministry of Defence faces historic age discrimination lawsuit that could cost £100m: Thousands of troops could sue over 'unfair' military housing charges in 'unprecedented' legal claim Mail online 7.11.23
  • MOD discrimination against younger and unmarried personnel over housing costs Solicitors Journal 7.11.23
  • SQUADDIES RENT REBATE Up to 80,000k soldiers, sailors and airmen could get refunds of up to £10k each in landmark case against MoD The Sun 6.11.23

Register your interest in joining the claim