[2024] UKUT 78 (AAC)

On 31 October 2022, the Appellant asked Veterans UK to review the original decision made on 7 February 2008 (in effect under article 44(1) of the Naval, Military and Air Forces Etc (Disablement and Death) Service Pensions Order 2006 (SI 2006/606) [‘the SPO’]). In an e-mail he wrote:

Veterans UK refused to carry out a review as requested and informed the Appellant of this by emails dated 9 and 13 February 2023. The latter e-mail asserted that “we can only consider conditions from the time they are actually claimed; we are not able to consider any condition before the date it was formally claimed… I regret you do not have any appeal rights against this as it is not a claim decision”. Undeterred, the Appellant lodged an appeal with the Tribunal. Before the PAT the Secretary of State then submitted that the Appellant was out of time to appeal the 2008 decision and had no right of appeal against the e-mail dated 13 February 2023. The Secretary of State accordingly applied for the appeal to be struck out.

On 20 April 2023 the PAT ruled that a refusal to review under Article 44(1) and a decision to maintain an earlier decision under Article 44(6) carried appeal rights, citing Secretary of State for Defence v RC (WP) [2012] UUT 229 (AAC); [2013] AACR 4. The Tribunal therefore refused the Secretary of State’s strike out application.