In April 2026 Garnham J set out how military noise-induced hearing loss claims should be valued. General damages start from the Judicial College Guidelines. Private hearing aids are recoverable if the claimant will use them. The lead claimant’s lost earning capacity was a Smith v Manchester award, not an Ogden calculation. This calculator follows the same three parts.
Figures from Abbott and Others v Ministry of Defence [2026] EWHC 941 (KB), the Lambie lead case, before the 10% Matrix discount.
Seven short steps give you an indicative range, using the approach the High Court took to the lead cases in the military deafness litigation in April 2026.
You can claim while still serving. A civil claim against the Ministry of Defence covers noise exposure from 15 May 1987 onwards.
Time limits apply, usually three years from when you first knew your hearing problem could be linked to service. Check sooner rather than later.
These don’t change the figures. Claims come from the Army, Navy, Royal Marines and RAF alike.
Until 15 May 1987 the Crown generally could not be sued by service personnel for injuries in service. The Crown Proceedings (Armed Forces) Act 1987 ended that for anything after that date.
Pick the closest. A hearing test will give the real measurement later.
Ringing, buzzing or hissing. It is compensated in its own right, even without hearing loss.
The court will only award the cost of private aids if you would actually get and use them.
Hearing loss can make it harder to compete for jobs. Roughly what do you earn a year after tax, counting any bonus and, if you know it, your employer’s pension contribution?
Age sets how many years of hearing aids, and of working life, the claim covers.
An estimate from your answers, not a guarantee. It is before any Matrix discount and before legal costs.
A civil claim is unlikely where all the noise exposure was before 15 May 1987. Until that date the Crown generally could not be sued by service personnel for injuries caused in service.
A war pension may still be available for hearing loss caused by service before 6 April 2005. Veterans UK runs the War Pension Scheme, freephone 0808 1914 218. A solicitor can check your dates against your service record.
In a live calculator, this button opens the firm’s own claim form.
A solicitor will need your service record and a hearing test before giving you a firm view.
General damages come from the Judicial College Guidelines, 18th edition (April 2026), chapter 5(B)(d), partial hearing loss and/or tinnitus. In Abbott v Ministry of Defence [2026] EWHC 941 (KB) the court held that the Guidelines are the starting point, that severe hearing loss without tinnitus sits at the top of bracket (ii), and that hearing loss with tinnitus attracts a higher award than either alone (para 699).
Hearing aids are costed at £4,200 to £5,000 for each five-year replacement cycle, the range the court accepted, to age 75 as in the Lambie claim, with at least one cycle. The upper figure adds one more cycle for aids already bought: Mr Lambie had spent £4,300 before trial. Where the problem is tinnitus alone, the range runs from nil to half the usual figure: the court found aids would be of minimal benefit for Mr Craggs’s tinnitus (para 1035). They are left out if you would not use them: in the Craggs lead case no award was made for aids he had never sought.
Loss of earning capacity is a lump sum under Smith v Manchester, shown as a number of months of net earnings. The court awarded Mr Lambie, who has severe hearing loss, 12 months of net earnings, including bonus and employer pension contributions (£64,800), before the Matrix discount. The court rejected an Ogden-based claim on his facts.
Not included: interest, other past losses and any Matrix discount. Claimants represented by Hugh James settled liability through a Matrix agreed with the Ministry of Defence in 2024, in return for a structured discount on damages (10% in Lambie, 25% in Craggs). Claims run by other firms are not automatically on those terms.
Not only the Army. Claims come from ships’ companies, flight-deck and flight-line crews as well as from gunners and infantry, so the calculator covers the Army, Royal Navy, Royal Marines and RAF.
Mr Lambie claimed £370,000 for lost earnings and was awarded £64,800. The calculator prices lost earning capacity the same way, as months of net pay, not a career-long multiplier.
General damages from the JCG 18th edition bracket, private hearing aids on a five-year cycle at £4,200 to £5,000, and a Smith v Manchester award for earning capacity. Each appears on its own line with the basis next to it.
Mr Craggs lost on hearing loss but recovered £19,000 for tinnitus alone. Hearing and tinnitus are separate questions here, and together they place the claim within or between the JCG sub-brackets.
Section 10 of the Crown Proceedings Act 1947 generally bars claims for acts or omissions before 15 May 1987, the day the Crown Proceedings (Armed Forces) Act 1987 received Royal Assent. Service wholly before then gets no civil figure, and a pointer to the War Pension Scheme instead.
We set the default ranges with you from your own settlements, and, where your clients are on Matrix terms, can show figures after the discount. You approve the wording and figures before launch. When the Guidelines or the case law move, we update it.
We build it in your brand, set the bands from your own case results, and host it for you. Fifteen minutes on a call is enough to show you your version.
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