A PTSD compensation chart in the UK has three main columns depending on how you were injured. Civil claims against a negligent party pay roughly £4,820 to £126,540 for the psychological injury itself under the Judicial College Guidelines. Victims of violent crime claim a fixed tariff through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority, where disabling mental injuries pay £13,500, £19,000, or £27,000. Military personnel use the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme, with lump sums reaching £570,000 at the top of the tariff. Whichever route applies, lost earnings, therapy bills, and other financial losses are calculated separately and added on top of the injury figure.
Civil Claim Brackets Under the Judicial College Guidelines
The Judicial College Guidelines are the reference book lawyers and judges use to value the pain, suffering, and loss of quality of life caused by a psychiatric injury. The 18th Edition, published in April 2026, is the current version. All figures below include the 10% uplift to general damages established by the Court of Appeal in Simmons v Castle, which has applied to civil tort claims since April 2013.1Judiciary of the United Kingdom. Simmons v Castle
Psychiatric damage is split into four severity tiers. The ranges below come from the 17th Edition; the 18th may adjust them upward, so ask your legal team which edition applies to your claim.
- Less severe: roughly £4,670 to £10,370. Symptoms are expected to largely resolve within about two years, with noticeable but time-limited disruption to sleep, concentration, or daily routine.
- Moderate: approximately £10,370 to £27,760. A marked impact on work and personal life, but with a positive overall outlook and significant improvement usually visible by the time the case concludes.
- Moderately severe: about £27,760 to £71,820. Serious problems with employment, relationships, and social functioning that fall short of the very worst outcomes, with a guarded prognosis and ongoing professional support often expected.
- Severe: approximately £71,820 to £122,850. The person’s ability to function has been fundamentally and permanently altered, with no realistic return to former employment and lifelong difficulties with everyday activities.
These brackets cover only the injury itself. Lost earnings, therapy, and other out-of-pocket costs are added separately.
How Your Severity Is Decided
A qualified psychiatrist carries out the assessment, and the resulting medical report is the single most important document in your claim. The psychiatrist looks at how deeply symptoms have disrupted your daily life: whether you can hold down a job, maintain relationships, use public transport, or sleep through the night. Intrusive flashbacks, avoidance behaviours, and constant hyper-alertness all feed into the picture. Duration and likelihood of recovery weigh heavily, because someone expected to improve within a year sits in a completely different bracket from someone whose condition is permanent.
Treatment history also matters. A claimant who completed a course of therapy and returned to near-normal functioning will receive less than someone who tried multiple treatments without meaningful improvement. The DSM-5 and the ICD-11 are both referenced in UK courts, but neither is treated as the final word. What drives the award is the functional impact on your life, not which diagnostic box your condition ticks.
Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority Tariff
If your PTSD resulted from a violent crime, you apply to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority rather than suing a specific defendant. The CICA operates under a fixed tariff set by Parliament, so there is no negotiation over the injury award itself: your condition is matched to a category and you receive the corresponding amount.2GOV.UK. Criminal Injuries Compensation: A Guide The scheme exists for situations where the attacker cannot be identified, has no assets, or is in prison.
For disabling mental injuries under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012, the tariff is:3Ministry of Justice. The Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012
- Lasting five or more years but not permanent: £13,500
- Permanent and moderately disabling: £19,000
- Permanently and seriously disabling: £27,000
Less severe mental injuries that do not reach the “disabling” threshold attract lower tariff amounts. The scheme also pays lost earnings and special expenses in qualifying cases, subject to their own caps.
You must normally apply within two years of the incident. Your own criminal record can affect the outcome: an unspent conviction resulting in a custodial sentence, community order, or youth rehabilitation order usually disqualifies you entirely, and lesser unspent convictions reduce your award under a points-based system. Spent convictions should not affect your claim.2GOV.UK. Criminal Injuries Compensation: A Guide
Armed Forces Compensation Scheme
Military veterans and serving personnel whose PTSD is connected to their service claim through the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme rather than the civil courts. The AFCS uses a 15-level tariff. PTSD falls under Table 3 (Mental Disorders), and lump-sum awards range from £1,200 at the lowest level to £570,000 at the highest.4GOV.UK. Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS)
Assessment focuses on functional limitations: whether you can still perform work matching your skills, whether you could manage a less demanding role, and how long the limitation is expected to last. A diagnosis from a consultant-grade clinical psychologist or psychiatrist is required. The most severe cases also receive a Guaranteed Income Payment, a tax-free, index-linked monthly payment calculated as a percentage of your final military salary. The higher your tariff level, the greater the percentage, and the payment continues for life.
Claims must be filed within seven years of the incident, the date your illness was made worse by service, the date you first sought medical advice, or your discharge date, whichever comes earliest. Late claims can be accepted in limited circumstances, such as being too unwell to apply sooner.
What Gets Added on Top of the Injury Award
The brackets above are general damages for the injury alone. On top of them sit special damages for every quantifiable financial loss your PTSD has caused. The two components together make your total settlement.
Treatment Costs
Private therapy is one of the most common additions. EMDR and cognitive behavioural therapy sessions typically cost £70 to £150 per hour with a private practitioner, and a full course can run into several thousand pounds. Courts generally accept private therapy as reasonable even where NHS treatment exists, provided waiting lists would delay your recovery. If your case is still live and you need treatment now, your solicitor can request an interim payment from the defendant’s insurer, with the amount later deducted from your final settlement.
Lost Earnings
If PTSD has forced you out of work, reduced your hours, or pushed you into a lower-paying role, you can claim past and future lost income. Lawyers use the Ogden Tables, published by the Government Actuary’s Department, to calculate the present-day lump sum needed to replace your future earnings over your remaining working life.5GOV.UK. Ogden Tables: Actuarial Compensation Tables for Injury and Death Where your condition has not ended your career but has weakened your position in the job market, you may receive additional compensation to reflect that disadvantage. Lost earnings are calculated on your net pay, so the award itself is not taxed again.
Travel and Other Expenses
Travel to medical appointments, hospital visits, and therapy sessions is claimable. The standard rate mirrors the HMRC approved mileage allowance of 45p per mile for the first 10,000 miles.6GOV.UK. Travel – Mileage and Fuel Rates and Allowances Prescription charges, care provided by family members, home adaptations, and additional childcare costs are all recoverable where linked to your condition.
If You Were Partly to Blame
If you were partly responsible for the incident that caused your PTSD, your total award is reduced by a percentage reflecting your share of blame, under the Law Reform (Contributory Negligence) Act 1945. Reductions typically range from 5% to 80% depending on the circumstances. A pedestrian who stepped into traffic without looking, for example, might face a 25% reduction even though the driver was primarily at fault.
What You Actually Keep: Fees, Tax, and Benefits
Most PTSD claims are funded through Conditional Fee Agreements, commonly called “no win, no fee” arrangements. The solicitor charges nothing upfront and receives a success fee only if you win, capped at 25% of your general damages and past financial losses.7House of Commons Library. No Win, No Fee Funding Arrangements Future losses, such as ongoing lost earnings, are protected from the deduction entirely. Damages Based Agreements use the same 25% ceiling against the same base.
Personal injury compensation for PTSD is exempt from income tax. Periodical payments made under a court order or settlement agreement are specifically excluded from tax liability under the Income Tax (Trading and Other Income) Act 2005.8Legislation.gov.uk. Income Tax (Trading and Other Income) Act 2005 – Periodical Payments of Personal Injury Damages Lump-sum awards for the injury and for lost earnings are also tax-free. Any interest the award later earns in a savings account is taxable like any other income.
Means-tested benefits are a bigger concern. If you receive Universal Credit, Housing Benefit, or similar support, your payout counts as capital. The award is disregarded for the first 12 months, after which any amount held outside a trust is assessed against the standard capital limits: under £6,000 has no effect, between £6,000 and £16,000 your payments are reduced, and above £16,000 you typically lose eligibility.9GOV.UK. Universal Credit: Money, Savings and Investments A personal injury trust, set up within 12 months of receiving your award, keeps the money disregarded indefinitely.
Deadlines You Cannot Miss
Civil PTSD claims run under Section 11 of the Limitation Act 1980. You have three years from either the date of the incident or the date you first knew (or should have known) your condition was linked to someone else’s negligence, whichever is later.10Legislation.gov.uk. Limitation Act 1980 The “date of knowledge” provision matters because many people do not receive a formal PTSD diagnosis until months or years after the triggering event.
Missing the three-year deadline does not automatically end your claim. Courts have discretion under Section 33 to allow late claims where it would be fair to do so, weighing the reason for delay, the strength of the evidence, and any prejudice to the defendant. Relying on that discretion is a gamble. CICA claims have a two-year window. AFCS claims have seven. Get legal advice early if you are unsure which route applies, because the wrong assumption about deadlines is one of the most common reasons people lose the right to claim entirely.