Military Insurance & Money Hub
A plain-language guide to the insurance and money decisions that matter most during service, deployment, and transition. Built by Absolute Military for the Armed Forces community.
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Know your cover
Military Insurance Glossary
The terms you will encounter when arranging insurance as a serving person. Each definition is written in plain language and relates specifically to military life. All prices correct as at September 2026.
Military Kit Insurance
Covers your issued and purchased military clothing, equipment, and personal possessions against loss, theft, and damage worldwide. Includes gadgets, home contents in service accommodation, and Licence to Occupy cover. From Absolute Military, cover starts at £7 per month with up to £69,000 total cover and £5 million personal liability. Ranked #1 for comprehensiveness by Fairer Finance 2026.
Personal Accident (PA) Insurance
Pays a cash benefit directly to you if you suffer a qualifying injury from an accident, whether on or off duty. Covers conflict injuries, cold injuries, fractures, dislocations, ligament tears, and more. Unlike critical illness cover, PA pays for physical injuries rather than diagnosed conditions. Unit-based pricing from £3.79 per month, cheaper than 96% of the market (Fairer Finance 2026).
Military Life Insurance
Pays a lump sum to your nominated beneficiaries if you die during the policy term. Tailored military underwriting means you are not penalised for hazardous roles, deployments, or combat. Cover continues after you leave service. Quotes from around £5 per month through Absolute Military, with cover typically starting within 24 hours.
Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS)
The MOD’s statutory compensation scheme for injury or death caused or made worse by service. Awards are set by tariff tables, not by you. It does not cover off-duty accidents, sporting injuries, or incidents unrelated to your service. Holding personal insurance has no impact on any AFCS entitlement. Most experienced military advisers recommend holding both.
Licence to Occupy
If you live in single living accommodation (SLA) or married quarters, you hold a Licence to Occupy rather than a standard tenancy. You are personally liable for accidental damage to the property, up to £20,000. The MOD does not insure your possessions or cover this liability. Kit insurance from Absolute Military includes £20,000 of Licence to Occupy cover as standard across all levels.
Military Exclusion
A clause in many standard civilian insurance policies that excludes claims arising from war, conflict, or military operations. Most high-street life insurance and personal accident products include this exclusion, which makes them unsuitable for serving personnel. Specialist military brokers will explain exclusions (if any) to you so you fully understand the cover you have and how it protects you.
Critical Illness vs Serious Illness
Two distinct products. Critical illness cover pays a lump sum on diagnosis of a specified condition (e.g. cancer, heart attack, stroke). Serious illness cover pays on a wider range of less severe conditions. Most providers offer only one. The distinction matters because the conditions covered, the qualifying criteria, and the payout triggers are different.
Thief-Attractive Items
A kit insurance term for portable electronic devices most commonly targeted by thieves: smartphones, smartwatches, earbuds, headphones, tablets, laptops, cameras, games consoles, and watches. The lowest kit cover level (1st Choice, from £7/month) excludes these items. Levels 1, 2, and 3 include them, subject to a £125 excess per claim.
Unit-Based Pricing
The structure used by Absolute Military’s personal accident insurance. Each unit costs £3.79 per month and provides a set benefit level. You buy multiple units to scale the cover proportionally. For example, permanent total disablement cover at 1 unit is £150,000. Maximum individual premium is £18.95 per month (5 units). Your adviser helps you choose the right number based on your income and circumstances.
Non-Freezing Cold Injury (NFCI)
A condition caused by prolonged exposure to cold, wet conditions without actual freezing. Common in field training and operations. Symptoms include chronic pain, numbness, and sensitivity to cold. Standard civilian personal accident policies rarely cover NFCI. Absolute Military’s PA cover includes both non-permanent cold injury (scoring 100% in Fairer Finance’s assessment) and permanent cold injury loss (scoring 91%).
Understand your cover
Cover Guide
Real prices, real cover levels. This is what we actually offer. All prices correct as at September 2026. For a personalised recommendation, speak to an Absolute Military adviser.
Kit Insurance Levels
Four levels of cover. All include worldwide protection, Licence to Occupy, and personal liability.
Thief-attractive items excluded
Thief-attractive items included
Thief-attractive items included
Thief-attractive items included
Underwritten by Hamilton Insurance DAC, rated A (Excellent) by AM Best.
Personal Accident Cover
Unit-based pricing. Buy the number of units that match your circumstances. Your adviser helps you choose.
Fairer Finance 2026 percentile scores. Cheaper than 96% of the market. Percentile scores are published by Fairer Finance, an FCA-authorised and regulated consumer research organisation we hold a paid subscription with.
Life Insurance
Tailored military underwriting. No war risk exclusion. Cover continues after you leave service. Your adviser works out the right amount with you.
Example premiums
£100,000 cover, 25-year term
£200,000 cover, 20-year term
£150,000 cover, 15-year term
These are illustrative ranges only. Your actual premium depends on your age, health, role, cover amount, and term. An Absolute Military adviser provides a personalised recommendation based on your full circumstances. Life insurance is a regulated product.
Before you deploy
Deployment & Overseas Posting Guide
The insurance and money decisions to make before, during, and after a deployment or overseas posting. Five areas, each with practical steps you can take now.
Your military kit insurance from Absolute Military covers your equipment worldwide, including on deployed operations and in transit. This applies to issued kit, purchased military equipment, personal possessions, and gadgets (on Levels 1, 2, and 3).
Before you deploy, check these points:
- Confirm your cover level is adequate for the kit you are taking. If you have acquired additional high-value equipment since your last review, you may need to increase your level or schedule items individually.
- Any item worth more than £1,500 (watches, cameras, ceremonial swords, specialist optics) should be listed on your policy schedule at its replacement value.
- If you are leaving personal possessions in SLA or married quarters while deployed, they remain covered under your home contents element.
- Your Licence to Occupy cover (£20,000 standard) remains in force while you are away, covering accidental damage to the accommodation you are responsible for.
Deployment is when personal accident and life insurance matter most. Standard civilian policies often exclude war risk, conflict injuries, and hazardous duties. Specialist military cover does not.
- Absolute Military’s PA insurance explicitly covers injuries caused by conflict with any belligerent, scoring 100% for conflict injury cover in Fairer Finance’s 2026 assessment. This includes gunshot wounds, shrapnel, blast injuries, cold injuries, and heat stroke.
- Life and critical illness insurance arranged through Absolute Military uses tailored military underwriting. Deployment does not void your policy. You should always plan to have life and critical illness protection in place at least six months before deployment if you do not already have cover.
- The AFCS provides a separate safety net for injuries caused or worsened by service. Holding personal PA and life insurance has no impact on any AFCS entitlement. The two are entirely independent.
If you own a car, motorcycle, or property in the UK that will be left unattended during a deployment or overseas posting, check the following:
- Most motor insurance policies require the vehicle to be used or at least started regularly. If your car will be SORN’d or stored for months, notify your insurer. Some policies have unoccupied vehicle clauses that limit cover after a set period.
- Home insurance (if you own a property) typically includes clauses about unoccupied properties. Most policies reduce or exclude cover if the property is left unoccupied for more than 30 to 60 consecutive days. Inform your insurer before you deploy and ask about extended absence provisions.
- If a family member or friend will be using your vehicle or staying in your property, ensure they are named on the relevant policy.
- Consider whether your mortgage payments, council tax, utility bills, and any loan repayments are set up on standing orders or direct debits that will continue in your absence.
Your family’s financial security should not depend on you being present to manage it. At least six months before a deployment, make sure the following are in order:
- Confirm your life insurance is in force with the correct sum assured. If your circumstances have changed since the policy was taken out (new child, bigger mortgage, partner no longer working), review the cover amount with your adviser.
- Check your nominated beneficiaries on all policies and pension records. An outdated nomination (e.g. naming an ex-partner) is one of the most common problems in military claims.
- Make sure your partner knows where your insurance documents, pension paperwork, and will are stored. Absolute Military members can access their documents through the member portal.
- If you do not have a will, get one in place before you deploy. Absolute Military offers wills and estate planning as a core product, not an afterthought. Dying intestate can cause significant problems for a partner or dependants.
After returning from deployment, a short financial review can catch problems early:
- Check your kit. If any insured items were lost, stolen, or damaged during the deployment, start the claims process promptly. Kit insurance claims go through the Absolute Military claims portal at Davies Group. PA claims go through Sentry Solutions, quoting scheme reference A19574.
- Review your financial commitments. Deployment allowances stop when you return to UK duties. If your spending adjusted upward during deployment, reset your budget now.
- If you sustained any injury during the deployment, consider both an AFCS claim (for service-attributable injuries) and a personal accident insurance claim (for any qualifying injury, regardless of cause). The two are independent.
- Update your cover levels if your circumstances have changed. New dependants, a new property, a change of role or posting, or a significant change in kit holdings are all reasons to review.
Leaving the forces?
Resettlement Insurance Checklist
An eight-point checklist covering the insurance and financial protection steps to take before your discharge date. Designed for personnel approaching transition, whether you have six months or six weeks.
Resettlement Insurance Checklist (PDF)
Eight practical steps: MOD cover end dates, life and PA gaps, kit cover conversion, income protection review, will and estate check, pension consolidation, budget reset, and pre-discharge review.
Ready to talk?
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Absolute Military is a trading style of Just Advice Solutions Ltd (Company Reg No. 11008004), Suite 26, 80 Churchill Square, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent, ME19 4YU. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, FCA Reference No. 796907. The information on this page is for general guidance only and does not constitute financial advice. For a personalised recommendation, speak to an Absolute Military adviser. Kit and personal accident insurance is underwritten by Hamilton Insurance DAC, rated A (Excellent) by AM Best.