Everything about calling Veterans UK from abroad
Who Veterans UK is, and why people abroad ring it
Veterans UK is part of the Ministry of Defence. It gives free support to veterans and their families: a helpline, Veterans Services, Defence Transition Services, and payments under the injury and bereavement compensation schemes. It administers two of those schemes. The War Pension Scheme covers injury, illness or death caused by service before 6 April 2005, and the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme covers service on or after that date. Veterans Services takes enquiries from abroad as well as from the UK. The person ringing may be a veteran who has retired overseas, someone who has recently left the forces, or a family member after a bereavement.
Why a UK freephone number may not work from abroad
0808 1914 218 belongs to the UK freephone class, the 0800 and 0808 ranges. Freephone is priced for UK networks, and GOV.UK labels this line as UK only. Dialled from a foreign phone, it becomes an international call to +44 808. Some foreign carriers may not connect that range, and those that do may charge it as an ordinary international call. The JPAC pension line, 0800 085 3600, sits in the same class. For callers outside the UK, GOV.UK also prints two ordinary UK numbers for the same services: +44 1253 866 043 for the helpline and 0044 141 224 3600 for pensions.
What Losali does with these lines
Losali is an independent service that places calls to UK numbers from a web browser. Losali's telecom carrier connects the call, so the foreign network you are on never has to handle a +44 808 or +44 800 number it might refuse. That covers both freephone lines on this page: the Veterans UK helpline and the JPAC pension line. Nothing to install, no UK SIM card. The panel at the top of this page shows each number and its current state.
Two routes in: the helpline and the pension centre
Pick the line first: Veterans UK and the Armed Forces Pension Scheme are answered in different places. The Veterans UK helpline, 0808 1914 218, handles benefits, housing and welfare, plus War Pension and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme claim forms. It can post you a paper claim form with a pre-paid return envelope. Option 6 on the same line reaches Veterans Services. An Armed Forces Pension Scheme question goes instead to the Joint Personnel Administration Centre (JPAC) in Glasgow, on 0800 085 3600. The contact pages we checked give no opening hours for the JPAC line.
- The right line: the helpline for War Pensions, compensation and welfare, JPAC for an Armed Forces Pension Scheme pension.
- Any letter or reference you already have from Veterans UK or JPAC.
- Your own details written down, and those of the person you are calling about if it is someone else.
- Option 6 on the helpline if you want Veterans Services.
- Helpline hours: 8am to 4pm, Monday to Friday, except public holidays.
The number types on this page
Two numbers, one class. 0808 1914 218 and 0800 085 3600 are UK freephone numbers, free to call from UK networks. Neither is a premium or special-rate line. One GOV.UK page prints the helpline as 0808 1914 2 18. The stray space aside, it is the same number. GOV.UK also has ordinary geographic numbers for both services, meant for callers overseas; they are not dialled from this page.
Making the call a little easier
The Veterans Services page notes that the helpline is closed on public holidays, so check the calendar if you are ringing near one. A short note of what you want to ask saves going back over the same ground. If you are calling about someone who has died, have their details and your relationship to them on paper before you dial. Before you hang up, ask for a reference and note the date. GOV.UK says that when the helpline is closed, callers in need of immediate emotional support are offered routing to the Samaritans 24 hour helpline. If speaking is difficult, the helpline also answers email at veterans-uk@mod.gov.uk.
What kind of number is this?
Freephone 0800 / 0808. Free to call from inside the UK. With Losali the call is billed at €0.99/min, per whole minute, prepaid, and the price is shown before the call starts.