Far Eastern Prisoners of War (FEPOW) Ex-Gratia Scheme

In recognition of the unique circumstances of their captivity, on 7th November 2000, the Government announced a scheme to make a single ex-gratia payment of £10,000 to surviving members of British Groups who were held prisoner by the Japanese during the Second World War.
The scheme is administered by the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency (SPVA) and to date some 25,000 people have benefited from payments totalling £250 million.

To qualify for a payment an individual must, in addition to certain eligibility criteria, have been interned or imprisoned by the Japanese during the Second World War. If that individual has died, the entitlement then passes to the widow or widower. Payment may also be made to the estate of a deceased former Prisoner of War or a late spouse if they were alive on 7 November 2000, when the Scheme was introduced.

Eligibility to claim

There are five categories of person who are entitled to make a claim to the ex-gratia payment. These are:-

a) a surviving former member of HM Armed Forces who was held as a Japanese prisoner of war in the Far East during the second World War.

b) a surviving former service personnel who received payments under Article 16 of the 1951 Treaty of Peace with Japan in 1951 under the auspices of the British Government. These were certain members of the then colonial forces, Indian Army and Burmese Armed Forces.

c) a surviving member of the Merchant Navy who was imprisoned by the Japanese in the Far East during the Second World War. For the purposes of the scheme, a member of the Merchant Navy is a person who has been employed, or engaged as, or for service as, a mariner in a British ship.

d) a surviving civilian who was British and interned by the Japanese in the far East during the Second World War and who can demonstrate a close link to the United Kingdom. A close link to the UK is shown by satisfying residency based criteria i.e. either having lived in the UK before the War and returned shortly afterwards, or having lived in the UK for at least 20 years between 1945 and November 2000, when the Scheme was launched

e) the surviving widow or widower of a deceased person who would otherwise have been entitled under category a), b), c) or d) above, providing that they were still married at the time of death.

NB Some FEPOW widows wrongly believe that if they did not marry their husbands until after the War, they are not entitled to this ex-gratia payment. THIS IS NOT SO. Provided they were married at the time of death, the widow is entitled to claim. The criteria do not however extend to other family members, such as children

More Information / Claim forms

You can contact the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency on their Freephone helpline 0800 169 2277 (or +44 1253 866043 from outside the UK) for more information and a claim form. Alternatively, you can:-

visit their website: www.veterans-uk.info/vets_issues/fepow.html

write to them at : Service Personnel and Veterans Agency, Norcross, Thornton Cleveleys, Lancashire, FY5 3WP

or email:- veterans.help@spva.gsi.gov.uk