Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Abbott and others v MoD: High Court test cases to set England and Wales guidance on causation and damages in military hearing loss claims, with wider application to civilian NIHL

Published on: 08 October 2025

Published by a Law360 reporter

Legal News

Article summary

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has acknowledged it owed a duty of care to ex‑forces personnel who sustained hearing loss, yet it disputes the criteria for establishing that the loss arose during service and the quantum of damages. A so‑called matrix agreement between the parties means the MoD will not challenge this group of claims as being out of time. It has also agreed not to contest the levels of noise to which personnel were exposed. The ten‑week High Court trial, which started on 6 October 2025, will consider multiple test cases from different branches of the armed forces, covering a range of ages and varying severities of hearing impairment. Simon Ellis, partner and head of the specialist military department at Hugh James, represents around 5,000 ex‑servicemen and women. He said the result of the trial is expected to influence the compensation available to many thousands more. Military noise exposure is generally divided into two categories—weapon fire and steady‑state noise, the latter referring to continuous, long‑duration and often high‑intensity sounds from sources such as vehicle engines, aircraft and machinery...

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