In October 2009, a new claims computer program was fielded: the Personnel Claims Army Information Management System. This program permits Soldiers and Army civilian employees to file personnel claims through the Internet, rather than physically visiting or mailing documents to a military claims office. Although paper copies of claims will still be accepted, such as when Department of Defense personnel or claimants’ spouses file claims. PCLAIMS should make it easier for Army personnel to file claims for property loss. Contact information for the Fort Myer and Fort Belvoir military claims offices is included at the end of this article, if you would like further information or assistance.
The Personnel Claims Act allows Soldiers and Army and DOD civilian employees to be compensated for property loss and damage sustained incident to service. Many Soldiers and employees file personnel claims when their household goods are lost or damaged during shipment. These comprise the vast majority of such claims. Personnel claims may also be filed in other situations, such as when Soldiers sustain losses due to fire or flood at on-post quarters.
PCLAIMS can be accessed at the Judge Advocate General’s Corps Internet site at www.jagcnet.army.mil. Click on the U.S. Army Claims Service link and then click on the PCLAIMS link. The PCLAIMS site describes the rules for filing personnel claims and allows you to fill out all the required forms.
You must have an Army Knowledge Online account to use PCLAIMS. Claimants without such accounts should contact their nearest MCO to file their claims. Also, spouses with their own AKO accounts filing for the actual claimants should not file claims using their own AKO information. The AKO account of the actual claimant must be used. If the move’s sponsor cannot initiate the claim himself or herself, the spouse may do so at an MCO using a power of attorney or signed note from the sponsor.
When using PCLAIMS, you will be asked to list all of your lost or damaged property, the purchase dates and costs and replacement or repair costs. This is required whether you file your claim in paper or electronically. Basic supporting documents, such as a government bill of lading (for transportation-related claims), estimates of repair and photos of damaged property can be scanned and added to the electronic claim. If you do not have access to a scanner, documents can be mailed or hand-carried to your MCO, which will add them to your claim file.
Once you have entered all of the necessary information, you will be asked to verify and submit your claim. It will be electronically sent to an MCO, which will adjudicate the claim and arrange for payment, as appropriate. You also will be asked to provide an e-mail or telephone number so the claims office can contact you with any questions. Providing accurate contact information is critical; if you cannot be contacted your payment may be delayed.
PCLAIMS should not be confused with the Full Replacement Value program, the new system applicable to household goods and other transportation-related claims since 2007 or the Defense Personnel Property Program, a new computerized transportation program applicable to many household goods shipments since 2008.
Under FRV and DP3, Soldiers and Army and DOD civilian employees are encouraged to file transportation-related claims directly against the carrier responsible for the loss. Claimants have only nine months to file such claims. In return, they are paid the full replacement value for their destroyed property.
PCLAIMS cannot be used to file claims directly with carriers. It can only be used for personnel claims filed at an MCO. If, however, claimants are dissatisfied with carrier offers to settle claims under the FRV or DP3 programs, they may reject some or all of the carriers’ offers and file their claims at an MCO. Such claimants can use PCLAIMS to file these new claims, but should contact the nearest MCO before doing so. There is no interface between DP3 (which also involves electronic claims filing) and PCLAIMS, so it is important to contact an MCO for specific guidance on how to transfer these claims from a carrier to the military.
PCLAIMS is designed to give Soldiers and Army civilian employees more options for filing personnel claims. Comments on the new program should be forwarded to the U.S. Army Claims Service at 4411 Llewellyn Avenue, Fort Meade, Md. 20755, or by e-mailing USARCSFRV-claims@conus.army.mil.
Fort Myer Legal Services: Bldg. 201 (down the hill from the Fort Myer Officers’ Club), phone (703) 696-0761, Web: http:⁄⁄www.mdw.army.mil⁄sja⁄index.htm. Web site can also be reached from the MDW PAO home page at http:⁄⁄www.mdw.army.mil⁄.
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