DA

A question about : DA

I have read many conflicting reports and heard of just as many. Are we entitled to Disturbance Allowance on first move?

Best answers:

• Are you married and getting posted? You're not entitled to DA if moving into your first quarter due to getting married but if you're posted then yes you are entitled.
• My Wife and myself moved into our first married quarter last month on marrage. Both lived in the block here, Wife put in a DA claim on JPA as house is in her name and claim went through, Ј1024 being paid in her Sept pay.
• Disturbance Allowance is paid to cover the costs involved in moving, ie. Disconnecting and reconnecting telephones, cancellation of mobile phones etc.
  There is also an extra amount you can claim if you have children at school and need to buy new uniform when you move.
  Disturbance Allowance is not used to pay for your removals - if you are entitled to a move at public expense the Army/Navy/RAF will organise and pay for it.
  DA is paid according the type of accommodation being moved into: Single block/Mess, Service Families Accommodation or Private property whether rented or owned.
  The rates as at 01 Apr 08 are:
  Single Ј88
  SFA Ј1042
  Privately Owned Ј1154
  Privately Rented Ј1024
  Child Element Ј143 per child of school age
  Who is eligible for disturbance allowance?
  Any soldier who is permanently assigned to a unit with an assignment order (Posting Order) can claim DA.
  If a soldier needs to move for service reasons (other than on operational tour) such as moving blocks or moving out of a room for redecorating etc he can claim DA.
  If during a posting your entitlement to SFA changes due to family size, then you can claim SFA.
  First Moves - fact and fiction
  Not every first move is paid for. To be eligible a soldier has to be married for at least one night before the official start of his/her assignment.
  If a soldier gets married during his/her posting this is called a mid-tour move and does not qualify.
  Last moves
  Towards the end of a 22 year career a soldier can choose to go on the Final Tour of Duty Package. This gives him removals and full disturbance allowance.
  When he reaches 37 a soldier can go on the Over 37 package. This gives him removals and full disturbance allowance and GYH pay to his family for his last two years.
  Unless either of these two packages are selected there is no entitlement to a final move.
  So if your o/h is already in a posting this means you are not entitled because it is called mid term move. Hope this has been of help
• What about, living in private accomodation (ie you own the house), never lived in 'married quarters'. Moved out of single accomodation into private accomodation, then married for nearly a year.
  Then posted away, need to move into 'married quarters'
  Would you be eligble for a move at public expense, and to claim DA
• Is it a new posting? You are only entitled if it's a new posting!
  You can claim on JPA from about to six weeks before your move
• What about if its a posting, but staying on the same unit.
  Are you allowed to move under public expense then.?
• I moved into a SFA on marriage 2 months back. When I initially looked into DA + Removals last year (I own a privatley maintained property 120 miles from my duty station), the Chf Clk told me that I was allowed to claim. Sometime at the begining of last year the JSP was amended and clearly stated in red that you can not claim for DA (+ Removals) if it is first setting up of home i.e NOT on posting.
  To that end, Karach, your wife has put in a false claim and you better be prepared to pay it back when they audit it. JPA will let you claim for anything even if you are not entitled to it. It is up to the service person to contact their unit HR for advice on if they are entitled to it or not.
  The easiest way to explain entitlement is that if you have an assignment order PLUS you are physically moving SFA/SLA, then you are entitled to DA/removals
  I understand your frustrations because I was not amused when I found out that I was not entitled to it because I still had the same expenses as any one else, but that is the rules!
• i spent many conversations in psf over this. I was in private accommodation and got married and thought could claim DA as change of entiltement. PSF said no as it was not for sevice reasons!
  seems that it depends on what unit you are on reading this thread lol
• You can only claim if it's a new posting not a mid term move. So say if you got married and then you got posted you can claim
  New postings only!!!
• I had a big falling out with hubbys admin about this when we moved into our mq about 18months ago. JSP says that you can claim now for either your first or last move, not both. Hubby was living in the block before we were married, I was in private rented. We found all the right info on JSP, RAF admin said no still, spoke to SSAFA.. didnt know, Spoke to AFF housing manager (was getting nowhere with the raf so thought I would try them) was told yes the army do pay it, and that she has had problems with some admin clerks not knowing that they are supposed to do so, and has had to give them a shove in the right direction before. She faxed me through a letter saying this and that if necessary she would be willing to explain it to the relevent persons, took to RAF admin, who still said no, even though it is tri service now and all should be getting the same. We didnt win the argument.
  A few months later a friend of mine moved here, same circumstances, did get it for first move. Im still a bit bitter about it.
  It seems to be yet another case where JSP is subjective and admin clerks chose to pay or not pay depending on what side of bed they got out of.
  If having problems, try AFF, they were very very helpful and will point you in the direction of the relevent part of JSP.
  xx
• I thought you could only claim if it was a new posting. We moved into our mq half way through dh posting so weren't entitled to anything. That was a few years ago now though.
• it does say you are entilted to it for a mid term move if your change of accommodation entiltement changes for service reasons.
  The caveat is the "service reasons" part, this is why mine got refused. I find it hard to find many accommodation changes for service reasons though, any ideas?
• An interesting thread that keeps popping back to the top.
  I myself am expecting to be posted soon, though i think its going to be up north somewhere, and from that i wont be able to commute.
  As we own our house, and commute to work. If upon receipt of posting, what is the best way to deal with this.
  Do you just call in a haulage firm, and hey presto, or do you pack it yourself, hire a van with the Ј1200 and haul it yourself.