A very specific military question if anyone has experience?!

[sjsnnsjssjh]

Forces’ sweethearts area is dead.

DH will be a sergeant and posted away unaccompanied, we own our own home and will be over 50 miles away with him living there during the week.

We assume we’ll be entitled to GYH(T), but will he have to pay to live in the mess during the week? If so, anyone have any idea how much it usually costs??

Which branch is he as it does vary across the three

Will the over 37 package help you? Looks like the rules might have changed recently though.
https://aff.org.uk/advice/money-and-allowances/military-allowances/#:~:text=The%20Army%20Over%2D37%20Provision,the%20end%20of%20their%20career.

Sorry I didn’t consider it would be different, it’s RAF

Bit confused by your post - you mean he’ll live on the base during the week and return home at the weekend? DH is RN, weekend commutes and pays to live in his room on whichever base he’s working on. It comes out of his gross pay so no idea how much he pays - not as much as if we were in a married quarter but it’s definitely not free. Dining is PAYG so he has a fridge and a microwave to be able to eat breakfast and at least one other meal in his room.

Get you home also goes straight into his pay - just needs council tax bill to evidence that. It’s supposed to pay for 2 trips home a month so with him not being very far from you it won’t be very much but something to help towards those costs.

Sorry what’s confusing about it? Yes it'll all go through his pay. Just trying to make sure this posting doesn’t make us worse off financially essentially.

It’s 120 miles away, I mentioned over 50 to state we are eligible. I remember the 2 journeys a month thing from when he was training years ago, but the GYH daily charge figure I’ve found (£4.91) works out as almost covering the fuel entirely for 4 trips a month (appreciate that depends on MPG etc). Is there a contribution like there is with HTD?

I’ve read conflicting things about whether he has to pay for his SLA, the JSP I found last night seems to suggest not, says if you are PSTAT1 you are exempt, but that seems a little too good to be true.

(But yes sorry live on base M-F, home every weekend)

DH has always had to pay for his but no idea if that is rank/job dependent.

Presume you’ve already found the rates charged for SLA? I know the charge depends on how they have assessed the quality of the accommodation and your rank but again I have no idea how much DH pays for his.

https://aff.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/SLA-Accommodation-Charges-WEF-1-April-2024.pdf

We’ve never really discussed it in detail as I’ve always seen it as a necessary expense as I’m not prepared to, and he certainly doesn’t want to, move every 18 months with each new posting. And because it comes out of his pay, I’ve never looked into how much it costs us each month.

I don’t think there’s a contribution to GYH, it’s just an additional payment. It may well be more than two trips a month - we probably haven’t discussed that in many years either!

@mafsfanyes we don’t move around either, we’ve just been lucky that thus far he’s been able to bounce around commutable bases. He will likely reject the promotion if we can’t make it work for us, it’s incredibly frustrating they can be put in the position of being separated from family and then financially worse off when everything is factored in (and by worse off I mean worse off compared to his current rank!)

From what I’ve read we think the RAF might not charge him accommodation, but need it confirmed this week, that’ll likely be the straw that breaks the camel’s back if they do.

Finally found it for myself, JSP 464 volume 3, RAF and RN don’t charge personnel in PSTATcat 1, which we are. So fingers crossed. Army seems more complex (mentions that 37+ thing, although I gather that’s being discontinued).

So I’ve just been told off by DH for never listening. You’re right - he doesn’t pay SLA as we’re married (and have been for 15 years 😬) but he does pay mess fees! I’ve just assumed it was all accommodation costs.

So all in all I’ve been no help at all and you should be ok for accommodation costs for now! However, DH says they are trying to make changes so married personnel would pay the same as unmarried but no date for that coming in yet.

@mafsfanhaha no thank you for responding I appreciate it. Yes had factored in the mess fees, so thankfully that’s not a surprise!

Yes I suppose it’s unfair really, I heard they’re getting rid of the army’s post 37 for that reason, fingers crossed we can get his FAD reduced and get him more locally soon.