Service personnel in established long-term relationships (LTR(E)) can now claim a range of allowances that were restricted to those who are married or in civil partnerships.
Disturbance Expense and Home to Duty Travel are among the allowances available to them since 1 May 2026.
To claim, you must first register your LTR(E) status on JPA, making sure you provide the necessary evidence. If you’ve already registered, you don’t need to do anything.
Unit HR will treat Service personnel with a registered LTR(E) in the same way as married couples when dealing with claims.
AFF welcomes the changes. “This is a positive step, as Army serving personnel and families in long term relationships tell us that they feel disadvantaged when compared to their colleagues who are married or in civil partnerships,” said Money & Allowances Specialist Steve Barnard.
“They feel strongly that policy should reflect modern society, where long-term relationships are recognised. It is encouraging that the MoD is working further on widening of eligibility in the overseas and housing policy areas, and we look forward to further announcements.
“As always, AFF will continue to represent the views of our families and service personnel to improve the quality of life for the Army Family.”
What’s covered
The full list of military allowances available to LTR(E) personnel is: Disturbance Expense, Duty Travel, Get You Home, Home to Duty, HM Forces Railcards, Longer Separation Allowance, MOD Passport provisions, Movement and Storage of Personal Effects and Subsistence.
HM Forces Railcards and MOD-provided UK passports for Service travel can be extended to your partner if eligible.
What’s not covered
At the moment you don’t qualify for involuntary separation allowances if you’re living apart from your partner. And the policy on accompanied status for overseas assignments has not changed. This is mainly down to local laws and visa rules in those locations.
Work continues to widen access to SFA for LTR(E) families.
There’s more information on the military allowances available to LTR(E) personnel on Defnet and Defence Connect and you can find out about different benefits on our money and allowances pages.
PUBLISHED 8 MAY 2026