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MILITARY PERSONNEL AND
CIVILIAN EMPLOYEES’ CLAIMS ACT
The Military Personnel and Civilian Employees’
Claims Act of 1964,31 U.S.C. § 3721 (1982) (hereafter
called the Personnel Claims Act [PCA]), is a gratuitous
payment statute intended to maintain morale by
compensating service members and other federal
employees for personal property that is lost, damaged,
or destroyed incident to service.
Like the MCA, the PCA contemplated payment of
claims under such regulations as the head of an agency
may prescribe. Personnel claims regulations in other
services are similar to the Navy’s, but are not identical.
SCOPE OF LIABILITY
The PCA is limited to recovery for personal
property damage that includes the loss, destruction,
capture, or abandonment of personal property. Damage
to real property (land, buildings, and permanent
fixtures) is not covered, but maybe compensated under
the MCA. Also, remember that the PCA applies
worldwide.
Only military personnel and civilian employees of
the Department of Defense may recover compensation.
Military personnel include commissioned officers,
warrant officers, enlisted personnel, and other appointed
military members. Civilian employees include those
paid by the Department of the Navy on a contract basis.
To be payable under the PICA, the claimant’s loss
must have occurred incident to military service or
employment.
Eleven general categories of losses
incident to service exist. These categories include the
following:
1. Property losses in quarters or other authorized
spaces designated by superior authority for storage of
the claimant’s personal property
2. Transportation losses, such as damage to
household goods shipped pursuant to PCS orders
3. Losses caused by marine or aircraft disaster
4. Losses incident to combat or other enemy action
5. Property damage by being subjected to
extraordinary risks
6. Property used for the benefit of the U.S.
Government
7. Losses caused by the negligence of a federal
employee acting within the scope of employment
8. Money deposited with authorized personnel for
safekeeping, deposit, transmittal, or other authorized
disposition
9. Certain noncollision damage to motor vehicles
(limited to $2,000, not including the contents of the
vehicle)
10. Damage to house trailers and contents while on
federal property or while shipped under government
contract
11. Certain thefts aboard military installations from
the possession of the claimant.
NOTE: Within each of these 11 categories are
numerous specific types of incidents and circumstances.
The rules governing each of these 11 areas can be
complex and detailed.
Therefore, it is absolutely
necessary to refer to JAGINST 5890.1 to determine
whether a particular personnel claim is contemplated by
one of the 11 categories.
Not only must the property damage or loss occur
incident to service, the claimant’s possession and use of
the damaged property must have been reasonable,
useful, or proper under the circumstances. While the
PCA provides broad protection for the military
member’s personal property, the government has not
undertaken to insure all property against any risk. A
personnel claim will usually be denied if the claimant’s
possession or use of damaged property was
unreasonable under the circumstances. Thus, while
possession of an inexpensive radio in a locker in the
barracks is reasonable under most circumstances,
keeping a $1,500 stereo system in the locker usually is
not. Whether the possession or use of the property was
reasonable, useful, or proper is largely a matter of
judgment by the adjudicating authority. Factors that are
considered include, but are not limited to, the claimant’s
living conditions, reasons for possessing or using the
property, efforts to safeguard the property, and the
foreseeability of the loss or damage that occurred.
EXCLUSION FROM LIABILITY
Exclusions from personnel claims liability fall into
three general categories. The two most common
examples are as follows:
l Caused by claimant’s negligence. If the property
damage was caused, either in whole or in part, by the
claimant’s negligence or wrongful acts, or by such
conduct by the claimant’s agent or employee acting in
the scope of employment, the personnel claim will be
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