Fury at armed forces' 'stressful' compensation scheme
CAMPAIGNERS have condemned the armed forces' compensation scheme for forcing injured people who have served their country to go through an appeals process to get the support they deserve.
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The latest figures show that more than half of injury appeals (51.25 per cent) between April 2010 and March 2021 resulted in successful outcomes including a new award or increased support.
Hannah Pearce, of the Royal British Legion (RBL) said: “We need decision makers to get claims right first time. Injured veterans and bereaved families are being forced to undertake unnecessarily stressful and lengthy processes as they challenge unfair decisions, adding insult to injury after serving their country.”
The RBL is pushing for “urgent improvements” to the compensation scheme.
Shadow armed forces minister Kevan Jones said: “These figures show that, time and time again, legitimate compensation claims made by our armed forces are being turned down by the Government they served.
"Members of armed forces deserve to have their claims considered seriously in the first instance, not stretched out into a costly and stressful appeals process.”
The scheme was also attacked by the charity Help for Heroes.
A spokesman said: “We believe it is immoral that veterans already dealing with the burden of mental and physical wounds have to fight for what we believe is rightfully theirs... We know that some veterans are wrongly discharged from the armed forces without diagnosis of a mental or physical health condition, hindering their ability to claim compensation.”
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He claimed that many veterans are reluctant to appeal decisions or do not know how to, and warned that the process can often worsen PTSD and other conditions.
Professor Walter Busuttil, a consultant psychiatrist who is director of research and training with the charity Combat Stress, said: “We are very much aware that veterans are struggling as a direct result of the inefficiencies within the process of applying for and claiming war pensions and payment from the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS).
“We have seen, and continue to see, veterans who have been waiting months, even more than a year for their claim to be processed. The system seems pitted against the veterans’ claims, making it an overly long and protracted process with a series of appeals that risks their mental wellbeing and exacerbates any pre-existing mental health issues.
"The current processes discourage veterans from making claims in the first place. For those who go through with it, the system can leave them feeling so demeaned that they decide to withdraw their claim.”
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “We are extremely grateful for the contribution our people make, so compensation claims are not decided lightly. All decisions carefully factor in a range of points including medical history and type of service.
"Former and current serving personnel have the right to claim and receive entitled payments through the War Pension and Armed Forces Compensation Schemes, which are administered by Veterans UK on behalf of the MoD.”
