General Chat

I was gobsmacked after watching GMTV this morning, who had the wife of a Army guy on, he apparently was brain damaged in Iraq (road-side bomb) and needs round the clock care, he needs help with feeding and all normal everday things we take for granted (they have a 20mth old son), he can't do much for himself and has been awarded £114,000 in damages from the government.

They also reported that an RAF female received over £400,000 compo from getting repetative strain injury from using her key board.

This is toatlly beyond belief, what do you think???


catherine
xx

Think maybe some of the politicians ought to go on the front line..... its a disgrace

Totally incomprehensible !! , what else can one say ?

Lulli x

Makes me wonder why anyone joins the forces.
Pat

This is how it has been for a number of years, Catherine.. sevice personnel (male or female) severely injured in a *theatre* have less compensation than serving personnel with injuries similar to the ones described, that are comparitively minor. There is no comparison, is there?

Makes me spit feathers, really.

Love

Daff xxx

Absolutely disgusting.

Words fail me - and thats unusual.

Love Mary xx

wonder what this gov would have done if all --serviceman from WW1& 2 had the rights to do this,,,they would have bankrupted the country,!!!

How can the £400,000 payout be justified?

Sadly ex-servicemen and women have been treated appallingly throughout history.

It makes me so angry, but I don't think it will ever change.

xx

Kay.. those servicemen saved the country.. no amount of compensation would have been enough to repay them for that. They were treated appallingly.

Love

Daff xxx

I'm quite familiar with this type of thing (unfortunately). While everyone here is expressing disgust at MOD and would be right to do so, if the story were true, which it isn't. In typical journalistic fashion it's been twisted. (error of ommission in fact).

What they haven't told you is that L/Bdr Parkinson will be awarded a disablement pension by the Service Personnel & Veterans Agency. In his case it's likely to be 100%. This means he will be awarded a pension for life which will be incremented by other benefits such as; War Pension Mobility Supplement, Severe Disablement Allowance, Carers Allowance and more. We are talking serious money here. The £114,000 is additional and is to provide immediate relief for him and the family and is able to be paid out without delay and without prejudice. This is all that existing legislation allows MOD to do - even if they want to do more.

The WRAF who got £400,000 for RSI will not see much of that, if she is awarded a disablement pension it be will be comparative to her age and level of disablement. She pursued a private action against MOD which L/Bdr Parkinson could also do without affecting his existing awards. See Hunter -v- MOD, High Court, Belfast. Cpl Hunter was awarded some £268,000 by the court after claiming a serious knee injury would keep him in the lower echelons of the workforce for the rest of his life. L/Bdr Parkinson will get legal aid to launch such an action and will win, without question, and his award will be increased.

All journalism is sensational and designed to get honest and decent people wound up. Once you know the true facts however you can see that the journos are trying to make the army look stupid when in fact they are acting within specific guidelines laid down by the government. It takes a judge to set these aside. I would nearly take a bet that young Parkinson's Welfare Officer has also advised the family to take it to court for an award outside the exisiting legislation.

i think if you join up and you get injured on active duty it's unfortunately tough luck. all soldiers are covered with private insurance, most of them use PAX which is specifically designed to cover the forces. i dont think the government should be responsible to pay the guy anything other than the war pension it always has. you know what you are joining and what could happen to you.

however, if you are damaged by the ARMY/NAVY/RAF itself, i.e. by having to use deficient equipment which results in a disability, then absolutely the person should be able to seek compensation. if the WRAF was not issued with an ergonomically sound workplace, and she will now suffer for life as a result of that, i'm on her side.

sorry if my opinion offends but it is just that, my opinion.

Paul, (ex Royal Artillery, received a payout after digging trenches for 8 weeks in Bosnia with a 2 foot Army issue shovel. Now back damaged for life.)

Served Gulf War 1, Bosnia, Kosovo, N Ireland.

Hi Paul... Many service folk join up at about 17/18 years of age. At that age, single, no commitments, but bags of energy and enthusiasm, youngsters don't really see past their sense of adventure and their idealism. I do not agree at all that *they took the shilling so they takes their chances* As a nation we have a duty to see that those who protect and care for us are treated properly when they are injured in the line of duty.. and that means nurses, doctors, firemen, paramedics, police and service folk.
Also, a close friend of ours had left the Army a couple of years before the 1st Gulf War. He had served in the Falklands, NI (numerous times) .. but was called back up, he had no option. He lost his business, everything as a result. No compensation for that, and he also lost his home.

And the system is soooo slow when it comes to the re-housing of families, too, although it is the CIVILIAN system that is at fault here, not the military.

Pax didn't come in until after the 1st Gulf war... insurance companies wouldn't do critical illness cover at all for servicemen and women, and those who had life insurance, were dumped by many companies as soon as they were put on standby for the 1st Gulf war (my hubby included)


Pax incidentally, is, I believe, an American-underwritten scheme. No company in Britain would touch it.

My hubby came out after 34 years, two years ago.. and up until Sunday last he could still have been called back into the conflict. (His 55th birthday) You can't just leave if you are in certain trades, lol.

Daff xxx (Camp follower of veteran of Falklands, NI (multiples) 1st Gulf War x 2, Yugoslavia, Bosnia x 2 (KFOR and IFOR), Somalia, Kosova, 2nd Gulf War

I agree with you both, Paul and Daff.

My father joined the army (when the Kings shilling WAS a shilling!)
And as a regular he fought in the war in many places.
He was wounded and almost died from his woulds in CAEN 1944.
He had and expected nothing other than his combat medals, and his pension when he left.
There were others who were so badly damaged that they would never work again, and as I see it..... should have been VERY WELL LOOKED AFTER......
But they weren't.

I think it is wrong to decide which injuries are deserving of help and which aren't.

We should look after our service men and women.
If we can find the money to send them to wars, we can surely find the money to look after them when they come home BROKEN.
Deanna X

Ryansdad Paul



My Dad worked at a big factory for years
he had a works pension and a private pension
he had an accident and was still entitled to compensation

the forces is a job like any other and if you are injured through no fault of your own you should be entitled to compensation like anyone else

sue c x

dont disagree with you daff, i can still be called myself.

dont disagree about the introduction of pax, before that it was guardian royal exchange who looked after the forces, but whoever underwrites it is irrelevant, the fact is that they pay out for injuries occuring during "acts of war", (Para 7, back page of policy) whereas most other companies exclude that specifically.

sue c, thats exactly the point i was making.
paul x

paul
have just re read your post
sorry i read it wrong
got my new glasses coming at the end of this week so that should help lol!!

sue c x

Its Disgusting!!
The country has all its priorities wrong!!

We are all RIGHT.... ;-0)

But, I think how they get around this is that they give the forces *danger money*....
I believe it is about £1 a day.... is that right Paul??

My son was in the Falklands Scots Guards.... went over on the QE2 and the worry nearly killed me!!

Deanna X

Paul.. it was GRE who dumped my hubby!! They did not cover critical illness as a result of acts of hostility or war. They only did Life Insurance.. you got paid if yer man died, but not if he got broken (thank you Deanna, that word fits it perfectly)!!
And there was no critical illness cover at all for service folk until AFTER the first gulf war ended, and PAX was introduced, initially in a very small way. My husband was one of the first to take PAX up. We still have it.

GRE underwrote Life insurance only for service folk until then.. not critical illness. And other insurance companies still charge the earth for ex-service folk who are still in the colours, and in certain trades .. good thing PAX can be continued after leaving, isn't it?

Love

Daff xx

1 Pound a day!! Wow!

Sorry but I think If they are fighting for their country there should be provisions made for them,In every way!
I know they aren't forced into the army,but put it this way If nobody signed up what would they do??

Go back to Press ganging!