Armed Forces Compensation Scheme
10/02/2010
Soldiers injured in Afghanistan and Iraq are set to benefit from changes to the military's compensation scheme to be announced later.
It comes after a review of the controversial Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS).
Andrew Tucker, head of the Armed Forces Team at law firm Irwin Mitchell gave a cautious welcome to the changes to the Scheme (AFCS) but said the measures still did not do enough to help those who had been most seriously injured while serving their country. He said: “We of course welcome the fact that the tariffs have been increased for most of the injured servicemen and women. But it is very disappointing that those who have lost the most and been severely injured whilst in the service of their country will continue to miss out on sufficient funding for their future care needs.
“In 2007 we worked with Diane Dernie after her son, Lance-Bombardier Ben Parkinson, was injured whilst on duty in Afghanistan to bring about a review of the maximum level of compensation available to injured service personnel to sufficiently meet their needs. In 2008 the maximum sum available was doubled from £285,000 to £570,000.
“However, we do not believe that the maximum payment of £570,000 is sufficient for those soldiers that have suffered the most severe injuries and it is simply unfair that this has again been overlooked. We would ask that the Government consider increasing the cap on compensation and until this is done we will continue to campaign for fairer compensation for our Armed Forces, who continue to put their lives on the line every day while they serve their country on Operations."
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