Veteran benefits system set for overhaul as some soldiers say claims take 12 years

The veteran benefits system which has left some former soldiers feeling ‘ripped in half’ with no compensation could be overhauled after a major Government review.

Former members of the armed forces have long criticised both of their benefit schemes, saying they are hard to deal with, reject claims unfairly, make it difficult to claim compensation and drag cases out – for as long as 12 years in some examples.

Now the Ministry of Defence has published a review of one of those benefits systems, the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS).

Are you a veteran feeling let down by the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme or war pension system? Email [email protected] 

Ongoing struggle: Mark Rycroft is still fighting to get monthly compensation for the injury that ended his RAF career

The AFCS pays compensation to veterans with injuries or mental health issues from service after April 6, 2005. Before that date, claims are handled by the war pension scheme. The combined schemes pay out around £750million every year and are run by Veterans UK, part of the Ministry of Defence.

An MoD review published this week admits that many veterans think the AFCS has a ‘lack of empathy’, is not transparent and has serious issues around how claims are decided on and then paid.

The review also says that mental health conditions, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, are often not treated as seriously by Veterans UK as physical injuries, according to many veterans.

In fact, armed forces members can find their mental health damaged further by trying to make an AFCS claim, the MoD said.

Its report said that ‘respondents repeatedly asserted that, particularly for those suffering from mental disorders, the AFCS claims process leaves many claimants feeling unacknowledged and even rejected by [their] current or former employer (the MoD), often causing further harm to their mental health’.

Only 50 per cent of AFCS claims in 2022 were accepted and paid out, rising slightly to 71 per cent for war pension claims.

Many veterans also told the MoD that getting their claims heard, and paid, took too long.

The MoD says the average claim took 61 working days to clear between April 1 2017 and March 21 2022 – but the longest took 2,841 days, or seven years and eight months.

Veterans can then appeal claims if they are unhappy with the decision or the money awarded – but this takes even longer.

Appeals took an average of 124 days, or more than four months, with some taking up to six years and three months.

Veterans trying to get a claim reconsidered normally wait 391 days, or one year and one month, but waits have extended to as long as 4,294 days, or a staggering 11 years, nine months.

One veteran that has been fighting the AFCS system for three years is Mark Rycroft, 46, a former Royal Air Force ground engineer who specialised in working on Hercules transport aircraft.

Rycroft, pictured earlier in his 25-year military career, says he wants his ongoing struggle to get compensation to ultimately help other soldiers with the same issues

Rycroft served in Afghanistan, Iraq, Africa, the Middle East and the Falklands over a 25-year career.

He was discharged in March 2022 after being attacked from behind by a fellow serviceman while on an RAF base in Cyprus in 2019.

The attack knocked him out and left him with ankle injuries so severe he needed two operations and still struggles to walk.

The AFCS paid him a one-off figure of £10,300, but rejected his claim for monthly payments by saying his injury was not caused by his service.

Rycroft was left feeling let down by the Ministry of Defence as a result.

He said: ‘You think you’re buying into a family. After 25 years, when that family kicks you to the curb, that’s what kills you.

‘You go to some really horrible places, and you do it with a smile on your face, not because of what’s going on politically at the time but because of the mates that are by your side and your belief in something bigger than yourself.

‘When you realise it’s just a myth, and those in power treat you just as a name and number, that’s what really hurts. I’ve lived it, I’ve experienced it, it’s ripped me in half.’

The engineer says the AFCS claims system feels inhuman and lacks accountability.

‘It’s the denial, the impersonality of it,’ he said. ‘All you ever do is speak to someone over email. When you do speak to someone on the phone they fob you off. All we want to do is speak to someone in person and put our hearts on the line and say “this is what you’re doing to me”. It feels like they hope you just go away.’

Rycroft has now turned to the tribunal system in an attempt to finally get his AFCS claim granted.

He added: ‘By doing all this it is about protecting my friends who are still serving.’

Rycroft specialised in working on massive Lockheed C-130 Hercules transport aircraft before an assault led to him being dismissed from the RAF

MoD benefits review says improvements needed 

The MoD’s Quinquennial Review – so-called because it has been five years since the last one – made several recommendations to improve the AFCS.

These include suggestions to make the system simpler, faster and fairer for the veterans using it.

For example, the review suggests simplifying how injuries are assessed before AFCS is paid, and explaining exactly why each payout level has been decided. 

It also recommends Veterans UK is quicker to give updates on claims to veterans, and that it better trains its staff so that claimants with mental health conditions are ‘not disadvantaged’ while claiming.

However, the MoD does not have to act on any of these recommendations.

An MoD spokesperson said the recommendations are now being discussed by the department, but that there would be no update on them until at least September 2023, after Parliamentary recess.

Minister for veterans’ affairs Johnny Mercer MP said: ‘These reviews offer a real opportunity to make a difference to veterans’ lives, many of whom have made real sacrifices for their country.

‘I will be considering the recommendations carefully and will work with the MoD to provide a response in due course.’

Review excludes war pensions

Many veterans and campaigners have also spoken out about the fact that the latest review only covers the AFCS, not war pensions – despite the latter being almost five times the size.

The AFCS pays out around £127.9million a year, compared to the £622.6million paid out to war pensioners and war widows and widowers.

Garry McDermott, 49, is a veteran of the Royal Scots regiment and served in Northern Ireland. He has faced a three-year battle to get increases to his war pension.

McDermott gets war pension due to hearing loss, PTSD and a bad back caused by carrying 88kg backpacks during his time in service.

He is appealing the level of war pension he receives as his PTSD has worsened, as have the condition of his hips and knees.

McDermott said: ‘On four occasions on the phone to Veterans UK I’ve felt myself at the limit. If the public knew the system was this bad I think they’d be taking to the streets, But because it’s veterans, it is all kept under wraps. You’re treated like dirt, and they’re pushing you to breaking point. It has a knock-on impact to PTSD.’

Mark Harris, 60, is a former member of the Royal Engineers and a veteran of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

Harris said: ‘This review is aimed at the AFCS. A lot of older war pensioners hope it will filter down to us, but we don’t seem to get mentioned. It’s a case of “ignore, dismiss, deny, and hope you die”.

‘Being treated fairly is all veterans want. As soldiers we felt we used to belong to this organisation, and you were all on the same team. Then when you go back for help, we’re told we’re not on that team anymore. It is not fair, and it gets to you.’

The Ministry of Defence has recently published a review of  one of its claims schemes

Eddie Denmark, 62, served as an anti-aircraft missile gunner in the Falklands and as a soldier in Northern Ireland.

He injured both knees in Northern Ireland, and also has PTSD, hand injuries and blood cancer, which is likely caused by exposure to radioactive materials during service.

Speaking of his struggle to increase his war pension payments, Denmark said: ‘You’re guilty until proven innocent. I don’t think Veterans UK have been taking into account people’s fragile physical and mental health, and their age.’

RAF veteran Charles Stuart left the force in 1993, after suffering severe injuries when an oil drum fell on him in 1991. This left him bedridden for six months and caused severe injuries to his neck and spine, as well as crippling headaches.

His struggle to get the appropriate level of war pension took years and has only recently finished.

Stuart said the findings of a report by the All Party Parliamentary Group for Veterans earlier this month have gone unanswered by the MoD.

This report found that 76.4 per cent of veterans rated their experience of claiming from Veterans UK as poor or very poor, and that Veterans UK advisors were rejecting claims despite not having appropriate medical training.

Stuart said: ‘To me it appears that the problems highlighted in the Veterans Survey by the APPG have not been addressed, i.e. medical advisors opposing consultant reports, fairer assessments for war pensioners which would stop appeals, and the stress this brings.

‘The decision-maker in all this, the MoD, must not disregard the results of the APPG survey, and we still need that public inquiry.’

Scottish National Party MP Owen Thompson has long campaigned for an overhaul of veteran benefits.

Thompson said: ‘The system is clearly broken. This new review is scathing and a real call to arms.

‘We have a moral duty to our injured servicemen and women but the UK Government has reneged on this despite all their empty rhetoric about supporting our armed forces. I have been calling for some time for a complete root and branch reform of Veterans UK.

‘There is a perception that the welfare and compensation schemes are stacked against applicants and that they will do anything to avoid paying out. Why should injured servicemen and women go through hell and high water just to get what they are owed?’

Veteran Charlie Radclyffe is now an advocate for wounded servicemen and servicewomen and a former member of the South West Veterans Advisory and Pensions Committee, a Government-appointed board that helps former servicemen and servicewomen.

Responding to a draft of the review, Radclyffe said he thought the suggestions would ‘heal some of the wounds in the system and lead to fairer outcomes’ if carried out.

But speaking to This is Money, he added: ‘It is definitely not enough, that it does not cover war pensions. I do very strongly feel there should be a review of the war pension scheme.’

An MOD spokesperson said: ‘The Quinquennial Review of the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme was commissioned to ensure that the scheme remains fit for purpose and we continue to support our serving personnel and veterans.

‘We are committed to learning from this important review to understand how we can appropriately support our Serving Personnel and Veterans who have served our country with courage and honour. The Government will consider the recommendations and respond in due course.’

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk