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With regard to our Service Personnel, I was just looking on the BBC web site and ‘reader’s comments’ which overwhelmingly, support bigger and better payouts to injured Service Personnel and so forth. This is set against the background of the MOD appealing two cases of injury payments made to Service Personnel which were subsequently increased by the Courts.

Let me make it clear, I am not on the side of the Government, nor I am on the side of the “breaking the Service Covenant” mob, both are seriously wrong in coming up with an appropriate ‘solution’, neither are on the side of the Angels let alone our lads, lassies and their families.

A Bit of Previous…

Back in the 1980′s I was involved with the Life Assurance and Pensions Industry and whilst the Company I worked with didn’t do general insurance, over the years and on several occasions, there were Industry Wide Events I attended that bought me into contact with other people involved in other types of Insurance business. Having set the background, let me move on to the reason for doing so.

At one time there was a bit of fuss in the media about a young person who had been injured in an accident and although an ‘interim payment’ had been made, was still waiting for a ‘final settlement’ and clearly, the Insurance company wasn’t in a hurry to pay out.

I met a chap who dealt with this sort of thing and enquired “Just how can this be justified ?” In reply, I got a bit of an education !

The Claim

It is often the case that things viewed from the ‘outside’ seem so simple and yet once you are personally involved, just aren’t and this was just such a case. He knew that I worked for a Life & Pensions business and asked me a simple question: “Under what circumstances would your Company not pay out on a death claim ?” to which the answer was simple – “Fraud”. He laughed and said one simple thing: “Quite right because death is death, there are no half measures are there ?”

He then went on to explain the basic problem. Someone is involved in a motor accident as a passenger and as an innocent party make a claim for whiplash against the ‘insured’. No problem except, are there other problems, could other physical damage have taken place that will only surface later and could they therefore be liable to greater compensation ?

The interim payment with a final settlement some +10 years later and with the injured party being medically monitored over those years is to protect both the injured party and the insurance company so that the former gets what is ‘owed’ and the latter, only pays out full liability with no future comeback on the shareholders or owners of the business.

It is Bullshit

What I have seen and so have you, is a useless Government “Faffing Around” because of public opinion and in the process, likely getting it all wrong and totally contrary to their supposed basic principles.

Regardless of what people think, it has absolutely nothing to do with the size of the “cash payout” and everything to do with the future well-being of the injured party. The reality that for a Mum with a son disabled through military service, seeing him having a home ‘bought and paid for..’ as a result of a lump sum payout, might give them as parents a warm glow, to their son, it is inconsequential, the long term care matters more.

We Need a New Approach

Sure as an acknowledgement, there should be a lump sum of some kind but that should be a token commiserate with scale of injury on an arm, leg, eye etc. basis. That part should be the ‘token’ not the delivery which should concentrate on longer term support and development not just for the person but also their families.

The “Care Regime” needs to extend beyond the individual and encompass the Mother/Wife/Partner/ Children involved in the situation and their subsequent needs for counselling and respite breaks. It is not just the immediate care plan, it must be the long term objective of the best possible life for all directly involved and that does not necessarily mean a big ‘up-front’ cash payment.

What Are We Looking For ?

I suspect we want a ‘fair system’ to compensate brave young men and women who put themselves in harms way on our account but it must be more than that. We need to accept that we are asking 18-30 year old’s to risk serious injury or death and that if they are injured, it maybe that we need to look after them for 40+ years.

We as a society may need to consider a brand new deal that encompasses all the Military and even the domestic Emergency Services whereby death in service attracts specific lump sum payments but more importantly, the “Survivors” are properly looked after whether the original casualty or their immediate families, we need to look with open minds and hearts at this problem.