Article

2006-12-12 Britain

YJCMTSU: British troops to get 'crime' compensation

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Posted by .com 2006-12-12 04:27|| || Front Page|| [2 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 I don't quite follow the semantics of war vs. crime, but I cannot disagree with the idea of compensating the injured soldiers, and these amounts do not seem unreasonable, nor unaffordable as long as the war level stays low.

Posted by Glenmore">Glenmore 2006-12-12 08:23|| 2006-12-12 08:23|| Front Page Top

#2 A Brit poster is going to have to enlighten us on the British compensation system. In the US, the Veterans Administration has extensive hospital networks set up for continued care specifically of service related wounds and injuries, with those having war related injuries receiving priority, not part of a general national health service. The VA has programs for adjustments to include things like no charge vehicles for those who require special adaptations to operate. The VA pays life long tax free compensation for service related injuries. Or for the British, is everything sort of thrown into the general social services support offices?

Posted by Procopius2k 2006-12-12 09:27|| 2006-12-12 09:27|| Front Page Top

#3 "Although both theaters of conflict are described frequently as war zones, in strict legal terms British troops are not at war."

Why do I get the mental picture of some Jihadist MoFo reading the above quote and laughing so hard his turban falls off?

Posted by DepotGuy 2006-12-12 10:44|| 2006-12-12 10:44|| Front Page Top

#4 P2K: A slight correction to your comment re: VA disability pay. IN the case of retired military folks that have some level of VA-determined eligibility, the amount you receive from the VA is DEDUCTED from your retired pay and sent to you via the VA. What it amounts to is that the VA paid portion is tax-free. Congress has resisted for many years, any attempts to pay VA disability separate from your retired pay. A few years ago, I determined my 30% disability was worth $46 for the year (tax savings).

Posted by USN, Ret. 2006-12-12 14:24|| 2006-12-12 14:24|| Front Page Top

#5 I've read some comments in the UK MSM about how much better US vets are treated than UK vets. This may be a way around the discrepancy. Need to hear from a UK local about this.

Posted by Anguper Hupomosing9418 2006-12-12 17:09|| 2006-12-12 17:09|| Front Page Top

#6 One of the things the GOP congress managed to pass was the elimination of the "dual-compensation" clause for VA disability payments. Beginning in 2004, and increasing during the next ten years, the amount paid to VA disabled veterans will gradually be freed from the one-to-one deduction from retired pay. The last change will be in 2013, after which no disability pay will be offset from retirees military pay. I've seen my military take-home retirement almost double in the last three years as these rules have been implemented. I'm currently at 70% disabled.

Posted by Old Patriot">Old Patriot 2006-12-12 17:14|| http://oldpatriot.blogspot.com/]">[http://oldpatriot.blogspot.com/] 2006-12-12 17:14|| Front Page Top

#7 OP: Thanks for the update, however I thought that only those @ 50% and ^ would receive this; those of us below that line were still in the old methodology. Of course, I won't see any increase, as Mrs. Ret will take it as her compensation for having to put up with me :)

Posted by USN, Ret. 2006-12-12 17:58|| 2006-12-12 17:58|| Front Page Top

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