War widows stand to lose thousands

By THIS IS MONEY
Updated:

 

War widows will lose hundreds of thousands of pounds because of cuts to their pensions and benefits, campaigners claim.

Royal Marines on patrol

Under fire: Service families will be less well off.

The changes, introduced by the Coalition, will affect families of the dead as well as permanently disabled soldiers, according to the Forces Pension Society.

The criticism, before Remembrance Sunday, comes in a letter by the organisation's chairman, Vice-Admiral Sir Michael Moore.

He wrote: 'It is so easy for Mr Cameron to extol the Forces at every opportunity, and he will probably do so on Remembrance Sunday, but his words have a hollow ring unless he addresses these issues personally.'

The problems originate from measures announced in the summer which state all public sector pensions would be linked to the consumer price index (CPI). Experts predict this will leave service families less well-off than if their pensions were linked to the historically more generous retail price index (RPI).

It means the annual Guaranteed Income Payment, which is paid to badly injured servicemen and women, will also be pegged to the CPI.

According to The Forces Pension Society, a not-for-profit company, the changes will mean that a 34-year-old widow of a staff sergeant killed in Afghanistan would lose almost £750,000 over the course of her lifetime.

In its correspondence with The Times, it also estimates that a corporal who loses both legs at war would lose about half a million pounds in pens ion and benefit-related payments.

Major-General Patrick Cordingley, commander of the Desert Rats in the first Gulf War, told the newspaper: 'Although one has sympathy with the Government's dilemma, it is arguable that a special case should be made for the Armed Forces and their dependants because they are likely to be widowed at a much younger age and there is considerably more risk for servicemen than for other government employees.

'With the military covenant [the mutual obligations between the Armed Forces and the nation] being burnished by the Government, I think this is something the British public would expect ministers to be sensitive about.'

Some campaigners are hoping to reach a compromise by keeping all military pensions and benefits linked to the RPI until a veteran or his or her spouse reaches 55.

At this point, they would come in line with the rest of the public sector.

But the Ministry of Defence said it was impossible to treat the Armed Forces as separate to other public servants.

Andrew Robathan, the defence minister with responsibility for veterans, said: 'Given the economic wreckage left behind by Labour, tough decisions have had to be made to deal with the fiscal challenges the country is facing.

'This impact is being felt across all public sector pension schemes.'

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