ALL PARTY PARLIAMENTARY GROUP FOR VETERANS SURVEY FINDINGS

This is report is the published findings from what is apparently a much harder hitting report that the APPG Veterans Survey – link is here: ALL PARTY PARLIAMENTARY GROUP FOR VETERANS SURVEY FINDINGS

The IDA is trying to get the full report released.

Background

From November 1^st 2022, to February 1^st 2023, the APPG for Veterans ran a short survey to investigate the experiences UK veterans and personnel have with claiming compensation through the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) or War Pensions.

The survey received 1,040 responses overall.

Not all questions were answered by all respondents. This is partly because respondents were guided down different pathways of the survey depending on whether their application was successful, and whether they launched an appeal. This is also partly because questions were optional.

All respondents gave consent to their responses being viewed, stored, and published by the APPG. Responses were anonymous by default, unless veterans chose to add identifying features to their comments on open questions.

Headline Statistics

• 76.4% veterans and personnel would rate their overall experience claiming compensation through Veterans UK as poor, or very poor – compared to just 6.4% as good or very good.
• 83.4% veterans and personnel would rate the level of support they felt during the process of claiming compensation as poor, or very poor – compared to just 5.9% as good or very good.
• 77% veterans and personnel would rate the level of communication they received whilst awaiting the results of their application for compensation as poor, or very poor – compared to just 6.5% as good or very good.
• 84.5% veterans and personnel would rate the consideration given by Veterans UK to their mental (and/or) physical health whilst making their claim as poor, or very poor – compared to just 5.7% as good or very good.

Headline Quotes

• “The process had broken me mentally to the point where my choice was walk away or commit suicide.”
• “Veterans UK make it so difficult for all veterans and you feel like a criminal, there’s no compassion whatsoever.”
• “My dealings with this organisation would lead me to believe it is set up to cause deliberate harm to veterans – it is a disgrace.”
• “I have been homeless, jobless and struggled for many years with PTSD but Veterans UK ignore, obfuscate, delay and deny for as long as they can.”

Results: Closed Questions

GENERAL

How would you rate the speed of Veterans UK in processing your application for compensation?

[1,026 Responses]

• 44.4% Very Poor
• 29.5% Poor
• 17.7% Satisfactory
• 5.5% Good
• 2.8% Very Good

How would you rate the handling of any evidence sent by you to Veterans UK?

[1,024 Responses]

• 35.2% Very Poor
• 29% Poor
• 24.4% Satisfactory
• 7.7% Good
• 3.7% Very Good

How would you rate the level of communication you received whilst awaiting the results of your application for compensation?

[1,022 Responses]

• 43.6% Very Poor
• 33.4% Poor
• 16.4% Satisfactory
• 4% Good
• 2.5% Very Good

How would you rate the consideration given by Veterans UK to your mental (and/or) physical health whilst making your claim?

[1,018 responses]

• 54.9% Very Poor
• 29.6% Poor
• 9.8% Satisfactory
• 3.3% Good
• 2.4% Very Good

Did you receive the desired outcome to your claim for compensation?

[1,040 responses]

• 25.1% Yes
• 74.9% No

THE APPEALS PROCESS (If Applicable)

How would you rate how well the appeals process was explained to you?

[750 responses]

• 43.5% Very Poor
• 34.1% Poor
• 18.3% Satisfactory
• 2.9% Good
• 1.2% Very Good

Did you launch an appeal against the results of your claim for compensation?

[779 responses]

• 52.1% Yes
• 47.9% No

APPEALS (If Applicable)

How would you rate your experience of appealing the results of your claim?

[401 responses]

• 54.6% Very Poor
• 31.7% Poor
• 12% Satisfactory
• 1.2% Good
• 0.5% Very Good

How would you rate the speed of the process for appealing the results of your claim?

[403 responses]

• 59.8% Very Poor
• 30% Poor
• 9.2% Satisfactory
• 0.7% Good
• 0.3% Very Good

Was your appeal successful?

[355 responses]

• 40.8% Yes
• 59.2% No

OVERALL

Are you familiar with the work of Veterans Advisory and Pensions Committees (VAPC’s)?

[1,038 responses]

• 70.6% Not Familiar At All
• 22.2% Somewhat Familiar
• 7.2% Familiar

How would you rate your overall experience claiming compensation through Veterans UK?

[1,021 responses]

• 46.3% Very Poor
• 30.1% Poor
• 17.1% Satisfactory
• 3.8% Good
• 2.6% Very Good

How would you rate how supported you felt during the process of claiming compensation?

[1,017 responses]

• 51.9% Very Poor
• 31.5% Poor
• 10.7% Satisfactory
• 3.3% Good
• 2.6% Very Good

Results: Open Questions

If you didn’t launch an appeal, why did you make this decision? 

[352 responses]

Key Themes:

• Respondents felt launching an appeal was ‘pointless’, a ‘waste of time’ or has limited or no chance of success.
• Respondents were too ground down by the system and the process, were exhausted, or felt they had to give up.
• Respondents found it too stressful, or their mental or physical health was too poor to continue. More than one respondent mentioned suicide attempts.
• Respondents didn’t realise they could appeal, were not given the opportunity to appeal, or were given poor information on the appeals process.
• Respondents felt the process had been too long, or they’d had enough of waiting.
• Respondents feared their existing award being reversed.

Key Quotes:

• “The whole process traumatized me so much that I didn’t try again.”
• “What’s the point in fighting a system that doesn’t care and shows little to no empathy or understanding to those they ‘support’.”
• “Every time it came up for review my mental health was destroyed even more.”
• “Rather than allow claimants to move on with their lives, it drags out the torment, increases stress exponentially and has a huge negative impact on health. The system is entirely unfit for purpose.”
• “The process had broken me mentally to the point where my choice was walk away or commit suicide.”
• “Veterans UK make it so difficult for all veterans and you feel like a criminal, there’s no compassion whatsoever.”

If your case went to tribunal, how long did you wait for your hearing?

[308 responses]

Key outcomes:

• The largest group of respondents – over 130 – said they had waited over one year. A handful of these said they had waited over 10 years.
• The second largest group of respondents – around 95 – said they had waited 12 months or less (including those who only specified ‘months’).
• Around 35 respondents said they were still waiting and did not specify a timeframe.
• Other respondents said they could not remember, they never got to tribunal, or had to give up on waiting.

What improvements might you wish to see in the service you receive from Veterans UK? 

[873 responses]

Key Themes:

• Improved communication, with a focus on a compassionate rather than an adversarial approach.
• Generalised concern regarding the Medical Advisers responsible for final decisions. Veterans recommend including medical professionals with updated and specialised knowledge of military injuries.
• Total transparency regarding all phases of the process and evidence leading up to the final decision. Veterans emphasise the need for the responsible organisation to cut all ties with the Ministry of Defence and review the system with Veterans’ involvement.
• Timely decision-making, with regular updates regarding Veterans’ applications.

Key Quotes:

• “Open the system up and engage with veterans. The current system is closed, adversarial, and moves at glacial speed. (…), there is a massive disconnect between Veterans and Veterans UK.
•  It is 2022 and we are unable to connect and communicate with caseworkers etc unless we contact them by telephone and there then follows a five-day wait for any response. (If there is one).
• Everything is pushed to appeal, the current system ignores a proper review of a decision, the MA concerned with the original decision looks at any review request again, this should be directed to another MA for peer review.
• The delay when a case is directed to appeal is excessive and the number of cases going to the tribunal and then overturning a decision is too high year after year. The MAs are overturning, dismissing, or minimising claimant Consultant level reports the MA dismissing the report is usually not specialised in the field concerned, this does not happen in the NHS or any other system.
• The current system which allows anonymity of an MA when countering higher qualified prognosis encourages that practice to prevail. There is no training or experience in dealing with Veterans with MH problems, PTSD, etc and the lack of empathy and training leads to confrontational experiences for Veterans already in a vulnerable mental state and compounds sanctuary trauma. The current view of perceiving the claimant’s clinicians as possible advocates of the claimant is derogatory to the clinician and flies in the face of referral to NHS Op Courage, basically sending a message that some clinicians can be relied on to be honest and professional, and others can’t”
• “I would like to see the medical practitioners to take steps to ensure veterans have the correct diagnosis on leaving the forces first and foremost. Secondly, I would like to see Veteran UK employ valid practitioners for each illness and their details published to ensure the veteran knows someone who is actually qualified to look at results and taking the time and care to look at each case objectively and take other qualified practitioners’ outcomes into consideration for a claim.”
• “Clear and transparent decisions made with open reasoning from VUK decision makers. Evidence submitted in my claim was from national specialists in my conditions yet, this was overruled by the Medical Advisers. The Universal Credit system operates a journal method that allows claimants to view what is happening with their case and can provide evidence as required. VUK fail to inform claimants of any progress and have to be chased to produce any forward motion in their case. From initial claim, VUK sat on my case for 2 years before a letter from my MP prompted progress.”
• “Not just a digital process but a user dashboard that enables a ‘live’ picture of the claims process. Removal of MA anonymity when presenting evidence that conflicts medically superior (e.g., consultant grade) opinion. Proactive communications when stalls in seeking medical evidence occur, rather than sitting on the lag to delay the process.”

Any further comments? Please feel free to describe any experiences with claiming compensation through AFCS or War Pensions or to provide any further information.

[617 responses]

Key Themes:

• View that medical issues and advice ignored by Veterans UK in both their responses to the case and in results of the case. Veterans UK coming across as generally unsympathetic and unconcerned – serving the MOD and not the veterans, Veterans UK as working against veterans.
• Many respondents were extremely willing to be contacted to talk further about their experiences with Veterans UK leaving numbers and emails for further correspondence.
• Repeated instances and details of Veterans seeing themselves as victimised by Veterans UK and being left traumatised by the prolonging of the process.
• Impression that the relationship between veterans and Veterans UK is oppositional and not conducive to producing any positive results for Veterans who, after prolonged processes, are very rarely pleased with the results of their claims. This is often exacerbated by the process impacting their physical and mental health conditions.

Key Quotes:

• “I have been homeless, jobless and struggled for many years with PTSD but Veterans UK ignore, obfuscate, delay and deny for as long as they can.”
• “I think that expecting a veteran with mental health issues to gather hundreds of pages of evidence, be repeatedly assessed for reports, collate and send to Veterans UK is too much and has definitely contributed to a decline in my condition.”
• “The whole process has been combative. That key evidence from my bundle was conveniently missing was disgraceful. The lack of any form of support was shocking. Veterans UK clearly cannot be the support and the gatekeeper, a segregation of duties must take place. Independent oversight must be introduced, and a more helpful method of introducing to and walking veterans through the process brought in.”
• “Going through this process further damaged my mental and physical health. This how bad it was.”
• “My dealings with this organisation would lead me to believe it is set up to cause deliberate harm to veterans – it is a disgrace.”
• “The experience of a WP Tribunal where Veteran’s UK will pick at anything even whether you saw a Dr or not just because one did not report an appointment with another Dr on case notes. In my Tribunal I was virtually called a liar. Asking to detail events particularly those events causing PTSD are re traumatising, even having to talk about times of planning to commit suicide. Tribunals are like going to Court. There are distressing.”