MoD pays out £100m to troops suffering with PTSD

DEFENCE chiefs have paid out more than £100million to troops suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the past 13 years, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has reached settlements with more than 4,000 service personnel who have suffered mental trauma, often following tours of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Experts said the high sum was the result of historic failures to properly help soldiers left haunted by flashbacks of their time in battle. Around six per cent of former troops suffer post-traumatic stress.

A Freedom of Information request revealed that the largest sum awarded was made in 2011 for £2.4million to a Gulf War veteran.

In total, some 3,730 payments were made under the MoD’s Armed Forces

‘The largest settlement awarded was for £2.4m’

Compensation Scheme (AFCS), totalling £48.6million, but the true bill is higher because some settlements will include annual income payments, at a further cost of £42 million. In addition, there have also been 84 cases settled by the courts where soldiers decided to sidestep the AFCS, with payouts from these totalling £17million.

Colonel Richard Kemp, a former Commander of British Forces in Afghanistan, said: ‘The MoD failure to properly identify and support those suffering from PTSD has led to massive compensation payouts.

‘Although psychological damage caused by combat has been known about for many years, properly identifying symptoms can be extremely hard. I am glad to say that the MoD is now becoming much better at this.’

More than 4,000 service personnel have taken their own lives since 1995.

News of the claims comes after the MoS won a significant campaign to persuade military leaders to introduce a 24/7 helpline for troops so they can discuss mental health issues.

Last night, an MoD spokesman said: ‘We take all PTSD claims seriously and evaluate each claim based on whether the MoD has a legal liability to pay compensation.’