Talk about insensitive!!

[XMan101]

This story on the news tonight just left me speechless. The usual case of following procedure without thinking!



The family of a Lancashire soldier killed in Afghanistan has been asked to repay more than £400 because he died after receiving his wages.

L/Cpl Jordan Bancroft, 25, from 1st Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, died on 21 August 2010.

His family has received a letter saying £433 was overpaid because he had been paid a month in advance. The family said it was "disgusting".

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said it regretted any distress caused.

It added: "We never ask families of those killed in service to pay money back. If there is an overpayment of salary and further payments are due to an estate, adjustments are made to ensure families receive what they are owed.

"A recent improvement means families of those killed in service receive payment for leave due, but, of course, overpayments need to be taken into account at the same time.

"Every case involving death in action must be handled with particular care and to achieve this we strive to have clear rules to ensure the system operates fairly for all."

The £433 will be recouped from a payment of £1,493.04 for leave not taken.
'Lion of England'

But L/Cpl Bancroft's father, Tony Bancroft, said: "It is like stabbing you in the heart with a sharp stick. It is disgusting.

"These guys are out there fighting for Britain, for the UK, trying to put the great back into Britain.

"It's just shocking."

He said the money was not the issue, but the principle and how they were informed in the letter.

http://anonym.to/?http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-15464889

 

[Tjerk12]

I don't know how things are in GB, but in The Netherlands, when a political career from a minister is killed because of his own failure, he gets paid the rest of his life.
Fuck politics!

 

[gb2000ie]

I don't know how things are in GB, but in The Netherlands, when a political career from a minister is killed because of his own failure, he gets paid the rest of his life.
Fuck politics!

That's an interesting contrast with trying to scrounge back £433 from a grieving family. Given the fact that life is priceless, they should just let overpayments go.

I hope the army are being slammed for this, and that the minister for defence is being put under some SERIOUS pressure.

This reminds me of what happened the crew of Titanic, they were all made redundant on the exact minute the boat sank, and some of their relatives were sent bills for damaged uniforms etc.. You'd think we've have progressed at least a little in the last 100 years!

B.

 

[HotDougBunz]

This kind of story breaks my heart. I would expect it here in the US but Britain? As if the amount in question really draws government books into balance. They spend how many millions for one armored vehicle or for that matter a damned memorial for a politician! What a complete lack of passion for a family surviving a loss that the government "caused".

 

[smallsleepyrascalcat]

Hasn't the Secretary of Defense in the UK had to leave a few weeks ago?

I'm pretty much sure it was the Secretary of Defense... my british coworker used to talk about the whole Saturday that it was HIS brother who first wrote about the story... man was that anoying... he told me a few times that it's nice that his brother writes for the Guardian and has a nice husband and has a flat in Soho and and and... and I had to remind him that he is sitting in a call center solving some soldiers internet problems... or at least trying to...

I'm not sure, but I think something like this story happened a few years ago in Germany with the family of a soldier killed in Afghanistan.

But hey, in China they send bills for the bullets to the families of the people sentenced to death.

 

[topdog]

OK, I'll be the contrary one here.

I certainly understand how upsetting it must have been for this family to receive such a letter, and it's a fair story as far as it goes.

The problem is that it leaves people tempted to make policy decisions that affect hundreds of thousands of people based on the emotions of one family. Even worse, because the situation is so human and easily understandable, the public, media, and politicians will move this up to a high priority item. Which, of course, pushes other more strategic goals down the list at a time when the UK armed forces are asked to take on so much.

Yes, there are lessons to be learned here. From an accounting perspective I can see why the MoD felt the letter was necessary: there should be a paper trail for all credits and debits. Perhaps it would be better in this situation to just send a statement along with the final check that shows the deduction.

At any rate, if this spends one second on the desk of the Minister of Defense it will be at the expense of the work being done to support the remaining soldiers, which is something that I'm sure the late and honorable L/Cpl Jordan Bancroft would not have wanted.

 

[gb2000ie]

At any rate, if this spends one second on the desk of the Minister of Defense it will be at the expense of the work being done to support the remaining soldiers, which is something that I'm sure the late and honorable L/Cpl Jordan Bancroft would not have wanted.

I disagree - the ministry, and the minister most certainly have responsibilities towards the men they killed as well as the men they are killing at the moment!

A minister ALWAYS has lots of balls to keep in the air at once, they don't get to use that as an excuse not to treat the families of their victims correctly!

B.

 

[etilit]

did you expect more from your govenment X? i dont and cant anymore lol

 

[Rebel7]

Politics and politicians: The only thing that matters to them is that their system is alive. Pathetic!

 

[RefixnarcisM]

Oh my, I must agree with the L/Cpl Jordan Bancroft family. It is disgusting. I never knew that there's a case like this in military. I only know that every soldiers who died in the battlefield, the family of the late will be given a contribution from the government, which is outside of the paid that the late soldier get. Like some kind of honors.
The contribution usually last for a year or less.
Then again, sorry if I'm wrong.