A soldier who was seriously wounded in Afghanistan in a case of friendly fire might lose out on a £25,000 insurance payout because he carried the Carling Cup on to the pitch at Wembley.
Private Dave Tatlock, 20, was spotted by the private insurance company ABACUS before the match between Manchester United and Aston Villa.
The guy was left temporarily paralysed after being hit by shrapnel two years ago and doctors said that he was unlikely to walk again. However he can now get about a bit, limping and in pain, with a stick. He lost the use of his calves and has severe nerve damage. He has no use of his left foot, wears a splint to walk and can move his right foot only slightly.
At Wembley he was seen limping unaided up from the tunnel to deposit the trophy at the side of the pitch, while a helper walked behind him with a crutch. Maybe a dream for him. Not much to ask when you have given your mobility for your country.
Kevan Jones, a minister at the Defence Department, who recently clashed with Joanna Lumley, said that MoD officials would demand explanation from ABACUS. He said he w
ould be asking them to rethink their decision.
I’m not sure why a lad going to war with our Army has to take out personal insurance. It cost £56 a month from his meagre private’s salary and you really would have thought that a semi-civilised country could have managed to guarantee that, in the event of injury the country would look after their guys.
By strange co-incidence tonight I got round to watching the “Despatches” programme where seedy MPs and a Baroness prostitute themselves for £3000- £5000 a day, and something really strange hit me.
Maggie Moran, who tried to get away with £22,000 for the dry rot in her boyfriend’s flat was featured. Of course in the newspaper coverage she got little space because having never been anything of any import she was a lot less newsworthy than people who had once been something.
The programme documents how Moran, looking fit and well, turned up for an interview with the “set-up” company and offered her services “starting tomorrow”. Meanwhile she has not been present in the Commons for over 6 months, and when the presenter phoned her office for an interview, posing as a constituent, he was told that she was ill.
So in summary, on the one hand there’s this 20 year old lad who was sent to Afghanistan by the government, got shot up, is in a situation where, below the waist he’s pretty messed up, who had had to take out private insurance, and because he managed to limp a few steps (with someone following him with his crutches) his insurance payout is in jeopardy. On the other ha
nd we have this MP who tried to fiddle money (and nearly got away with it) to do up her lad’s house, and who has, since she was caught, never put a foot in her constituency office or the House of Commons and is being paid full wages and will get over £50,000 stepping down money and her pension... and she’s caught out (again... is she a tad gullible or what?) and what’s going to happen to her? She probably won't go to the Lords.
What the hell kind of country do we live in?
I’ll just repeat the name of the insurance company by the way in case anyone missed it
It’s ABACUS ... now where are my insurance policies?
Private Dave Tatlock, 20, was spotted by the private insurance company ABACUS before the match between Manchester United and Aston Villa.
The guy was left temporarily paralysed after being hit by shrapnel two years ago and doctors said that he was unlikely to walk again. However he can now get about a bit, limping and in pain, with a stick. He lost the use of his calves and has severe nerve damage. He has no use of his left foot, wears a splint to walk and can move his right foot only slightly.
At Wembley he was seen limping unaided up from the tunnel to deposit the trophy at the side of the pitch, while a helper walked behind him with a crutch. Maybe a dream for him. Not much to ask when you have given your mobility for your country.
Kevan Jones, a minister at the Defence Department, who recently clashed with Joanna Lumley, said that MoD officials would demand explanation from ABACUS. He said he w
ould be asking them to rethink their decision.I’m not sure why a lad going to war with our Army has to take out personal insurance. It cost £56 a month from his meagre private’s salary and you really would have thought that a semi-civilised country could have managed to guarantee that, in the event of injury the country would look after their guys.
By strange co-incidence tonight I got round to watching the “Despatches” programme where seedy MPs and a Baroness prostitute themselves for £3000- £5000 a day, and something really strange hit me.
Maggie Moran, who tried to get away with £22,000 for the dry rot in her boyfriend’s flat was featured. Of course in the newspaper coverage she got little space because having never been anything of any import she was a lot less newsworthy than people who had once been something.
The programme documents how Moran, looking fit and well, turned up for an interview with the “set-up” company and offered her services “starting tomorrow”. Meanwhile she has not been present in the Commons for over 6 months, and when the presenter phoned her office for an interview, posing as a constituent, he was told that she was ill.
So in summary, on the one hand there’s this 20 year old lad who was sent to Afghanistan by the government, got shot up, is in a situation where, below the waist he’s pretty messed up, who had had to take out private insurance, and because he managed to limp a few steps (with someone following him with his crutches) his insurance payout is in jeopardy. On the other ha
nd we have this MP who tried to fiddle money (and nearly got away with it) to do up her lad’s house, and who has, since she was caught, never put a foot in her constituency office or the House of Commons and is being paid full wages and will get over £50,000 stepping down money and her pension... and she’s caught out (again... is she a tad gullible or what?) and what’s going to happen to her? She probably won't go to the Lords.What the hell kind of country do we live in?
I’ll just repeat the name of the insurance company by the way in case anyone missed it
It’s ABACUS ... now where are my insurance policies?
There is an update in the comments (below) taken from Abacus's website. I thought it fair to publish it alongside the story I wrote. The information in my post was garnered from The Times. I imagine that they checked their facts before publishing.
........
alrighty there Tris. That will be my Abacus policy cancelled in the morning.
ReplyDeleteA disgrace Tris and I just saw this on Sky a few hours ago. Haven't watched TV today until then.
ReplyDeleteAnon. I checked. Mine isn't with Abacus, but if it were it would have been binned.
ReplyDeleteI know a bit about pain, and you can do all sorts for a short time, if it's something incredibly dear to your heart. This lad is from Manchester, I imagine he's a United fan. He was probably determined to make it there no matter what the pain involved.
I hope everyone cancels. The story (I should have linked it) was from the Times and the comments on there indicate that many will.
I'm thinking that they will pretty sharpish review that decision. Some twerp with a target to reach doubtless.
I hope they suffer SR... but it's the contrast. Moran, a big, fat, lazy, shirker, desperate to make more money, ready to start work the next day, while she's on the sick ....and this poor lad has to take out private insurance because he can't count on the country he's fighting for... and in this bloody case, which wounded him, to pay him compy.
ReplyDeleteFor heaven's sake. I think we should all just refuse to pay taxes to them until they stop taking it all for their fat greedy lazy selves!
Rant over, but I'm very very angry.
What incredible insensitivity on the part of that company. Do they not have a PR department? Cancelled policies all round I think.
ReplyDeleteThat Moran creature continues to make me feel sick. I can now see where Iris Robinson got the idea that pulling a semi-permanent sickie is the way to go to get yourself out of the Minestrone.
They're all at it Munguin. The ones who were caught stealing money or in the case of the lovely Mrs Robinson stealing money and having sex with a lad she was old enough to be a grandmother to.... They pull a sickie, claim full wages, and because that’s £66 grand a year they can afford to convalesce in some place nice.
ReplyDeleteThe good thing about watching that programme tonight was that they all made such fools of themselves. There was one beery faced fat old Tory who said “in the strictness confidence” that he was headed for the Lords LOL LOL LOL. Not now you twat, I thought! Plan B for you....
The thing is they all proved themselves to be so gullible. The producer admitted that he rented the office by the hour and that the website they put up was dirt cheap... No one saw through it. There they were all swanking about how utterly brilliant they were and how they could contact this bloke and that... and get Tony round for drinks.... and they were being filmed... what a pile of jokes. Who in their right minds would employ muppets like that in top management positions? They were fooled into dropping confidences that way.
House of Lords........... My butt.....................
I have just found this on Abacus's website. I thought it fair to them to publish it.
ReplyDeletePRESS RELEASE 5th April 2010
Private David Tatlock
Following several stories in the media relating to the position of Abacus Limited in an on
going Personal Accident Insurance claim by Private David Tatlock, Abacus would like to
set the record straight.
The stories emanate from an article published in the News Of The World on Sunday 4th
April 2010 written by Paul McNamara, which states that Abacus has stopped a payment of
£25,000 and that someone from Abacus called Headley Court, the Defence Medical
Rehabilitation Centre, to tell them that this was the case. Both assertions are untrue and
are a gross misrepresentation of the facts.
Private Tatlock has already received a payment in excess of £100,000 through his
Personal Accident Policy for the injuries he sustained and, because there appears to be a
worsening of the effects, the case remains open. Far from his claim being declined, a
request has been made by AXA (the underwriters of the policy) for an independent medical
assessment to establish whether a further payment is due.
This request was indeed made through Private Tatlock’s Social Worker based at Headley
Court, but by AXA, not Abacus.
Mr McNamara has placed overt emphasis on a misunderstanding of the situation by his
‘source’ within Headley Court, which could have been rectified and clarified if there had
been a willingness to be more thorough when checking the facts.
The desire to sensationalise this story has meant that Private Tatlock has been subjected
to additional and unnecessary stress. An obligation clearly rests with AXA and Abacus to
ensure that their customer receives what is due under the terms of a policy. It is
unfortunate that the act of trying to establish whether a further payment is due should lead
to such a wild misrepresentation.
A representative of Abacus made contact with Paul McNamara on Saturday 3rd April 2010
to explain the facts but Mr McNamara chose to submit his story with no further
independent checking of the facts offered. If he had done so the headlines would have
been markedly different.
In view of the negative effect on the reputation of a company held in high regard within the
military, Abacus Limited will be referring the case to the Press Complaints Commission.
Abacus Limited
Queen Isabelle House
Kingsclere Park
Kingsclere
Newbury
Berkshire
I feel very sorry for this young lad and very angry towards the insurance company. Clearly insurance companies need to look after their assets but this is beyond any comprehension of decency!
ReplyDeleteI hope this article highlights the Ebenezer Scrooge mentality of Abacus and in turn the public withdraw their policies/contracts from them. In the end the management of this company may well be replacing their Laptops with their namesake when counting profits!
Yes Allan, I agree, of course they do, and if they paid out willie nillie then they would go broke and we'd have no insurance.
ReplyDeleteThey seem to deny what the Times has said, so of course you have to make up your mind who is the liar.... The Times or Abacus....?
What I'm wondering is why is there such a demand for insurance in the forces that Abacus have a military section? Why don't we take care of soldiers that we send to the front? Are we just a mean lousy nation that doesn't care about its troops?
After all aparently if a typist gets white finger we can pay her hundreds of thousands. And some lesbian soldier got £200,000 because other soldiers called her names. (She must be a great asset to the forces if she gets upset about a bit of name calling. How would she manage if someone shot at her like they did with this lad?) Surely we should be able to find enough money for a kid who has lost the use of a fair part of his body so that he'd never have to worry again. We have £2 million to do up St James for her royal highness princess beatrix
In the meantime this niggardliness is highlighted by the treatment that we accord to that fat lazy cow Moran, who is cheating on us yet again. (She has made a habit of it, indeed a career out of it) Once could be seen to be a mistake, twice or theee times, maybe even four times a mark of a bad person... but she should be in the bloody pokey.
LOL @ last line Allan!