Attennn-tion! Why the armed forces needs your help

They put their lives on the line, but are members of the armed forces being let down when it comes to financial advice?

Some British soldiers are being sent into conflict with inadequate wills in place, and are unaware of the challenges their families may face if they do not return.

Others who have returned injured are not receiving inadequate financial advice while beginning the road to recovery.

That is the view of IFA Mark Learmont, a consultant at Lindley Financial Management and director of Constellation Military Solutions.

Learmont, an ex-Army officer, is all-too aware of the financial difficulties associated with being a member of the armed forces, but it is his work with military families, including the Aldridges, which has raised his ire.

William Aldridge

In July 2009, William Aldridge became the youngest British soldier to be killed in Afghanistan. He had just turned 18, and was only weeks into his deployment.

His family’s grief was worsened when a £66,000 death-in-service payment his mother Lucy received meant she was no longer able to receive disability benefits, even though her son wanted the money to be used to take care of his step-brothers.

She said he was given a basic military will form, which he signed with no professional advice and which was, according to Learmont, “scrawled, illegal and would never have been accepted in a court of law”.

Lucy Aldridge is still battling with the Department for Work and Pensions over the payment, and she explained how the lack of proper financial advice was “devastating”.

“It’s an area that needs looking at by IFAs,” she said. “Perhaps they could create something tailor-made for servicemen to give them the encouragement to draw up proper wills.”

Learmont said the lack of financial advice given to injured service personnel was also a cause for concern.

It was dubbed the ‘Headley Court car park problem’ by MP John Glen after an increasing number of individuals undergoing rehabilitation at the centre spent compensation payments on high performance cars and other luxuries rather than putting the money aside to invest and plan for the future.

Advice gap

Giving evidence to the Defence Select Committee last year, Major General Berragan, director general personnel at Land Command in the Ministry of Defence, acknowledged the problem but claimed the introduction of the Money Advice Service and the provision of financial briefings through Barclays staff meant they were now being given the advice they need.

However, as Learmont points out, there is still a role IFAs can play to drill home important personal finance messages.

“We have briefed one battalion so far and we’ve been asked to brief another and the questions they ask are good, far-reaching and show there is an absolute requirement for advice.”