The maximum compensation for armed forces personnel injured in service has been doubled by defence ministers from £285,000 to £570,000.

The increase is retrospective, which means around £10m will be paid out to 2,700 troops who have been awarded lump-sum payments.

For the most seriously injured this is in addition to a lifetime tax-free index-linked monthly payment.

The government said it would be a "boost" to personnel and families.

All injured personnel who have received an award under the scheme will receive an increase of between 10% and 100% of their payment.

A 19-year-old seriously injured soldier could receive more than £1m over the course of his life under the new system.

Pressure for the increase was partly driven by the fact civilian compensation cases can receive much higher sums.

'Very best support'

Letters with details of the increased compensation payments are being sent to the 140 most seriously injured.

They will get their additional money within the next few days, while those less seriously injured will receive their extra compensation over the next few months.

The plan was announced in July as part of a government paper outlining 40 measures to improve the lives of servicemen and woman.

Defence minister Kevan Jones said: "Our armed forces are inspirational and they deserve the very best support - that is why I am determined to see through the package of measures we announced in the Service Personnel Command paper.

"This increase in our compensation package will be a great boost to our injured personnel and their families."

WASHINGTON—Surviving spouses of war veterans have been wrongfully denied up to millions of dollars in government benefits over the past 12 years due to computer glitches that often resulted in money being seized from the elderly survivors' bank accounts.

The Veterans Affairs Department said Saturday it wasn't fully aware of the problem. It pledged to work quickly to give back the pension and disability checks -- ranging from $100 to more than $2,500 -- that hundreds of thousands of widows or widowers should have received during the month of their spouse's death.

"This problem must be fixed," said VA Secretary James Peake. The department indicated in an "action plan" provided to The Associated Press that up to millions of dollars in back payments could be given to the surviving spouses sometime after next February, once it can identify them.

To expedite matters, the VA said those who believe they were wrongfully denied payments can call its help line at 1-800-827-1000.

Congress passed a law in 1996 giving veterans' spouses the right to keep their partners' final month of benefits. It instructed the VA to make changes as needed to comply with the law, which took effect for spouses of veterans who died after Dec. 31, 1996.

But the VA never updated its automated computer systems, which send out checks and notification letters. As a result, widows or widowers were either denied the final month of payment or asked to send the checks back. In many cases, if the checks were already deposited or spent, the U.S. Treasury moved to seize the money directly from their accounts.

Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, who chairs the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, confronted Peake about the problem in a letter last week after receiving a complaint from a widow. In response, Peake instructed the Veterans Benefits Administration to update its systems as quickly as possible to prevent future denials of benefits.

"This flawed practice has caused serious hardship for many widows," Akaka said Saturday. "Now that this problem has been brought to light, I trust that surviving spouses will receive the benefits they are due."

The VA has yet to identify the exact number of widows or widowers affected, but acknowledged Saturday it could be "sizable." Akaka's committee estimates that 50,000 surviving spouses each year since 1996 could be affected, based on VA numbers indicating more than 100,000 veterans die each year -- some of whom may have been single or divorced -- while receiving VA benefits.