There has been a substantial delay in survivor benefits in on-duty deaths of Delaware first responders.
The Wilmington News Journal found through a Freedom of Information Act that while 56 percent of the total death and disability claims were taken care of within a year for the other 44 percent the process drags on.
Richard Perillo with the Delaware Volunteer Firefighter’s Association in New Castle told the paper that much of the delay comes back to the initial documentation.
That he told the paper falls on the shoulders of the person designated to document the death.
The paper says that an Inspector General’s audit found that among the problems were incomplete applications, a lack of response by claimants and problems with the initial documentation.
