- The Observer, Sunday June 16 2002
Kenneth Feinberg, a US Department of Justice lawyer, is to travel to Britain this week to make the offer as part of a 'final settlement'.
About 67 Britons were killed when two planes hijacked by terrorists flew into the World Trade Centre. Another 20 with close UK family ties also died.
Feinberg is expected to tell the families at a meeting on Saturday that accepting the money will prevent them taking legal action against the US authorities for failing to protect their loved ones. Although only 10 of the victims have so far applied formally for compensation, it is believed a majority of the families will agree to the deal.
It is thought that the compensation will be linked to the amount of life insurance each victim had, with lower amounts going to those with high levels of cover.
This scheme has caused controversy in America, where victims had life policies worth more than £1m, but many of the Britons had less.
Each family will be told that the amount they get will be linked to the number of dependants left behind, and the victim's age and earning power.
The average is expected to be somewhere in the region of $1.8m per family, with some getting far less and some far more. Only those who fit all the criteria laid out by Feinberg, the head of the 11 September Victim Compensation Fund, will get anywhere near the $4m figure.
'Non-economic' costs such as psychological damage and post-traumatic stress disorder will be taken into account, and the British families will get exactly the same treatment as American victims. It is not clear whether families will still be able to draw on the £1 billion of charitable donations made following the atrocity.
'We are pleased Feinberg is coming to Britain,' said Tom Clarke, whose sister died in the tragedy. 'It shows he recognises that a number of people from the UK lost someone dear to them on 11 September.
'We are very keen to hear what he has to say. Some people will be content with the offer, others may be more sceptical.'
Clarke, the spokesman for a new organisation, the 11 September Family Support Group, formed to help British people affected by the attacks, said the UK victims would have up to two years to agree to the claim. He said it was unlikely that any would take part in legal action being planned in America by some of the US victims' families.
At first it was thought that up to 500 British people had been killed in the attack on the twin towers, a figure later revised downwards to fewer than 100. It was nevertheless the biggest single loss of British life in any terrorist attack. A number of British companies, including the financial services group Cantor Fitzgerald, had offices at the top of the World Trade Centre.
The Government is planning a memorial garden in Grosvenor Square, central London, opposite the US Embassy, to commemorate the British victims. A plinth will list those who died.
It is also likely that the event will be commemorated at a service to be held every year. An application has been made to St Paul's Cathedral to host one this year.
