This is the issue for MOD employees / servicemen, who are covered by crown indemnity. There is a similar one for hospital doctors who are now also covered by crown indemnity, whereas they used to be covered exclusively by their own defence organisation, the MDU or the MPS. GPs are still exclusively covered by one or other defence organisation and one has a little more faith as a GP that a defence organisation, which is a mutual body, will defend a claim to safeguard one's professional reputation. Quite often they will do so even at greater cost than settling out of court. This will always come second for a government ministry.
Hard to believe it would have cost £5m to defend though, especially given the AAIB report! I'm in the wrong job.
QDM