I'm surprised the Grob fatal near Porthcawl (£118,600) is included in the list of 'Low Flying' compensation payments.
The two aircraft collided at about 3000 ft agl. (Feb 2009)
Also, if the Grob fatal at Abingdon (£85,000) refers to the mid-air with a glider in June 2009, then the aircraft were at about 4000 ft amsl.
I have a vague recollection, which may be inaccurate, that the MoD regard low flying as <2000' (fixed wing) and <500' (helicopters).
Torque Tonight
I think where any doubt exists the claims are paid just to make the problem go away.
You may well be right.
In the civilian world, it's not unusual for insurers to balance the cost of settling a claim against the cost of contesting it (in personnel time as well as legal costs) and take the least costly option.
Where the MoD is involved, potential adverse publicity is understandably a factor to be considered.
This can be, and to my knowledge has been, used by claimants and/or disreputable lawyers to generate unjustified 'David v Goliath' stories in the press with the objective of embarrassing the MoD into settling instead of contesting a dubious claim.
I'm sure some people make an income stream out of this.
A long time ago, but interesting reading:
MoD paid vet millions for fake post mortems
Between 1993 and 1995 the MoD paid out more than £15 million, almost all to farmers in South Armagh.
As soon as the police investigation, Operation Saddle, began, the figure for 1996 fell to just over £2 million and this year the payout will be around £300,000.