How To Claim Police Compensation Payouts

The police need to abide by certain pieces of legislation. For example, they have to abide by the Bail Act 1976 which sets pre-trial conditions for people who have been charged with crimes. Moreover, they must comply with the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and PACE codes of practice, which regulate how police interact with the public.

Some of the things you may be able to claim against the police for include:

An assault by a police officer, causing physical injuries
A malicious prosecution
A wrongful arrest, meaning that the officers did not have just cause to detain you
Excessive force

For more information on when police compensation payouts might be made, speak with an advisor on our team today.

How Long Do I Have To Claim Police Compensation Payouts In The UK?

As per the Limitation Act 1980, you would typically have 3 years to make a claim if police negligence caused you to be injured. This is the same time limit as in other personal injury claims. However, there can be exceptions to this time limit in some cases.

For example, your injuries may not be detectable until a date later than the date of the actual accident. Generally, the time limit begins on the date you were injured. However, the date of knowledge can also be used as the start date. This is the date you are made aware of your injuries.

Alternatively, if you’re claiming for a claimant under 18, or a claimant who lacks the mental capacity to do so, the time limit could be suspended in either case. However, a litigation friend could help by claiming on their behalf during this suspended period.

If you need more information on whether or not your time limit has expired, get in touch with our advisors today. We are here 24/7 to answer any questions you may have regarding personal injury claims. Call to see if you could be eligible for police compensation.

What Duty Of Care Does The Police Have?

For the police to carry out their work, they may have to use force. However, they mustn’t use excessive or unreasonable force. In other words, the force used must be proportionate to the situation at hand.

The police have a duty of care towards the public at large to keep the Queen’s peace, however, they don’t have a duty of care to individuals to protect them from harm that they themselves have not caused. This means that if you’re harmed by a criminal that the police failed to reprimand, then you would not be able to claim.

Furthermore, they need to have just cause to arrest you. If they don’t, you could sustain a psychological injury such as post-traumatic stress disorder as the result of their negligence.

Get in touch with our team today for a free valuation of your potential claim. Our advisors can offer you free legal advice about police compensation payouts.

Human Rights Breaches And Wrongful Arrest

Police compensation payout claims can be made for breaches of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) that have caused an injury. The HRA brought the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law and made it illegal for a public authority to act in contrast with any of these rights.

The police have the power to stop and search when they feel you have “reasonable grounds” to believe that you’re carrying drugs, stolen property or something that you could use to commit a crime. You can be stopped and searched without these reasonable grounds, but only if it’s been approved by a higher-up police officer.

The power to stop and search could clash with several rights in the Conventions (for example, the right to liberty and security and the right to respect for private and family life). For this reason, all stop and searches must:

Have a legal basis; and
Be lawfully applied

If they are not, and you sustain a physical or mental injury as a result, then you may be entitled to claim.

Furthermore, a police officer needs to adhere to certain guidelines when arresting someone. They should have just causes for doing so and shouldn’t make an arrest purely based on your appearance or background.

For an answer to the question “when might police compensation payouts be awarded?” speak with our team today.

Claims For The Use Of Unreasonable Force

If the police have used unreasonable force, causing physical injuries, the injured person may be eligible to claim a police compensation payout. As we have already mentioned, the police often have to use force in the course of their duties. However, when a police officer uses force, the force must be proportionate to the situation at hand.

Indeed, if a police officer uses force against a suspect without legitimate grounds to do so, it may count as assault. Moreover, the police must only use tasers or batons when appropriate.

If you’ve been arrested and the police have used unreasonable force, then get in touch with an advisor from our team today. They can offer you free legal advice.

What Other Claims Could You Make?

When on the road, the police owe other road users a duty of care. If on an emergency call, then they can use their sirens to alert other road users of this, and there are certain things they are allowed to do in these cases. For example, they can drive above the normal speed limit and pass through stop signs and red lights.

However, even when doing this, they need to take into account the safety of other people on the road. For example, if a police officer was travelling above the speed limit while on an emergency call, but caused an accident because they were looking at their phone, you might be able to claim. They are still subject to the same duty of care on the road that is set out in The Highway Code and the Road Traffic Act 1988.

Furthermore, when not on an emergency call, a police car cannot exceed the speed limit or ignore road signs. If they do and cause an accident in which you’re injured, you might be able to claim.

You might be wondering “when can police compensation payouts be made?”. For an answer to this question, get in touch with our team.

Calculating Police Compensation Payouts

If you have a successful claim against the police, two heads of claim could potentially make up your compensation. These heads of claim are called general damages (awarded in every successful claim), and special damages (awarded in some successful claims).

Compensation under general damages covers the way you have been physically and psychologically affected by police negligence. Some factors that will need to be considered include:

Pain severity.
Loss of amenity.
The estimated length of the recovery period.

You may be asked to attend an independent medical assessment during the claims process. The reports from this assessment and the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) can be used by legal professionals to value general damages.

The JCG publishes guideline compensation brackets for all sorts of injuries and illnesses.

Guideline Compensation Table

The table below contains some injuries and illnesses with guideline compensation brackets from the JCG (except for the top row, which isn’t from the JCG).

However, because all claims are unique, no set figure for police compensation payouts can be guaranteed. So, please only refer to this table as a guide.

Injury	Severity	Payout
Multiple serious injuries and special damages	Serious	Up to £1,000,000+
Brain damage	Very severe (a)	£344,150 to £493,000
	Moderate (c)(i)	£183,190 to £267,340
	Less severe (d)	£18,700 to £52,550
Neck	Severe (a)(i)	In the region of £181,020
	Moderate (b)(i)	£30,500 to £46,970
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder	Severe (a)	£73,050 to £122,850
	Moderately severe (b)	£28,250 to £73,050
	Moderate (c)	£9,980 to £28,250

Special Damages

Compensation under special damages covers the way you have been financially affected by police negligence. For example, you may have incurred:

A loss of earnings for having time off work to recover from your injuries.
Medical bills, such as prescription costs.
Professional or domestic care costs.

In order to receive special damages, you must provide evidence. Such evidence can be in the form of invoices, receipts, bank statements, and invoices.

For more information on how to claim police compensation payouts please contact us today.

How To Claim Police Compensation Payouts On A No Win No Fee Basis

You may be wondering how to claim police compensation payouts on a No Win No Fee basis. Well, if you have an eligible police negligence compensation claim, you could connect with one of the specialist No Win No Fee solicitors from our panel.

Our panel offer many services which can make claiming compensation from the police as stress-free as possible, such as:

Gathering evidence.
Corresponding with the defendant.
Ensuring the compensation value is accurate and fair.
Ensuring the claims time limit is adhered to.
Finding legal representation if the claim goes to court.
Defining legal terminology.
Sending regular claim updates.

Furthermore, our panel of solicitors typically work under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA), which means that their clients won’t be charged for their services:

Upfront.
Throughout the whole claims process.
If the claim ends up unsuccessful.

Instead, if the claim is successful, our panel of solicitors just keep a small percentage of the awarded compensation. This percentage is legally-capped and is called the success fee.

If you wish to learn more about police compensation payouts in the UK and whether you can make a No Win No Fee claim with us, please have a chat with a member of our team today:

Ask a question using the live chat on the bottom right-hand side of your browser.
Alternatively, call our team for free legal advice on 0800 408 7825.
Or you can contact us using our website.

Learn More About Public Authority Claims

We appreciate you taking the time to read our guide on police compensation payouts. If you would like to learn more about making a compensation claim against a public authority or another party, please feel free to read these guides. You can also get in touch with our team for more information.

Police Force Data Breach – Essential Claims Guide

Serious Injury Claims

Can I Sue Someone For Assault?

A government guide to contacting your local police and crime commissioner (PCC) to make a suggestion or complaint

How to make a complaint to the Independent Office For Police Conduct

A Citizen’s Advice guide to your human rights

If you have any more questions about police compensation payouts, please get in touch.

Article by AH

Publisher ET