£12m in Compensation Paid to Police for Injuries at Work

Home » Compensation News

Odd Compensation Amounts for Police Injuries on the Job [30th Jan 2012]

It has emerged that police officers have received £12 million in compensation for injuries received while at work over the last 5 years. However some claims have been for very minor injuries or the payments received far outweighed the seriousness of the injury. Examples include £120,000 paid out for a bruise and more than £17,000 for deafness resulting form keyboard noise. A further £46,000 was paid to a dog handler who was bitten and £17,000 to a police employee who slipped on a brick. The highest payments were made to police officers in the Greater Manchester area, Hertfordshire and the West Midlands. Emma Boon from the Taxpayers Alliance has called for more questioning to take place as many claims appear to be trivial.

New proposals from the Justice Secretary Ken Clarke may mean that prisoners will only be able to claim compensation under the most exceptional of circumstances. The cost of compensation paid out under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme has trebled since 1997 and Clarke is hoping his reforms will bring this figure down. He is suggesting that criminals pay a surcharge towards the scheme in a bid to raise more money which can go to victims. Criminals will also be prevented from claiming for injuries and psychological damage. Minor injury claims will also be restricted. Currently compensation can only be claimed by a criminal if their jail sentence was for less than 30 months, their conviction is spent or it happened a long time ago. Compensation is reduced if these factors are not in place. This would change so that only the most serious of injuries would be claimed for and this depends on the circumstances.

Ex-Woolworths workers who have been denied a share of a compensation payout have said they will continue to fight for justice. Compensation was paid to most Woolworths workers when it was found that they were not properly consulted on their redundancy. Those workers who were based in smaller stores with less than 20 employees did not qualify. An e-petition has been started by Scotland based workers who would like the government to realise the unfairness of the ruling. The women involved say that while they do not expect huge amounts, they are fighting based on a principle. A number of MPs have backed their claims as has the USDAW union.

New rules brought in by Royal Mail this month have meant that firms with a contract to use the standard business service can no longer claim compensation if a parcel is lost in the post. Those who want guaranteed compensation must pay extra. The extra amount required is a minimum of £5.45 which means the parcel will be tracked. For some businesses this would mean a huge rise in their postage costs which must be passed on to customers. A spokesperson from the Royal Mail has pointed out that no other parcel delivery service will offer compensation for an untracked parcel or letter.

A former soldier has lost the sight in one eye after he was hit by a paintball pellet in Scotland. He is suing for £400,000 after his eye burst in the accident. He still suffers pain due to nerve damage and has been unable to work since this happened. Allen Weir was working for the paintball company at the time as a marshal. A fellow worker shot at him, not realising the gun was loaded. Weir claims that the workers were not given proper training in how to handle the paintball guns, however his former employers state that the incident was sparked by Weir shooting his fellow employee in the leg and that he was not wearing the recommended safety goggles.

Other popular articles related to this one include: Police Compensation Claims, Compensation for Terrorism Abroad, Soldier Compensation from MOD, Online Compensation Claims, Miner Compensation Claims, Employee Working Compensation, Asylum Seeker Compensation Claims, and . Please let us know if you find any errors.

Search for Solicitors Near You :

Get Updates Via Facebook