Police Injury Pension
2026 Guide
Framework: Police Injury Benefit Regulations 2006 (England & Wales)
What is a Police Injury Pension?
A Police Injury Pension is a statutory award paid to an officer who is permanently disabled as a result of an injury received in the execution of duty. It has two parts: a one-off gratuity (12.5% to 50% of average pensionable pay) and an injury pension that lifts your income to a minimum guarantee of 15% to 85% of average pensionable pay, depending on the degree of disablement and your length of service.
Disagree with your injury award banding?
Your degree of disablement decides which of the four bands (our shorthand for the Schedule 3 degrees) you are placed in. The difference between bands can be worth thousands of pounds a year, but the injury pension is subject to review and can be reduced to nil once three-quarters of your police pension is deducted. Tell us your situation and we will let you know when we can point you to someone who handles these.
Executive Summary
A Police Injury Pension is not a “reward” and not a discretionary benefit. It is a statutory entitlement governed by the Police (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006. It applies when an officer is permanently disabled as a result of an injury received in the execution of duty.
The award is based on:
- • Degree of disablement
- • Loss of earning capacity
- • Causation (injury must be duty-related)
- • Permanent nature of impairment
The highest minimum income guarantee is 85% of average pensionable pay (very severe disablement). The lowest is 15% (slight disablement with under five years' service). The injury pension is that guarantee less three-quarters of your ordinary or ill-health pension.
The process is medical, legal, and highly structured. Most disputes arise around:
- • Whether injury occurred “in the execution of duty”
- • Whether disablement is “permanent”
- • Whether earning capacity has actually been reduced
This guide explains the full structure.
01. Legal Foundation
Police Injury Benefit Regulations 2006
Police Injury Pensions are governed by the Police (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006, as amended (including by SI 2018/997, which extended the rules to members of the 2015 scheme). The amounts are set out in Schedule 3.
They are paid under separate regulations from the Police Pension Scheme (1987 / 2006 / 2015), ill-health retirement pensions, and ordinary service pensions, and are not funded from your CARE pot. But the two interact: the injury pension is reduced by three-quarters of the pension you receive, so you should read them together.
Key Concept 1
Injury received in the execution of duty
Key Concept 2
Permanent disablement
Key Concept 3
Loss of earning capacity
All three concepts must be satisfied simultaneously.
02. What Counts As “Execution of Duty”?
This is often disputed. The injury must have been received without your own default in the execution of duty (regs 6 and 11).
Includes
- Arrests
- Pursuits
- Public order deployments
- Use of force incidents
- Training injuries
- On-duty RTCs
May also include travelling between duty locations, some off-duty interventions, and recall to duty scenarios.
Does NOT Include
- Purely private conduct
- Injuries unrelated to policing activity
- Pre-existing conditions not materially aggravated by duty
Case law has broadened interpretation, but causation must be clear.
03. Permanent Disablement Test
Temporary injury does not qualify.
Permanent disablement means you are unable to perform the ordinary duties of a member of the force, and that inability is likely to be permanent (reg 7(1) and (4)), assuming you receive appropriate medical treatment (reg 7(3)).
Medical assessment is performed by a Selected Medical Practitioner (SMP). The SMP determines:
- • Whether disablement is permanent
- • Degree of disablement
- • Impact on earning capacity
This is not a welfare judgment. It is a structured occupational assessment.
04. Degree of Disablement
Disablement is assessed as a loss of earning capacity and placed in one of four degrees. The regulations call them slight, minor, major and very severe; this guide calls them Bands 1 to 4.
| Band | Loss of earning capacity | Gratuity | Guarantee: under 5 yrs | 5 to under 15 | 15 to under 25 | 25 or more |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 · Slight | 25% or less | 12.5% | 15% | 30% | 45% | 60% |
| 2 · Minor | more than 25% but not more than 50% | 25% | 40% | 50% | 60% | 70% |
| 3 · Major | more than 50% but not more than 75% | 37.5% | 65% | 70% | 75% | 80% |
| 4 · Very severe | more than 75% | 50% | 85% | 85% | 85% | 85% |
Gratuity and guarantee are percentages of average pensionable pay (Schedule 3 to the Police (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006, read 30 September 2026). Even slight disablement attracts a gratuity and an injury pension.
Model Your
Injury Award Protection
Use the free Police Injury Award Calculator to compare the gratuity, minimum income guarantee, pension deduction and injury pension for each band (Bands 1 to 4) under Schedule 3 of the Police (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006. It does not decide your band, and it does not deduct industrial injuries benefit, ESA or tax. For the whole process, see the injury and ill-health hub.
05. How Awards Are Calculated
Everything is a percentage of your average pensionable pay (this guide uses final pay as a simple stand-in). You get two things:
- • A one-off gratuity set by your degree of disablement
- • An injury pension: the minimum income guarantee for your degree of disablement and years of service, less three-quarters of your ordinary or ill-health pension
Example: major disablement, 20 years' service
The injury pension is paid in addition to the pension. Total income is the guarantee plus a quarter of the pension. Industrial injuries benefits and similar can reduce it further.
06. Interaction With Police Pension
You may receive an ordinary or ill-health pension (if eligible by service) PLUS an injury pension award.
However: the injury pension is reduced by three-quarters of your pension, so it is not a full extra on top.
The injury pension is reduced by:
- • Three-quarters of your ordinary or ill-health pension
- • Industrial injuries benefits and reduced earnings allowance
- • Certain other social security benefits (Schedule 3, paragraph 7)
This is where many misunderstand the system.
07. Ill-Health Retirement vs Injury Pension
Ill-Health Retirement
- Based on incapacity to perform role
- Not necessarily duty-caused
Injury Pension
- Must be caused by injury in execution of duty
- Focuses on earning capacity
08. Mental Health & PTSD Cases
Modern injury pension litigation increasingly involves PTSD, operational trauma, and cumulative exposure injury.
Medical causation evidence is critical in these complex assessments.
09. Review & Reassessment
Injury pensions can be reviewed under regulation 37. The police pension authority must, at such intervals as may be suitable, consider whether your degree of disablement has altered, and refer that question to a selected medical practitioner (reg 30(2)). The review can look at changes in:
- • Earning capacity
- • Medical prognosis
- • Change in circumstances
The pension is revised only if your degree of disablement has substantially altered since the award or last review. It can go down or up a band; the gratuity is not reclaimed.
See injury award reviews explained and is a police injury pension for life? (age 65 and reviews).
10. Appeals Process
If you disagree with the SMP decision, Part 4 of the regulations gives these routes:
A board decision that is wrong in law can also be challenged by judicial review, which has short time limits. Appeals are technical: take advice early, starting with your Federation rep. See appealing an SMP decision and injury award reviews.
11. Tax Treatment
Your ordinary or ill-health pension is taxable income. For injury awards, HMRC's Employment Income Manual (EIM75900) says payments from schemes such as those for police and firefighters can be paid tax-free. That page does not settle how any individual award is taxed, so check with your pension administrator or HMRC before relying on it. More detail: is a police injury pension tax-free?
12. Misconceptions
- X “All injured officers get 85%”
- X “It’s automatic after assault”
- X “It replaces full salary”
- X “It cannot be reviewed”
The guarantee depends on both the band and your years of service.
13. 2026 Context
Mental health conditions, including PTSD, can qualify where the regulation tests are met: an injury received in the execution of duty, permanent disablement, and a loss of earning capacity.
We found no official national figures on injury award trends.
Worked Examples
14. Major Physical Injury, 26 Years' Service
Total income with the pension: £51,940 a year, plus a £21,816 gratuity. Industrial injuries benefits and similar can reduce the injury pension.
15. PTSD Case, Minor Disablement, 12 Years' Service
Total income with the pension: £24,689 a year, plus a £11,136 gratuity. If the officer later returns to limited employment, a review is possible.
16. Injury Pension vs Civil Claim
An injury pension does NOT prevent civil litigation, criminal injuries compensation, or personal injury claims. Schedule 3 lists no deduction for damages or compensation: the only reductions are three-quarters of your police pension and certain social security benefits. The other schemes have their own rules; for example, CICA reduces its award for damages received for the same injury.
17. Risk Analysis
The questions most often in dispute are the ones the SMP decides under regulation 30(2): whether you are disabled, whether it is permanent, whether it results from a duty injury, and the degree of disablement.
18. Structural Impact
Injury pensions are a long-term liability for the paying police pension authority, which is why the review duty in regulation 37 matters to both sides.
19. Frequently Asked Questions
What percentage is a police injury pension?
It is not a single percentage. Under Schedule 3 of the Police (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006 you get a one-off gratuity of 12.5% to 50% of average pensionable pay, plus an injury pension that tops your income up to a minimum guarantee of between 15% and 85% of average pensionable pay, depending on your degree of disablement and length of service. The injury pension is that guarantee less three-quarters of your ordinary or ill-health pension.
Is injury pension paid for life?
Awards are payable for life unless the regulations provide otherwise (Police (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006, reg 43). The injury pension can be reviewed under regulation 37, and it ends only in limited cases, such as where the disablement has ceased and you are not also receiving a police ordinary, ill-health, short-service or 2015 scheme retirement pension (reg 37(2)).
Can it be reduced?
Yes. Under regulation 37 the injury pension is revised if a selected medical practitioner (or a medical appeal board) finds your degree of disablement has substantially altered since the award or last review, which can move you down or up a band. The one-off gratuity is not reclaimed. The injury pension is also reduced by three-quarters of your ordinary or ill-health pension and by certain social security benefits (Schedule 3, paragraphs 6 and 7).
Is it the same as ill-health retirement?
No.
Can mental health qualify?
Yes, if duty-caused and permanent.
20. Institutional Positioning
Police Injury Pensions are not political instruments. They are statutory compensation frameworks. Understanding them requires separating the operational narrative and emotional trauma from the rigid legal test and financial modelling.
This guide provides regulation-based clarity only.