Police compensation: which route actually applies to you?
"Compensation" covers four separate systems with different rules, different decision-makers and very different amounts. Officers regularly pursue the wrong one, or assume being granted one settles the other.
Updated 30 September 2026
The short answer
If you were permanently disabled for policing by a duty injury, the route is an injury award: index-linked, which HMRC says can be paid tax-free, and paid regardless of whether anyone was at fault. If you are permanently unable to do the job for any reason, that is ill-health retirement, which pays your pension early.
They are decided separately, and you can receive both. A crime-related injury may also support a CICA claim, and where someone was genuinely at fault a civil claim may be possible on top.
The four routes, side by side
Injury award
- Who it's for
- Former officers permanently disabled for policing by an injury received in the execution of duty (reg 11).
- What it pays
- A one-off gratuity plus an injury pension: a minimum income guarantee set by your degree of disablement (Band 1 to Band 4) and service, less three-quarters of your police pension. Increased each year with public service pensions (reg 29); HMRC says such payments can be paid tax-free.
- The thing people miss
- Paid for the disablement, not for anyone being at fault. You do not need to prove the force did anything wrong.
Ill-health retirement pension
- Who it's for
- Officers permanently unable to perform the ordinary duties of a member of the force, whether or not the cause was duty-related.
- What it pays
- Early payment of pension benefits. In the 2006 and 2015 schemes this is at a lower or upper tier depending on whether you are also incapable of any regular employment.
- The thing people miss
- This is your pension paid early: a different thing from an injury award, and commonly confused with it.
CICA
- Who it's for
- Direct victims of a crime of violence in England, Wales or Scotland that was reported to the police, including officers assaulted on duty.
- What it pays
- A tariff payment for the injury, with loss of earnings and special expenses payments only in limited cases.
- The thing people miss
- Apply as soon as reasonably practicable and normally within two years of the incident (scheme para 87). The award is withheld or reduced for damages or other compensation for the same injury (para 85).
Civil claim
- Who it's for
- Officers injured because someone (an employer, a third party, a driver) was legally at fault.
- What it pays
- Damages for the injury itself plus financial losses, negotiated or awarded by a court.
- The thing people miss
- Fault has to be proven. Federation legal assistance is the usual starting point rather than a general claims firm.
The confusion that costs the most
By far the most common misunderstanding is treating ill-health retirement and an injury award as the same decision. They are not, and they are not even assessed against the same test.
Are you permanently unable to perform the ordinary duties of a member of the force? Cause is irrelevant.
Was the permanent disablement caused by an injury received in the execution of duty? Cause is the whole question.
Because they are separate, being granted ill-health retirement does not automatically produce an injury award, and officers have lost substantial lifelong income by assuming that it does and never pursuing the second decision.
How much an injury award pays
The amount turns on your degree of disablement, assessed as a percentage and placed into one of four bands. The band and your service together determine the award, which is why the banding decision is the stage worth preparing for most carefully.
Loss of earning capacity bands from Schedule 3 to the Police (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006. A Selected Medical Practitioner makes the assessment, with a right of appeal to a Police Medical Appeal Board.
Free calculator
Model what an injury award would actually pay you
Enter your band, service and salary to see the estimated annual figure, and how it sits alongside an ill-health pension.
Common questions
What is the difference between an injury award and ill-health retirement?
They answer different questions. Ill-health retirement asks whether you are permanently unable to do the job, and pays your pension early if so; the cause does not have to be duty-related. An injury award asks whether a duty injury has permanently disabled you for policing, and pays a separate gratuity and injury pension based on your degree of disablement and service. They are assessed under different regulations, and it is entirely possible to receive both, one, or neither.
Can I get an injury award and an ill-health pension at the same time?
Yes. They are separate entitlements under separate regulations, so being granted one does not decide the other. Many officers medically retired because of a duty injury receive both: the pension paid early, and the injury award on top. Equally, an officer can be ill-health retired for a non-duty condition and receive no injury award at all.
What are the injury award bands?
Your degree of disablement is assessed as a percentage loss of earning capacity and placed in one of four bands under Schedule 3 to the Police (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006: Band 1 (slight) is 25% or less; Band 2 (minor) is more than 25% but not more than 50%; Band 3 (major) is more than 50% but not more than 75%; Band 4 (very severe) is more than 75%. The band, combined with your service, drives the size of the award, so the banding decision is usually the single most financially significant part of the process.
Is a police injury award taxable?
HMRC's Employment Income Manual (EIM75900) says payments from injury benefit schemes such as the police scheme can be paid tax-free. That does not settle how any individual award is treated, so check with your pension administrator. An ill-health retirement pension is taxed as pension income in the normal way, which is one reason to keep the two separate when you model what you would live on.
Can I claim CICA as well as an injury award?
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012 covers direct victims of a crime of violence that was reported to the police, and an officer assaulted on duty can apply. Applications should be made as soon as reasonably practicable and normally within two years of the incident. A CICA award is withheld or reduced if you receive damages, a settlement or a compensation order for the same injury. Your Federation representative or a solicitor can explain how a claim would interact with anything else you are pursuing.
Who decides my degree of disablement?
A Selected Medical Practitioner chosen by the police pension authority, who assesses you and issues a report. If you disagree, you can appeal to a board of medical referees (the Police Medical Appeal Board) by giving notice within 28 days of receiving the report (reg 31). Because the banding decision drives the money, it is the stage most worth preparing for properly.
Related
Independent explainer, not legal or financial advice. Injury award and pension decisions turn on your own medical evidence, so speak to your Federation representative before acting.