Injured on Duty:
What to Do, Step by Step
From the first minutes after an injury to an SMP decision years later: reporting, evidence, sick pay, adjusted duties, the injury award and how to appeal. Written from the regulations, with what varies by force marked as such.
Independent information, not advice · Sources checked 30 September 2026 · England and Wales unless stated
Get treated first, then report the injury through your force's system the same day, make a notebook entry and note witnesses and footage. Your force, not you, decides whether it must be reported to HSE under RIDDOR. A duty injury does not automatically extend sick pay. An injury award is only paid after you leave, if an SMP finds you permanently disabled by a duty injury.
The steps are in the order they usually happen, but real cases overlap. This is general information about the rules in England and Wales, not advice on your own case. Your Police Federation or staff association representative, your force's occupational health service and, where money or liability is at stake, a solicitor can advise on your situation. Where the answer is set by your force's own policy, we say so rather than guess.
Step 1: Get treated and make yourself safe
Your health comes before any paperwork. Get first aid at the scene and, where needed, go to A&E, a minor injuries unit or your GP. Tell the clinician how the injury happened, in plain terms. What they write in your medical notes on the day is often the earliest independent record of the injury, and it can matter years later if you ever need to show that a condition started with a particular incident.
- Tell your supervisor as soon as you can, even if the injury seems minor. Some injuries (backs, knees, heads, hearing) get worse over days.
- If you were assaulted, you are also a victim of crime. Make sure the offence is recorded, whatever happens to any prosecution.
- If you were exposed to blood or other bodily fluids, ask about your force's exposure procedure straight away: some treatment is time-critical.
- If you are sent home, keep any discharge letter, prescription or fit note.
A traumatic incident can affect you even without a physical injury. Your force should have a post-incident process; see post-incident support, TRiM and debriefs.
Step 2: Report it, and what RIDDOR means for you
Every force has its own injury or accident reporting system (an online form, an accident book or both). Use it the same day if you can. The internal report is what starts the force's own health and safety process and puts the injury on your record as having happened at work. Keep a copy or the reference number.
Separately, the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) require the "responsible person" to report certain work-related incidents to the Health and Safety Executive. HSE says that for workers the responsible person is the employer. Police officers hold an office rather than an employment contract, but section 51A of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 treats a constable as an employee of the chief officer for health and safety purposes. In practice, your force makes any RIDDOR report, not you. HSE asks injured workers not to use the reporting system themselves, though a worker can raise a concern with HSE.
| Type of incident | What counts | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Death | Death of any person resulting from a work-related accident (not suicide). | Without delay; report received within 10 days |
| Specified injury to a worker | Including fractures other than to fingers, thumbs and toes; amputations; loss of sight; crush injuries to head or torso; serious burns; scalpings needing hospital treatment; loss of consciousness from head injury or asphyxia; some enclosed-space injuries. | Without delay; report received within 10 days |
| Over-seven-day injury | The worker is away from work, or unable to do their normal work duties, for more than seven consecutive days. The day of the accident does not count; weekends and rest days do. | Within 15 days of the accident |
| Over-three-day injury | Must be recorded (for example in the accident book), not reported. | Record kept by the employer |
| Occupational disease | Listed diseases, such as occupational dermatitis or hand-arm vibration syndrome, on receipt of a diagnosis. | On diagnosis |
Two points often missed. First, HSE's definition of a reportable accident includes acts of non-consensual physical violence to people at work, so an assault on an officer can be RIDDOR-reportable if it meets the injury thresholds. Second, being placed on restricted or adjusted duties because of the injury can count towards the over-seven-day test, because it covers being unable to do your normal work duties.
RIDDOR exists to tell the enforcing authority that something happened so it can respond on health and safety compliance. HSE also says an accident can be work-related even without any breach of health and safety law. A RIDDOR report does not decide sick pay, an injury award or any compensation, and the absence of one does not mean your injury did not happen on duty. You can ask your force whether a report was made.
Step 3: Record the incident and keep the evidence
Injury award decisions, CICA applications and civil claims can come years after the event, and they are decided on the records that exist. Good contemporaneous records are the single most useful thing you can do for your future self. Nothing here requires you to exaggerate anything: write what happened.
Keep your own copies somewhere outside force systems you might lose access to if you leave. If the incident is also the subject of a complaint or investigation, speak to your representative before writing anything beyond a factual account.
Step 4: Health and safety and other investigations
Your force may investigate the incident as a health and safety matter, to find out what went wrong and whether equipment, training or procedures need changing. HSE can also investigate RIDDOR-reportable incidents. How your force runs these investigations is set by its own policy, so ask your supervisor or health and safety team:
- Has the incident been reported internally, and was a RIDDOR report made?
- Who is investigating, and will you be told the findings?
- Were any equipment defects, staffing or training issues identified?
- Is there a separate criminal investigation into anyone who injured you, and who is your point of contact?
A health and safety investigation is not a finding about any injury award, and it is separate from any conduct process. If you find yourself under investigation after an incident, see the guide to your rights under investigation.
Step 5: Sick pay, and what a duty injury does (and does not) change
Regulation 28 of the Police Regulations 2003 leaves sick pay to a Secretary of State determination, Annex K. The Annex K text entitles an officer on sick leave to full pay for 6 months in any one year period and then half pay for 6 months. The entitlement is reduced by the paid sick absence in the 12 months before the first day of the absence. Paragraph 3 lets the chief officer, in a particular case, pay full pay to someone on half pay, or full or half pay to someone with no entitlement left, and extend that period.
Annex K says nothing special about injuries on duty. The same rules apply whether you broke your wrist in an arrest or at home. What a duty injury can change is how the chief officer uses the discretion:
- Police Negotiating Board guidance, quoted by the High Court in R (Weed) v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis [2020] EWHC 287 (Admin), asks chief officers to exercise the discretion favourably where they are satisfied the incapacity is directly attributable to an injury or illness sustained in the execution of duty, and where the question of permanent disablement has been referred to an SMP.
- The same judgment held that this is not automatic. The officer in that case had a medical board finding of an injury on duty and was still lawfully refused an extension under the force's own policy, which set its own, tighter test.
- Use the sick pay calculator to work out when full pay ends, remembering earlier absences in the previous 12 months.
- Ask HR for your force's extension of sick pay policy and the criteria it uses.
- Put a written request in before the drop, setting out that the injury happened on duty and pointing to your injury report and medical evidence. Your Federation or staff association rep can help.
- Ask whether you have been, or will be, referred to an SMP: the PNB guidance treats that as a relevant factor.
Two related points from our protection guides: while you are on full sick pay, regulation 31 reduces it by certain state benefits and statutory sick pay you are entitled to; and in the 2015 pension scheme, pension builds on the reduced pay while you are on half pay. For the wider picture of long absences, see long-term sickness in policing.
Step 6: Recuperative and adjusted duties
Returning on recuperative duties (time-limited duties while you recover) or adjusted duties is common after an injury. The rules on pay while on adjusted duties sit in regulation 28A of the Police Regulations 2003 and the Home Office determination Annex EE, as issued in 2015 (we could not confirm a later consolidated text):
- Annex EE defines recuperative duties as duties short of full deployment after an injury, accident, illness or medical incident, and describes them as structured and time-limited.
- An officer on adjusted duties gets written notice after 9 months that, if still on adjusted duties at the 12-month management review, the deployment component of X-factor (8% for constables) may be deducted.
- Paragraph 18(c) lists, as one reason the chief officer may let you keep that component, being on adjusted duties "solely as the result of an injury sustained or contracted in the course of having put themselves in harm's way in the execution of their duty". It is a discretion, not an entitlement.
- If you have been referred to an SMP about ill-health retirement, Annex EE says pay deduction decisions wait until the outcome is known.
More detail is in the restricted and adjusted duties guide. Adjusted duties also count towards the RIDDOR over-seven-day test described in Step 2.
Step 7: Occupational health and the selected medical practitioner
Two different doctors can be involved, and people often confuse them. Your force's occupational health service advises on fitness, adjustments and return to work. A selected medical practitioner (SMP) is a doctor chosen by the police pension authority to decide specific questions under the pension and injury benefit regulations.
Under regulation 30 of the Police (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006, entitlement to an award is decided in the first instance by the police pension authority, which is the chief officer of your force (in practice acting through HR or a pensions team). Where the authority is considering whether a person is permanently disabled, it must refer these questions to an SMP:
- whether the person is disabled;
- whether the disablement is likely to be permanent;
- for an injury pension, whether the disablement is the result of an injury received in the execution of duty; and
- the degree of the person's disablement.
The SMP's decision is given in a report, and you must be sent a copy. It is final unless it is appealed or reconsidered under regulations 31 and 32. The authority can use a board of doctors instead of a single SMP. The regulations set no time limit for the SMP to decide; timescales depend on your force and the SMP's workload.
Under regulation 33, if you wilfully or negligently fail to attend an interview or submit to an examination the SMP considers necessary, the police pension authority can decide the question itself on whatever evidence and advice it thinks necessary (and an appeal to the medical board is treated as withdrawn). If you cannot make an appointment, say so in writing and ask for another date.
To get ready, use the printable SMP appointment checklist: the papers to gather, what to ask the force beforehand and the questions the SMP has to answer.
If the question is ill-health retirement, the pension scheme regulations run in parallel: the SMP answers the medical questions and the authority then decides whether to retire you. In the 2015 scheme an appeal against the SMP's report goes in within 28 days. See the ill-health retirement guide. If you are worried about what telling occupational health about your mental health means for your career, see telling occupational health about your mental health.
An injury on duty, an injury award and ill-health retirement are different things
Much of the confusion around this subject comes from treating three separate things as one. Being injured on duty is an event. Ill-health retirement and an injury award are two separate decisions made under two separate sets of regulations. You can have any one without the others.
| What it is | The test | Who decides | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|---|
| An injury on duty (the event) | Something happened to you while carrying out police duties. Your force records it and may report it to HSE. | Your force's reporting system; supervisors; health and safety team | Nothing automatically. It is evidence you may need later, and a chief officer can take it into account when deciding whether to extend sick pay. |
| Ill-health retirement | You are permanently disabled for the ordinary duties of a police officer, whatever the cause. | An SMP answers the medical questions; the police pension authority decides whether to retire you | Your pension paid early (and, in the 2006 and 2015 schemes, possibly an enhanced upper-tier pension). A duty injury removes the two-year qualifying service condition in the 2015 scheme. |
| An injury award | You have left the force and are permanently disabled as a result of an injury received without your own default in the execution of duty. | An SMP answers the medical questions (including the degree of disablement); the police pension authority makes the award | A one-off gratuity plus an injury pension, set by the degree of disablement, average pensionable pay and service (Schedule 3). |
So an officer can be injured on duty, recover fully and never need either decision. An officer can be ill-health retired for a condition that had nothing to do with duty and get no injury award. And an officer who left the police years ago can later become permanently disabled by the effects of a duty injury and claim an injury award then (regulation 11(2) pays that pension only from the date the person became disabled). If that date cannot be fixed, regulation 7(7) takes it as the date the claim first reaches the police pension authority, so tell the authority in writing as soon as you think a duty injury has left you permanently disabled.
How the degree of disablement is decided, and when
The degree of disablement only matters once you are permanently disabled. Regulation 7(1) says being permanently disabled means being disabled at the time the question is decided, with that disablement then likely to be permanent. Disablement means an inability, caused by infirmity of mind or body, to perform the ordinary duties of a member of the force, and "infirmity" includes a mental disorder, injury or condition (regulation 7(4) and (8)). In deciding whether it is likely to be permanent, the SMP assumes you receive normal appropriate medical treatment, unless the authority considers it reasonable for you to refuse it (regulation 7(3)).
Once that threshold is met, regulation 7(5) says the degree of disablement is decided "by reference to the degree to which [your] earning capacity has been affected" by the duty injury. It is not a percentage of physical impairment and it is not about your police job alone. In practice the SMP compares what you could have earned without the injury with what you are capable of earning with it. The resulting percentage places you in one of four bands.
Timing follows from regulation 11: the injury award applies to a person who "ceases or has ceased to be a member of a police force". No award is paid while you are serving, but the medical questions (including the degree of disablement) can be referred to the SMP alongside an ill-health retirement decision, so the award can follow soon after you leave. The Court of Appeal in Kelly [2021] EWCA Civ 1699 confirmed that where an officer was retired because of the disablement, the injury pension is payable from the date of retirement, even where the decision on the award came years later, and that the entitlement does not depend on an application.
The injury gratuity and injury pension in brief
Schedule 3 to the Injury Benefit Regulations sets both parts of the award as percentages of average pensionable pay. The gratuity is a one-off lump sum set by the band. The injury pension is a "minimum income guarantee" set by the band and your years of pensionable service, reduced by three-quarters of any police pension you receive and by some state benefits. The percentages below come from our rules file, read from the regulations on 30 September 2026.
| Band (degree of disablement) | Loss of earning capacity | Gratuity | Guarantee by service: under 5 / 5-15 / 15-25 / 25+ years |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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% |
An officer on £44,544 average pensionable pay, with 10 years' service in the 2015 scheme, ill-health retired on the lower tier with an estimated pension of £8,055 a year, assessed at band 2 (minor) disablement:
- Gratuity: 25% of pay = £11,136, once.
- Minimum income guarantee (5 to under 15 years' column): 50% = £22,272 a year.
- Less three-quarters of the pension (75%): £6,041.
- Injury pension: £16,231 a year, paid on top of the £8,055 pension, a total of £24,286 before tax and any state benefit offsets. The ill-health pension is taxable; HMRC says injury benefit can be paid tax-free (EIM75900).
Simplified: it uses current salary for average pensionable pay and ignores state benefit offsets, part-time service and annual increases. Model your own figures with the injury award calculator, and read the injury awards guide and the police injury pension guide for more detail.
There is also a separate disablement gratuity under regulation 12, which can be larger, for someone who becomes totally and permanently disabled (unable to earn any money in any employment) within 12 months of the injury: the lesser of 5 times pensionable pay or a figure based on four times total remuneration plus contributions. The Home Office consulted in 2021 on whether the 12-month limit is fair to conditions that develop slowly, such as some psychological injuries. Its response of 22 April 2025 kept the rule for now and promised further evidence-gathering. HMRC's manual (EIM75900) says police injury benefit "can be paid tax-free"; that page covers pensions, and we say nothing about the tax treatment of the gratuities.
The 'execution of duty' test
Regulation 6(1) defines an injury received in the execution of duty as one received in the execution of your duty as a constable. Regulation 6(2) then treats an injury as received in the execution of duty if:
- you received it while on duty, or on a journey necessary to report for duty or to return home after duty; or
- you would not have received it had you not been known to be a constable; or
- the police pension authority is of the opinion that the preceding condition may be satisfied and that the injury should be treated as received in the execution of duty.
Three further rules shape the test. An injury counts as received without your own default unless it is wholly or mainly due to your own serious and culpable negligence or misconduct (regulation 6(4)). The disablement must be caused or substantially contributed to by the duty injury (regulation 8), so it need not be the only cause. And where you brought about or substantially contributed to the disablement by your own default, the authority can reduce the award by up to half (regulation 38).
The case law, in general terms: in Chief Constable of Avon and Somerset v Police Medical Appeal Board [2019] EWHC 557 (Admin) the High Court said there must be a substantial causal connection between the injury and the execution of duty, and it is not enough simply to have been on duty. The Court of Appeal in Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis v Stunt [2001] EWCA Civ 265 held that illness caused by being subjected to disciplinary proceedings was not received in the execution of duty. Barristers who specialise in this area describe later psychiatric-injury cases as falling on either side of the line on their facts, so outcomes depend heavily on the evidence of what happened and when. Our guide to what counts as an injury on duty under regulation 6 works through commuting, training, sport and psychological injury.
Appeals: the medical board and the Crown Court
There are different routes depending on what you disagree with. Getting the route right matters, because the medical answers can only be changed by the medical route.
| You disagree with | Route | Time limit |
|---|---|---|
| The SMP's answer to a medical question (disabled, permanent, caused by a duty injury, degree of disablement) | Appeal to a board of medical referees (reg 31, Sch 6), usually called a Police Medical Appeal Board (PMAB): at least three doctors, one a specialist in a relevant condition | Notice within 28 days of receiving the SMP report (or longer if the authority allows); grounds within a further 28 days |
| An SMP or board decision you and the authority agree should be looked at again | Reconsideration by agreement (reg 32(2)) | No fixed limit; needs the authority's agreement |
| The authority's refusal to admit a claim, or to pay a larger award, on non-medical grounds | Appeal to the Crown Court (reg 34); the court is bound by final medical decisions (reg 36) | We could not confirm the time limit. Some Crown Court appeals must be started within 21 days, so treat it as urgent and get advice immediately |
| A board decision you think was legally wrong | Judicial review in the High Court | Strict and short; take legal advice immediately |
On a board appeal, each side normally pays its own expenses. If the board decides in your favour, the authority refunds expenses you reasonably incurred in attending. If the board decides for the authority and reports that the appeal was frivolous or vexatious, the authority may ask you to pay towards the board's fees, unless the board says there are exceptional reasons not to (Schedule 6, paragraph 8). If a hearing is cancelled, adjourned or postponed at your request, or because of something you did or did not do, less than 22 days before the date set (weekends included), the authority can also ask you to pay towards the cost, unless the board decides it was not your fault (paragraph 8(3) and (4), as amended by SI 2010/431).
The Home Office's old PMAB guidance was withdrawn on 1 September 2022 with a note that new guidance will be published in due course. We could not find replacement guidance, so rely on the regulations and ask your force how it sends appeals to the board. The appeal deadline calculator works out the 28-day notice and grounds dates from the day you received the report.
If you are a Police Federation member, start with your branch. The Police Federation of England and Wales says it assists members through the ill-health retirement process, has branch representatives trained in it, and represents members at Police Medical Appeal Boards. It also says this advice can be given at no cost to members, so ask what your branch offers before paying for advice. Funding for a solicitor is by application and decided case by case. Find your local Federation branch.
Other organisations that help officers in this position:
- Injury On Duty Pensioners Association (IODPA): a registered charity offering support and signposting (not legal advice) on ill-health retirement, injury pension claims and reviews.
- Police Care UK: a charity offering emotional, practical and financial support to serving and former officers, staff, volunteers and their families.
- NARPO (National Association of Retired Police Officers): for retired officers, with guidance on injury pensions and reviews. It tells members facing a review to approach their local Federation first.
Checked on each organisation's own website on 7 October 2026. PolicePay is independent and has no link with any of them; we list them because they help officers in this situation.
Other routes: CICA, civil claims, charities and benefits
An injury award is not the only possible source of money, and it is not compensation for pain and suffering. Depending on what happened, other routes may be open. They interact: some reduce others.
| Route | Legal basis | Who it is for | Key points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Injury award | Police (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006, reg 11 and Sch 3 | Permanent disablement caused by a duty injury, after leaving | No one else's fault needed, but the injury must be received without your own default (reg 6(4)), and an award can be cut by up to half for your own default (reg 38). Decided by the SMP and police pension authority. Reduced by three-quarters of your police pension and some state benefits. |
| CICA | Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012 | Injury as a direct victim of a crime of violence, reported to the police | Apply as soon as reasonably practicable and normally within two years. Awards are reduced or withheld for other compensation for the same injury, such as civil damages. |
| Civil claim | Negligence and personal injury law; Limitation Act 1980, s.11 | Someone was legally at fault (for example a negligent driver, or an employer's breach) | Normally three years from the injury or from your date of knowledge. Needs a solicitor; ask your Federation or staff association first about legal help. |
| Police Care UK | Charity (not a legal entitlement) | Serving and former officers, staff, volunteers and families harmed through policing | Psychological support, grants (including hardship, adaptations after physical injury, retraining) and transition support. Criteria and funds change: check the charity's pages. |
| Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit | Social security (DWP) | Employed people disabled by an accident at work or a prescribed disease | Covers employed earners, which the 1992 Act defines to include office holders with earnings; the Court of Appeal in Evans (2018) records a former officer receiving it for a duty injury. If paid for the same injury it reduces an injury pension (Schedule 3 para 7). |
For the CICA scheme, an officer assaulted on duty is usually a direct victim of a crime of violence. The separate "exceptional and justified risk" route (for injuries while apprehending an offender) is harder for officers: the CICA guide says a risk is not exceptional if it was something you might reasonably have been expected to do in the normal course of your work. Our compensation routes guide compares the options side by side.
Psychological injuries and PTSD on duty
A psychological injury can be an injury on duty. The Injury Benefit Regulations define infirmity to include a mental disorder, injury or condition, and the same questions apply as for a physical injury: is there a permanent disablement, and is it the result of an injury received in the execution of duty?
Psychological injuries raise particular practical issues:
- Records of exposure. Trauma can build over many incidents. Keeping a private, factual note of significant incidents (dates, incident numbers, what you dealt with) helps any later assessment of cause.
- Delayed onset. Symptoms can appear long after an incident. That can matter for the 12-month rule for the regulation 12 gratuity, discussed above.
- Causation disputes. The Stunt line of cases means stress from being subjected to disciplinary proceedings is treated differently from trauma from operational incidents.
- Support first. Getting help early is not a mark against you. Post-incident processes, occupational health and charities such as Police Care UK exist for this.
See post-incident support and TRiM, stress and PTSD in policing and the support services directory.
Timeline: what happens when
Timings marked as regulatory come from the sources on this page. Everything else depends on your force and your recovery.
| When | What | Who acts |
|---|---|---|
| Immediately | First aid and medical care. Tell your supervisor. Make sure the incident is logged. | You and your supervisor |
| Same shift or day | Complete your force's injury or accident report. Pocket notebook entry. Ask for body-worn video and CCTV to be retained. If a crime was committed against you, make sure it is recorded as a crime. | You, supervisor, force systems |
| Within 10 days | RIDDOR report received by HSE for a death or specified injury (it must be notified without delay). | Your force, not you |
| Within 15 days | RIDDOR report for an over-seven-day injury: more than seven consecutive days off or unable to do your normal duties (not counting the day of the accident). | Your force |
| Months 1 to 6 | Full pay on sick leave, less any paid sick absence in the previous 12 months (Annex K). | Automatic entitlement |
| Before half pay starts | Ask in writing whether the chief officer will extend full pay because the injury happened on duty. The decision is discretionary and force policy sets the criteria. | You, your Federation rep; the chief officer or delegate decides |
| 9 and 12 months on adjusted duties | Written notice at nine months; a management review at 12 months that can lead to the X-factor deduction. A duty injury where you put yourself in harm's way is one listed reason to keep it. | Force; delegated chief officer decides |
| When permanence is in question | The police pension authority refers the medical questions to a selected medical practitioner (SMP). You get a copy of the report. | Police pension authority, SMP |
| 28 days from receiving the SMP report | Notice of appeal to the police pension authority (it can allow longer). Then a further 28 days to send your grounds. | You, with your representative |
| Normally within 2 years of the crime | Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority application, if you were a victim of a crime of violence. | You |
| Normally within 3 years | Start a civil personal injury claim, if someone was at fault (Limitation Act 1980, s.11). | You and a solicitor |
Checklist
- Medical treatment; keep discharge letters and fit notes.
- Supervisor told; force injury report completed; reference number kept.
- Pocket notebook entry made; witnesses listed.
- Body-worn video and CCTV retention requested.
- Crime recorded if you were assaulted.
- Federation or staff association representative told.
- Ask whether a RIDDOR report was made.
- Work out when full sick pay ends; request an extension in writing before half pay if it applies.
- Keep copies of every occupational health and SMP letter and report.
- Note the CICA (two years) and civil claim (three years) time limits if they may apply.
- Diary 28 days from receiving any SMP report.
- What is your extension of sick pay policy, and who decides?
- Has my case been referred to an SMP, and for which questions?
- Will the SMP consider the injury award questions at the same time as ill-health retirement?
- What records about the incident do you hold, and how do I get copies?
What people get wrong
- "It happened on duty, so I stay on full pay." Annex K has no duty-injury rule. Any extension is the chief officer's discretion under force policy.
- "I'll get an injury award now." Not while you are serving. The award applies after you leave, and only if an SMP finds you permanently disabled by a duty injury.
- "Ill-health retirement means I get an injury award." They are separate decisions. A retirement for a non-duty condition carries no award.
- "The band depends on how bad the injury is." It depends on how far your earning capacity has been affected (regulation 7(5)).
- "I have to report it to HSE." The force is the responsible person. Your job is to report it internally.
- "A minor injury isn't worth reporting." Conditions can worsen. An unreported injury is much harder to link to duty years later.
- "If I don't agree with the SMP I can go to court." Medical questions go to the medical board within 28 days. The Crown Court is bound by final medical decisions.
- "The award replaces my salary." It lifts income towards a guaranteed percentage of pay, less three-quarters of your police pension. It is not full pay.
What we could not verify
- Force procedures. Reporting forms, internal deadlines, body-worn video retention and health and safety investigation practice are set locally. Ask your force.
- Current text on legislation.gov.uk. The site holds the Injury Benefit Regulations only as made, listing later amendments as not yet applied. We read the amending instruments for the provisions quoted. The 2012 amendment changed "police authority" to "police pension authority".
- Crown Court appeal time limit. The regulations do not state one and we could not confirm the applicable court rule. Some Crown Court appeals must be started within 21 days, so take advice immediately.
- CICA details. The CICA points come from the gov.uk guide to the 2012 scheme. Check the current scheme text and guide before you apply.
- Who runs medical board appeals now. The Home Office guidance was withdrawn in 2022 and we found no replacement. Ask your force.
- Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit for officers. The Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 (s2) treats office holders with earnings as employed earners, and the Court of Appeal in Evans (2018) records a former officer receiving IIDB for a duty injury, but DWP decides each claim. See injury pension deductions.
- Annex K and Annex EE. We read the 2003 Annex K text and Annex EE as issued in 2015. We could not confirm from a consolidated current text that neither has been amended since.
- Tax. HMRC says police injury benefit can be paid tax-free (EIM75900). That page covers pensions; we say nothing about the tax treatment of the one-off gratuity.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I do if I'm injured on duty as a police officer?
Get medical care first. Then tell your supervisor, complete your force's injury or accident report the same day, make a pocket notebook entry, note witnesses and ask for body-worn video and CCTV to be kept. If you were assaulted, make sure a crime is recorded. Keep copies of everything and speak to your Federation or staff association representative.
Do I get full pay if I'm injured on duty?
Sick pay follows Annex K to the Police Regulations 2003 whatever caused the absence: full pay for 6 months then half pay for 6 months in any one year period, reduced by paid sick absence in the previous 12 months. A duty injury does not change that entitlement automatically. The chief officer can extend full or half pay in a particular case.
Does an injury on duty stop me going on to half pay?
Not automatically. Police Negotiating Board guidance quoted by the High Court in Weed (2020) asks chief officers to exercise the discretion favourably where incapacity is directly attributable to an injury in the execution of duty, but the court held that even a medical finding of an injury on duty did not require the force to extend pay. Force policy sets the criteria, so ask before half pay starts.
Who reports a police injury to the HSE under RIDDOR?
The 'responsible person', which for workers is the employer. For health and safety purposes a constable is treated as an employee of the chief officer (Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, s.51A), so the force reports. HSE says injured workers should not use the RIDDOR reporting system themselves, though a worker can raise concerns with HSE separately.
How do I claim an injury award for an injury on duty?
Tell the police pension authority (usually via HR, occupational health or the pensions team) that you consider you are permanently disabled by a duty injury. The authority must refer the medical questions to a selected medical practitioner. The Court of Appeal in Kelly (2021) said no formal application is needed for the entitlement to exist, but raise it in writing promptly. If you left before becoming disabled and the date you became disabled cannot be fixed, the regulations take it as the date your claim first reaches the authority (reg 7(7)), so a late claim can cost you back pay.
Can I get an injury award while I'm still serving?
No. Regulation 11 of the Police (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006 applies to a person who ceases or has ceased to be a member of a police force. Where you were retired because of the disablement, the injury pension is payable from the date of retirement, even if the decision comes later.
Does an injury on the way to work count as on duty?
Regulation 6(2) treats an injury as received in the execution of duty if it happened while on duty or on a journey necessary to report for duty or return home after duty, or if you would not have been injured had you not been known to be a constable. The police pension authority can also treat an injury as received in the execution of duty where it thinks that second condition may be satisfied (reg 6(2)(c)). Whether your particular journey qualifies is decided by the SMP and, on appeal, the medical board, and the courts look for a substantial causal connection with duty.
How long do I have to appeal an SMP decision?
Under regulation 31 you give notice of appeal within 28 days of receiving the SMP's report, or any longer period the police pension authority allows. You then have a further 28 days (or longer if allowed) to send a statement of your grounds. The appeal is decided by a board of medical referees, usually called a Police Medical Appeal Board.
Is PTSD an injury on duty?
It can be. The Injury Benefit Regulations define infirmity to include a mental disorder, injury or condition. The test is whether the disablement results from an injury received in the execution of duty, and the courts require a substantial causal connection with duty; being on duty is not enough. The Court of Appeal in Stunt held that illness caused by being subject to disciplinary proceedings was not received in the execution of duty.
Can a police officer claim CICA after being assaulted on duty?
The scheme covers direct victims of crimes of violence, and the crime must have been reported to the police. You should apply as soon as reasonably practicable and normally within two years. The CICA guide says an award is withheld or reduced if you receive payment for the same injury from a civil claim, settlement or court compensation order.
Can I sue for an injury on duty?
Possibly, if someone was legally at fault. Personal injury claims normally have to be started within three years of the injury or your date of knowledge (Limitation Act 1980, s.11). A civil claim is separate from an injury award, which does not need anyone else to be at fault. Take advice from a solicitor, and ask your Federation or staff association what legal help it offers.
Is there a police injury on duty calculator?
Our injury award calculator models the Schedule 3 gratuity and injury pension for each degree of disablement using the verified percentages. It gives an estimate, not a decision: the degree of disablement is set by an SMP, and pay, service and pension offsets in your case will differ.
Sources and how we checked them
Every factual claim on this page was written from the sources below, read on 30 September 2026. Rules and figures change, so check the source for the date you are reading this. Where we could not confirm something from an official or independent source, the page says so rather than guessing. Spotted something out of date? See our corrections policy.
- Police (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/932), regulations 6, 7, 8 and 11 (legislation.gov.uk) — execution of duty (reg 6), disablement and degree of disablement (reg 7), causation, entitlement only after leaving (reg 11). legislation.gov.uk shows the as-made text with later amendments listed but not applied (accessed 30 September 2026)
- Police (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006, Part 4: regulations 30 to 36 (legislation.gov.uk) — questions referred to the SMP, 28-day appeal to a board of medical referees, reconsideration by agreement, refusal to be examined, Crown Court appeals (accessed 30 September 2026)
- Police (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006, Schedule 3 (legislation.gov.uk) — gratuity and minimum income guarantee table; three-quarters pension offset; social security offsets (para 7) (accessed 30 September 2026)
- Police (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006, Schedule 6 (legislation.gov.uk) — medical appeal procedure: board of at least three doctors, notice, evidence, costs (accessed 30 September 2026)
- Changes to legislation: SI 2006/932 (legislation.gov.uk) — list of amending instruments, including SI 2011/3063 ('police pension authority'), SI 2018/262 and SI 2018/997 (accessed 30 September 2026)
- Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, section 51A (legislation.gov.uk) — constables treated as employees of the chief officer for health and safety purposes (accessed 30 September 2026)
- HSE: RIDDOR explained, key definitions — responsible person, work-related accidents including non-consensual violence, injured workers do not report themselves (accessed 30 September 2026)
- HSE: types of reportable incidents — specified injuries, over-seven-day injuries, recording over-three-day injuries (accessed 30 September 2026)
- HSE: when do I need to report an incident? — without delay and within 10 days; over-seven-day within 15 days (accessed 30 September 2026)
- Annex K determination (sick pay) text, Police Federation West Midlands copy — six months full, six months half, rolling deduction, chief officer discretion (paras 1 to 3); no special duty-injury rule (accessed 30 September 2026)
- Police Regulations 2003, regulation 28 (sick pay) and regulation 31 (benefits deducted from full pay) — sick pay is set by the Secretary of State's determination (Annex K) (accessed 30 September 2026)
- R (Weed) v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis [2020] EWHC 287 (Admin) (National Archives) — PNB guidance on extending sick pay for execution-of-duty injuries; an injury-on-duty finding did not oblige the force to extend pay (accessed 30 September 2026)
- Home Office, Annex EE (adjusted duties and X-factor), 2015 — recuperative duties, nine-month notice, 12-month review, para 18(c) harm's way exception (accessed 30 September 2026)
- R (Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police) v Kelly [2021] EWCA Civ 1699 (National Archives) — injury pension payable from retirement; no application needed for entitlement; Crown Court jurisdiction (accessed 30 September 2026)
- Chief Constable of Avon and Somerset v Police Medical Appeal Board [2019] EWHC 557 (Admin) (National Archives) — substantial causal connection with duty needed; being on duty is not sufficient (accessed 30 September 2026)
- Landmark Chambers, Police Injury Pensions, chapter 4 (2020) — barristers' guide; summary of Stunt [2001] EWCA Civ 265 and later execution-of-duty cases. Secondary source (accessed 30 September 2026)
- Home Office: the 12-month rule in regulation 12, government response (22 April 2025) — rule not changed; further engagement planned (accessed 30 September 2026)
- GOV.UK: Police Medical Appeal Board guidance (withdrawn 1 September 2022) — old guidance archived; 'new guidance will be published in due course' (accessed 30 September 2026)
- GOV.UK: Criminal injuries compensation, a guide — two-year time limit, reporting to police, reductions for other compensation, exceptional risk in the course of work (accessed 30 September 2026)
- Limitation Act 1980, section 11 (legislation.gov.uk) — three-year limit for personal injury claims (accessed 30 September 2026)
- Police Care UK: financial support — grants and eligibility (harm experienced through policing) (accessed 30 September 2026)
- HMRC Employment Income Manual EIM75900 (injury benefit schemes, including police and firefighters) — police injury benefit 'can be paid tax-free'; does not settle an individual award (accessed 30 September 2026)
- Evans and Ashcroft v Chief Constable of South Wales Police [2018] EWCA Civ 2107 (National Archives) — a former officer receiving IIDB for a duty injury; how Schedule 3 para 7 deductions work (read 1 October 2026) (accessed 30 September 2026)
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PolicePay.co.uk is an independent reference site. It is not a health, counselling or legal service, and this page is general information, not medical, psychological or legal advice. It cannot consider your personal circumstances. If you are struggling, speak to your GP, a qualified professional or one of the services listed on this page. If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 999. Details apply to England and Wales unless stated. Details are as checked on 30 September 2026.