Police injury pension calculator: injury award bands, gratuity and minimum income guarantee
Last updated · By Mustafa Bilgic · Percentages from the Police (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006 on legislation.gov.uk, with the amending regulations up to 2018
This page sets out the full injury award table, who qualifies, how the degree of disablement and average pensionable pay are worked out, and what is deducted. The calculator applies Schedule 3 to your figures and shows the gratuity, the minimum income guarantee and the injury pension a year and a week.
Police injury award table
The selected medical practitioner assesses the degree of disablement as a percentage. That percentage picks the row. Your years of pensionable service pick the column for the minimum income guarantee, which is the level of yearly income the injury pension is there to protect. The gratuity is the same whatever your length of service.
| Degree of disablement | Gratuity | Under 5 years | 5 to under 15 years | 15 to under 25 years | 25 years or more |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25% or less (slight disablement) | 12.5% | 15% | 30% | 45% | 60% |
| More than 25%, up to 50% (minor disablement) | 25% | 40% | 50% | 60% | 70% |
| More than 50%, up to 75% (major disablement) | 37.5% | 65% | 70% | 75% | 80% |
| More than 75% (very severe disablement) | 50% | 85% | 85% | 85% | 85% |
Police injury award calculator
Gratuity and injury pension under Schedule 3
Your pensionable service divided by the service you would have if the part-time periods counted in full (R divided by Q in Schedule 3). For the years of service above, count part-time years as full years.
Who qualifies for an injury award
Regulation 11 applies to a person who has stopped being a member of a police force and is permanently disabled as a result of an injury received without their own default in the execution of duty. That person is entitled to a gratuity and, in addition, an injury pension. Regulation 6 treats an injury as received in the execution of duty if it happened while on duty, or on a journey needed to report for duty or to return home after duty, or if the officer would not have been injured had they not been known to be a constable. An injury counts as received without default unless it was wholly or mainly due to the officer's own serious and culpable negligence or misconduct. Mental as well as physical conditions can count: regulation 7 defines infirmity to include a mental disorder, injury or condition.
How the degree of disablement is decided
The degree of disablement is not a measure of how bad the injury is. Regulation 7(5) says it is decided by the degree to which the officer's earning capacity has been affected by the injury on duty. A person receiving treatment as an in-patient at a hospital because of the injury is treated as totally disabled.
The police pension authority refers the medical questions to a selected medical practitioner: whether the person is disabled, whether the disablement is likely to be permanent, whether it results from an injury received in the execution of duty, and the degree of disablement. If you disagree with the report, you can appeal to a board of medical referees within 28 days of receiving a copy, or any longer period the police authority allows. Once an injury pension is in payment, the authority reviews at suitable intervals whether the degree of disablement has altered, and revises the pension if it has changed substantially.
Average pensionable pay
Regulation 4 works out average pensionable pay in the same way as the Police Pensions Regulations 1987. Under regulation G1 of those regulations it is, in general, your pensionable pay for the year ending with your last day of service, raised to the figure for the corresponding date in one of the two previous years if that is higher. For members of the 2015 police pension scheme, regulation 4A, added in 2018, makes average pensionable pay the member's final pay as defined in regulation 159 of the Police Pensions Regulations 2015.
What is deducted from the injury pension
The minimum income guarantee is a floor, not an extra payment. Schedule 3 takes certain other income off it, and the injury pension is what is left:
- Police pension: three-quarters of any police pension paid under the 1987 scheme, the 2006 scheme or the 2015 scheme is deducted (paragraph 6(1), as amended in 2006 and 2018). A pension that has been reduced by commuting part of it for a lump sum is treated as if it had not been reduced.
- State benefits for the same injury: industrial injuries benefit and reduced earnings allowance for the relevant injury are deducted in full (paragraph 7). Employment and support allowance has been deducted since 10 February 2017, but a 2018 amendment stops second or later post-retirement awards of it from reducing the injury pension.
- No negative pension: if the deductions are larger than the minimum income guarantee, nothing is paid for that week (paragraph 8). The gratuity is still due.
Because only three-quarters of the police pension is taken off, your total income from the injury pension, the police pension and those benefits ends up at the minimum income guarantee plus one quarter of your police pension, as long as the guarantee is larger than the deductions. For this calculation a year is treated as 52 1/6 weeks (regulation 5).
Part-time service
If any of your pensionable service was part-time, paragraphs 1(b) and 3(b) of Schedule 3 work out the gratuity and the guarantee as if all the service had been full-time, then multiply by R divided by Q. R is your pensionable service in years and Q is what it would be if the part-time periods counted as full-time. Members of the 2015 scheme who are not transition members use an appropriate proportion instead, worked out from the pensionable pay they actually received as a share of full-time pay, year by year. The calculator's part-time box applies either proportion.
Worked example
An officer with 12 years of pensionable service and average pensionable pay of £45,000 retires on ill-health grounds with a police pension of £10,000 a year. The selected medical practitioner assesses the degree of disablement at 40%, which is minor disablement. The gratuity is 25% of £45,000, which is £11,250. The minimum income guarantee for 5 to under 15 years is 50%, or £22,500 a year. Three-quarters of the police pension, £7,500, is deducted, and so is £60 a week of Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit, which is £3,130 over 52 1/6 weeks. The injury pension is £11,870 a year, or £227.54 a week. With the police pension and the benefit, total income is £25,000 a year. These figures are our calculation from the Schedule 3 rules.
The regulation 12 gratuity for total disablement
Regulation 12 adds a separate gratuity for an officer who becomes totally and permanently disabled within 12 months of the injury. It is the lesser of five times the annual value of pensionable pay on the last day of service, and four times total remuneration in the last 12 months of service plus aggregate pension contributions. The Home Office consulted in 2021 on whether the 12-month condition treats mental health injuries fairly. Its response, published in April 2025, concluded that further data and evidence are needed before any change, and the 12-month condition remains in the regulations.
Scotland and Northern Ireland
Scotland has its own Police (Injury Benefit) (Scotland) Regulations 2007, and Northern Ireland has the Police Service of Northern Ireland and Police Service of Northern Ireland Reserve (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006. Schedule 3 of each contains the same bands, gratuity percentages and minimum income guarantee percentages as the table above. Other details, such as the deductions and the review rules, follow each set of regulations.
Sources and methodology
The table was read from Schedule 3 on legislation.gov.uk and compared with the Scottish and Northern Ireland schedules, which match. The calculator applies paragraphs 1, 3, 6, 7 and 8 of Schedule 3 and regulation 5, and was tested on every cell of the table and on the band and service boundaries.
- Police (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006, regulations 4 to 7, 11, 12, 30, 31, 37 and 43 and Schedule 3, on legislation.gov.uk.
- Amending regulations: S.I. 2006/3415, S.I. 2017/21, S.I. 2018/262 and S.I. 2018/997.
- Police Pensions Regulations 1987, regulation G1, on legislation.gov.uk.
- The 12-month rule in regulation 12: government response, Home Office, on GOV.UK.
- Scotland (S.S.I. 2007/68) and Northern Ireland (S.R. 2006/268), Schedule 3.
Frequently asked questions
How is a police injury pension calculated?
Take the minimum income guarantee for your band and length of service as a percentage of average pensionable pay, then deduct three-quarters of any police pension and certain state benefits for the same injury. What is left is the injury pension. A gratuity is paid as well.
What are the police injury award bands?
Slight disablement is 25% or less, minor is more than 25% up to 50%, major is more than 50% up to 75%, and very severe is more than 75%. The gratuity is 12.5%, 25%, 37.5% or 50% of average pensionable pay.
Is the injury pension reduced by my police pension?
Yes. Three-quarters of any police pension under the 1987, 2006 or 2015 schemes is deducted. A pension reduced by commutation is treated as if it had not been commuted.
Does the injury pension start while I am still serving?
No. Regulation 11 applies to a person who has stopped being a member of a police force. If you became disabled after leaving, nothing is paid for the period before you became disabled.
How long is a police injury pension paid?
It is payable for life, but the police pension authority can review the degree of disablement at suitable intervals and revise the pension if it has substantially altered.
Can I appeal the degree of disablement?
Yes. You can appeal the selected medical practitioner's decision to a board of medical referees within 28 days of receiving the report, or any longer period the police authority allows.