Claiming against the Police

Jag1978

Hi All

Not sure if this is the right area for this but here goes:

I used to have tenants living at my property. They were up to something dodgy possibly fraud. They moved out some time ago but the police were carrying out an investigation and still assumed they were residing at my property. The police preceded to and were successful in getting a warrant to search my premises,

My wife and I were currently living at the address at the time when the police decided to action the warrant. Unfortunately we were not at home when they actioned the warrant. So they had to break in through our front door.

My question is that - I decided to write a letter of complaint to the police as my house insurers stated that they would not pay out in these circumstances. Stating that through the break in they had damaged my door, locks and door frame. The police stated that they were not liable but did ask me to get 3 quotes. Apparently it wasn’t a cheap job as a replacement was required and repair not viable. My cheapest quote came in at around £1200. I sent off my 3 quotes and the police have come back with final settlement figure of £300 stating that it was a good will type payment and that they didn’t have to pay anything if they didn’t want to.

So should I pursue this further and see if they can cough up a bit more to cover my costs or just be happy that are giving me something

Regards

Jag

pinkshoes

I was under the impression that if the police make a mistake on a raid and uncover nothing, then they foot the bill of any damage. If "stuff" is found in the raid, then the owner/tenant foots the bill.

In your case, it's their mistake, so they should pay.

I would write again to someone higher up, saying this is not good enough.

Read the bottom part of this:
http://www.gethampshire.co.uk/news/s/2043492_police_raid_home_after_mistaking_plants_for_drugs

CLLC

I think a letter to the Indepent Police Complaints commision should do you some good

http://www.ipcc.gov.uk/

If they say they can't help you then as previously posted write to someone higher , its not fair if you are totally innocent.

Good luck

naijapower

The Police are liable to repair any damage done so long as they didnt find anything illegal e.g drugs or fraud stuff.
As they are blatantly refusing, it may indicate they found some stuff there. But then, if they did, they would most likely have arrested or cautioned you.
I suggest you seek a face to face appt with your local Police station head. maybe a Sergeant or an Inspector rank.
Get them to confirm clearly the reasons why they dont want to pay for the repair and then you can now proceed to IPCC.
However, you can make a formal complaint to your Chief Constable asap

Jag1978

The only things they took away was some correspondence that was addressed to the previous tenants. i.e. a couple of bills and a form which I was in mid process of filling in registering my wife and I with the council and removing the previous tenants.

Jag

smitchy73

I would as some of the other said take it to a higher level, if they enter a property with a warrant then find something then you are liable for costs, if they don't find anything or go to the wrong house, or in your case, the accused is not there, then to me their intelligence was wrong in which case you should be entitled to have the repairs fixed, even if they send in their own contractors to fix it to a satisfactory result.
Even speak to a lawyer if they higher beaks don't entertain you, that and the PCC, the CPS may even have a 'complaints against the Police' section.

Ivrytwr3

it's not the fact that they didn't find anything, it's the fact that they didn't do their research properly and find out the people they were targeting had actually moved out; basic schoolboy error!!.

Yes, they are liaible, they are hoping by saying they are not that you will accept the goodwill gesture and move on. Reply back explaining that if you don't receive the full costs back you will have no other option but to make a complaint to the IPCC (as per post 3).

Jag1978

Just spoke to the IPCC and they were helpful but stated that it didn't fall into their remit as there wasn't any issues while the warrant was actioned i.e. the police were not rude, they had a warrant. Basically everything was civil. It's just the damaged caused. So The IPCC stated that only the solicitors of the police would handle the claim for compensation.

So what I might do is give the lady who wrote the letter (I'm assuming she's the solicitor for the police) a call and speak to her directly and if I don't get no joy, I'll tell her that I'll get some legal advice before I decide to accept any compensation

Regards

Jag

naijapower

I have question: Is it possible to take an organisation like the Police to small claims court?

Optimist

naijapower wrote: »

I have question: Is it possible to take an organisation like the Police to small claims court?

Yes, you can take the police to court for various thing. Do you have something particular in mind ?

dacouch

Dunno, I assume so, would be interesting to find the answer though

I'd love to see the bailiffs trying to enforce on a police station, I doubt they would get anywhere even if they had the law on their side