Police force staff in Wales have been on the receiving end of approximately £280,000 for injury claims over the last three years, new information recently revealed.
The BBC recently obtained the figures under the Freedom of Information Act. Between the years of 2007 and 2010, a total of ninety three personal injury claims were made by the staff of four police forces in Wales.
Gwent Police paid the least with a total of £49,000 to staff members since 2007. North Wales Police paid out £52,000 in accident claims, South Wales awarded nearly £84,000, and the list topper, Dyfed-Powys Police, paid out £94,000 over three years.
Compensation claims included several different categories of injuries. Objects falling from storage cupboards and defective office furniture were listed as causes for some of the injuries. One incident however was more cyptic, as documentation referred to the cause of the injury as simply “injury in gym.”
The South Wales Police force holds the dubious honor of making the single biggest payment. During the 2007-2008 year the police force paid one injury victim a total of £37,862. However the grey cloud hovering over South Wales does have a silver lining; while claims numbered at 16 for 2007-2008, in the 2009-2010 year that figure dropped by half to only eight such claims being made.
One Dyfed-Powys Police representative commented on the BBC’s fiugures. The spokesperson explained that the figures could be misleading due to the inclusion of the legal costs of claimants in addition to payments for damages. The police representative also stated that during the investigation, handling, and defense of personal injury claim compensation cases, a so-called robust approach was taken.
According to the BBC only the Dyfed-Powys Police Force has responded to the newly released information. Of the remaining three, one Gwent police representative stated that any trend speculation would be unwise since many of the cases were still ongoing.