After conducting a mass freedom of information request to all 46 police forces in England and Wales, we’ve found that forces could be owed at least £7.8 million from vehicle repairs following incidents in the past five years.
What does the data show?
Between 2019 and 2023, those without an uninsured loss recovery (ULR) programme in place spent an estimated £51 million repairing police-owned vehicles damaged in more than 59,500 incidents.
Despite these expenses, 83% of the money spent on repairs has not been recovered through either insurance policies or ULR methods. With an estimated 1 in 5 incidents having a traceable third party, a substantial portion of these repair costs – at least £7.8 million – could still be recovered.
A note from our Partner, Ian Evans
“ULR is an invaluable process that allows organisations to recover costs when a third party is responsible for damage. However, we’re aware that many forces are not fully capitalising on this opportunity, leaving millions of pounds on the table, which could be reinvested into front-line services, training or equipment.
“We believe that by standardising best practices and embracing streamlined ULR solutions, all forces can reclaim what is rightfully theirs. There is no reason why they should be continuing to absorb these costs when the liability lies elsewhere.
“With continuing budget cuts, police forces are looking to claw back as much cash as they possibly can and ULR is one way to do this. Losses can still be recovered for a period of six years post-incident, so the accidents referenced in our freedom of information request can still be recovered – even if they took place as far back as 2019.”
The data revealed that around one in four police forces are not taking advantage of ULR programmes at all, despite having a legal right to do so. Of those that do, 27%vi are managing the process in-house.
Ian said: “This is consuming valuable internal resources without the advantage of litigation – leaving them at the mercy of insurers paying out claims.
“Another key benefit of an external ULR solution is that it is designed to ease the administrative burden on police forces, automating and streamlining the process as much as possible. From document generation to facilitating claims, an external programme reduces the involvement of internal teams so they can focus on their core responsibilities.”
ULR is the process of recapturing costs and expenses – such as repairs, policy excess and other associated costs – that may be incurred if police-owned property has been involved in an incident that was not the fault of the force or its employees.
Ian added: “Many police forces focus their attention on claims against the force, but with a proper ULR solution in place – which is often on a commission basis and only payable at the conclusion of a successful recovery – police forces could maximise their loss recovery with no upfront fees and reinvest these funds into services in their local areas.
“In an age of fiscal responsibility and tightening budgets, police forces – and, in particular, police and crime commissioners (PCCs) – should scrutinise why there are so many missed opportunities to make financial recoveries. Since PCCs set budgets and have the authority to raise or lower council taxes, these actions should be taken for the benefit of the community. It would be relatively straightforward to instruct a ULR provider, which could in turn help make these significant savings, support local areas and help ease the strain on police funding.”
Working with us
If you’re interested in discussing a potential external ULR solution, please don’t hesitate to contact our team today. Being specialists in ULR, we take a no-nonsense approach because we’re in business to represent you, and do so by pro-actively pursuing your losses to the fullest extent. We can then take on that administrative burden for you, and help streamline your processes for maximum recovery and efficiency.