The Riot Damages 1886

In Britain we are forced by law to pay for a police force. In return that police force has a duty to protect our person and property from harm or damage. When the police fail in that duty on a large scale known as a riot the Riot Damages Act 1886 means that they have to pay compensation for all damage done. The act can be read in it's full Olde Worlde glory here;

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1886/38/pdfs/ukpga_18860038_en.pdf

However the main point is that whenever a house, shop or building or it's contents are damaged, destroyed or stolen by a riotous and tumultuously assembled crowd the police authority have to pay for the damage or loss provided the person took reasonable steps to protect that property. For the purposes of the act;

• Riot is defined as; Three or more people acting with common purpose using force, violence or alarm to achieve an aim. That aim can be to make a political point, demolish a wall or loot a shop. [Field V Metropolitan Police Receiver (1907)]

• Tumultuously is defined as; Being in such large numbers and acting in such an aggressive manner that the police should have been well aware of the threat and taken action to prevent it. [J.W. Dwyer Ltd V Metropolitan Police District Receiver (1967)]

The events of the last four days in Croydon and other parts of London and the UK most certainly fit this definition. As for reasonableness this is always a subjective matter. However if you followed police advice, locked doors and windows, used shutters where fitted and weren't shouting abuse at the rioters you were most probably acting reasonably.

So if you had property damaged or stolen in the riots and you're not insured my advice is to use this form;

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksro/1921/1536/pdfs/uksro_19211536_en.pdf

In London you then hand this form in at your local police station. For Croydon that would be Croydon Central Police Station, 71 Park Lane, CR9 1BP but any police station is good enough provided it's in the correct Borough. Outside London the form must be sent to the Clerk to the County Council who can be found at your local Town Hall. Your claim will then be investigated and provided it's an honest claim you should then receive some money.

If you are insured you should make a normal insurance claim but also follow the above steps to also make a claim with the police. If you can afford it you should seek proper legal advice and inform your insurance company of the police claim. Many insurance policies do not cover riot damage because there is an assumption that the police will do their duty so insurers are unlikely to pay out when they really don't have to.

Tomorrow (11/8/11) the House of Commons will hold an emergency session to allow MP's to discuss the riots. The Conservatives with froth at the mouth about all the new powers and weapons they want to give the police. Labour and the Liberal Democrats will use it all as an opportunity to score political points about spending cuts. However it would be nice if they could also find the time to ask the Home Secretary to extend the claim period for the act from 14 to 42 days and produce an online claim form to help the police and the public cope with a rarely used and often forgotten piece of legislation.


Edited@15:10 on 11/8/11: The government have now extended the claims period for the Riot Damages Act to 42 days and made a claim form available online which you must use to make a claim so I've updated my advice accordingly.

Also part of the act makes reference to a £100 limit which has given some people the impression that the maximum compensation you can claim is £100. It's not. That part of the act only refers to what action you can take against the police if they refuse your claim and you can pursue them through the small claims court the same you would any other bad debtor. At the time the act was written the maximum cap for the small claims court was £100. It's now about £12,000 and even if your claim is above that you can still pursue the matter through the normal county courts because there is no limit on the amount of compensation that can be claimed. I wouldn't worry about that too much though because if legitimate claims are refused I'm sure the insurance companies will be more then happy to bring test cases and class action suits.