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LONDON MP CONDEMNS RIOTS’ COMPENSATION ‘SHAMBLES’

Parliamentary answers from a Home Office Minister in reply to questions from Croydon North MP, Malcolm Wicks, reveal that the Home Office has no idea how compensation under the Riot Act is being administered or how much has been awarded (see below). 

Malcolm Wicks said:

“Despite the riots being central to Home Office responsibility, it is clear that the Home Secretary has no idea whatsoever how claims under the Riot Act are being dealt with or how many people have received compensation.  It is a shambles.  In practice very few have been compensated, the risk assessors are proceeding at a glacial pace and constituents, including those whose properties were burnt down, are left in a terrible no man’s land”.

Malcolm Wicks, whose Croydon North constituency was devastated by riots, looting and arson, was recently visited by two constituents whose flats were destroyed by fire.  One constituent met with a Loss Adjuster who was so ill-informed that he insisted on meeting the constituent at his Croydon address.  On arrival, he was shocked to discover that the address no longer existed, despite being told that the house had been destroyed.

Some people are now in the dreadful situation where they are paying for a mortgage on a property that no longer exists and rent on temporary accommodation whilst they await compensation claims to be resolved. 

The Croydon North MP commented:

“The speed at which the claims are being processed would embarrass a self-respecting snail.  It is unacceptable that my constituents are being left in financial crisis due to the woeful way in which the claims are being handled.”

Malcolm Wicks has written to Prime Minister, David Cameron, to remind him of the promises he has made in order to secure the desperately needed compensation for the victims of Croydon’s riots.

1.       WRITTEN QUESTIONS

Malcolm Wicks: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many claims for compensation under the Riot (Damages) Act 1886 arising from the civil disorder of August 2011 have been settled in each borough in Greater London; and what the total amount of compensation was in each case, at the latest date for which figures are available. [85573]

Nick Herbert: The Home Office does not hold the detail on the number or value of claims made specifically by individual boroughs of the Metropolitan Police Service.

[Hansard, 14 December 2011, 537, c774W]

Malcolm Wicks: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many firms of loss adjusters have been employed by police forces to assess claims for compensation under the Riot (Damages) Act 1886 arising from the civil disorder of August 2011; at what rate firms have been remunerated; and what the total amount of fees paid to such firms has been, at the most recent date for which figures are available. [85572

Nick Herbert: This information is not collected centrally. However, these data are available from the respective police authorities

[Hansard, 14 December 2011, 537, c886W]

2.       The Independent Riots Communities and Victims Panel  was set up in the aftermath of the August riots to examine and understand why they took place.  Its interim report 5 Days in August suggested that the panel ‘did not hear of anyone who had received a payment under the Riot Damages Act’.

3.       The Metropolitan Police Service  has recently published the second part of its review into the August disorder.  Operation Kirkin Strategic Review – Interim Report, which was published on 30 November, suggests that the Metropolitan Police Service has received approximately 4,500 claims with estimated total liabilities of £250m.  From the published information it is not possible to say how much of this has already been paid out.

4.       In his Statement to the House of Commons on 11 August 2011, the Prime Ministrer said: "To the law-abiding people who play by the rules, and who are the overwhelming majority in our country, I say: the fightback has begun, we will protect you, if you've had your livelihood and property damaged, we will compensate you. We are on your side.”