3. What Could I Get If I win?

Possible outcomes from a successful civil claim are:

• an apology
• an admission of wrongdoing
• an award for compensation
• a change in policy or training of the relevant authority
• action being taken against the individual(s) involved (although this is extremely rare)

The usual outcome from a successful civil claim is compensation. It is very difficult to say how much you might get because even if the case does goes as far as court, it is up to the jury to decide on the reward. However, in a large number of cases the police settle and pay up before a case gets to court, as they realise that they probably won’t win. Some awards can be for thousands of pounds.