Police Federation Settlement

The Defendant offer included both an amount for compensation and an amount for legal costs. The Defendant did not break down the offer into separate amounts for compensation and legal costs.

For each claimant their compensation was calculated by reference to what category they were placed into. The category a claimant was placed into depended on the individual impact of the data breach. The category you were placed into was determined by how significantly the breach affected you. The more significant the impact the higher value of category a claimant would have been placed in. Categories are routinely used in large group litigation in order to assist in settlement discussions. Our appointed Barrister assisted in categorising the claimants and formulating the different compensation amounts.

The success fee is our entitlement to deduct a percentage from the claimants’ damages if we are successful in recovering compensation as part of the claim. The maximum deduction for the success fee is 25% from any compensation awarded or obtained in accordance with the Conditional Fee Agreement signed by each claimant at the start of the claim.

In practice this means the compensation amount assigned to a claimant as part of the categorisation process is then subject to a deduction of 25% and the resulting amount is then paid to the claimant.

As an example for a claimant in category C the compensation recovered is £200. Deducting the success fee of 25% would mean they recover the net sum of £150 as a result of the success fee being £50, that being 25% of the figure of £200.

No, all disbursements incurred in bringing the claim will be covered within the costs recovered.

When you agreed to the Litigation Management Agreement (LMA), you authorised the litigation management committee to provide instructions on your behalf. The decisions in the litigation were ultimately made by KP Law after seeking a majority decision on instructions from the litigation management committee and after considering the advice of the Barrister.

You have received the amount you have based on the category you were assigned to.

As part of assessing the amounts of compensation we sought detailed advice from your appointed Barrister in the case. In providing his advice, the Barrister has considered both the prospects of successfully obtaining a higher award if we continue with the claim but also the precarious financial position of the Defendant.

The compensation amounts have been very carefully considered by reference to the risks involved in the claim, our experience of settling data breach claims, and the approach taken by the courts in claims of this nature.

As part of the settlement discussions we have had to carefully consider the amount of any settlement, and its terms, to ensure that PFEW can afford to make payments due to our clients, without jeopardising the work they do for their members, or without forcing them into liquidation, which would leave Police Officers across the country without representation and for you as claimants with no compensation.

We have a duty to our clients to obtain the best possible result in this action on your behalf and this extends to your ability to enforce any sums which are awarded to you. You will be aware that if we continued with litigation, PFEW’s legal costs would likely increase and by the time of trial, they would be less likely to afford any damages that the Claimants are awarded. We have therefore sought to balance the requirements to obtain a meaningful settlement for our clients, alongside the real risk of being unable to recover these sums from the Defendant.

We are sorry if you are not satisfied with the compensation offered. As discussed above, the compensation amounts have been very carefully considered by reference to the risks involved in the claim, our experience of settling claims of this nature, the approach taken by the courts in assessing compensation and the detailed advice of your appointed barrister.

If you agreed to the LMA, your claim is concluded. You cannot bring a further claim against the Defendant for this data breach.

No. If you agreed to the LMA, your claim is concluded. The LMA is a binding contract.

No, your claim is settled and concluded.

Due to the Defendant’s financial position, they are not able to make full payment immediately following settlement. To ensure they can afford the settlement and continue operating, they have proposed to make payment over time beginning in November 2025.  This means that we will be ready to distribute damages to claimants in May 2026.

No, KP Law will not receive payment for any fees until after settlement funds received have been allocated to our clients, and other disbursements have been paid.

You will be paid your compensation via a bank transfer through an organisation called Shieldpay.

As part of the settlement of the litigation, all Claimants are required to enter into a Confidentiality Agreement. This requirement was authorised by the Claimant Committee under the authority granted to it in the Litigation Management Agreement. The purpose of the Confidentiality Agreement is to protect the Defendant from future claims arising from the same subject matter and to ensure that the terms of the settlement remain private. This confidentiality obligation helps bring finality to the dispute and is a common feature of negotiated settlements. However, the agreement does allow for disclosure of the settlement where required by law, including for tax, legal, or regulatory purposes.

No. By signing the Litigation Management Agreement (LMA), each Claimant agreed in advance to be bound by any settlement accepted by the Claimant Committee on their behalf, including any associated settlement terms. The LMA included a clause requiring confidentiality and gave the Committee the authority to provide instructions on the terms of settlement for all Claimants. As a result, all Claimants are legally bound by the settlement and the Confidentiality Agreement from the point of execution, and it is not possible to opt out or refuse to be bound at this stage.

Shieldpay has been instructed by us to make the payment due to you as a result of the claim. Shieldpay specialises in high value digital payments and is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as an Authorised Payment Institution (API), FCA Reg. No.770210.

No. Although Shieldpay charge a fee of £15 per transaction, KP Law will pay this on your behalf. As per the above, the only deduction from your compensation is the success fee.

Once we have provided Shieldpay with your contact details, they will email you with a link to a form. This will be following receipt of the full Claimant damages in May 2026. The link is unique to you and must be completed to allow Shieldpay to complete its verification checks. These verification checks are made prior to payment to ensure the payments reach the intended recipient promptly.

The form in the email from Shieldpay will ask for personal data required to complete verification, including your date of birth.

Shieldpay use Open Banking technology through their technology partner DirectID to streamline the bank verification process and on-board claimants. During the DirectID verification (which you’ll be directed to whilst completing the Shieldpay form) you will be asked to login to your online banking account.

This process is part of the due diligence that Shieldpay carry out on all claimants in order to pay out Compensation Awards when authorised and instructed by KP Law.

DirectID is AISP registered (AISP no. 798579) and regulated by the FCA meaning there are strict rules they must follow to safeguard and protect your personal data. Only the team at Shieldpay handling this class action lawsuit payment will be able to see your bank details to complete the verification checks. Even then, the data will be in read-only format. The only information visible to Shieldpay are the details required to facilitate payment to you with respect to your claim, namely your name, account number and sort code, as is standard with other online transactions. Nobody will be able to see any further data without your explicit consent.

You can refer to the DirectID FAQs to learn more about the service and data protection in place:

https://www.direct.id/resources/frequently-asked-questions

Privacy Policy:

https://www.direct.id/policies/privacy-policy

Using DirectID is the quickest way to have your details verified, and ensure payment is made to you promptly. Should any of the verification steps fail, don’t worry, you will be prompted to provide additional details.

Once we have received the monies due to you from the Defendant, we will contact you again. We will then provide Shieldpay with your contact details and they will email you with a link to a form.  We anticipate this being in May 2026.

All the details are checked as soon as they are entered on the form. If you supply a bank statement this will be checked by one of the Shieldpay team. This can take a little time, which is why Shieldpay encourage you to use DirectID and the electronic methods Shieldpay provide in the form.

When all verification checks have been completed, Shieldpay will let us know, and we will authorise the payment. The payment will then be made to the account details provided.

Payments are all made electronically to a bank account in your name.

Shieldpay won’t be able to post you a cheque. You will receive your compensation via a bank transfer. Shieldpay provides safe and transparent payment solutions. You can find out more here.

Your file will be closed and placed in storage. After the file has been archived for six years, it will be destroyed.

If you would like to make a complaint, please email feedback@kpl.co.uk or you can find a copy of our Complaints Procedure on our website.