OWA - Reduction in Compensation

[BooBoo]

Can I please ask a question re compensation from those affected by the recent "surrender"...

When I parted company with my two LR last week, I claimed the standard amount in the first section for both my 9mm and 223.

I also claimed under the second section for the upgrades to my rifles - match triggers / left hand charging / upgraded forends (in addition to magazines etc.).

Other than the magazines, the latter were struck out on handover of the form. This was apparently because I purchased these upgrades from new (despite these additions pushing initial purchase costs far over and above that of basic spec rifles, or even second hand rifles being compensated at the same rate). Had I said otherwise then no proof would have been required and all monies would have been paid out without question. My profession clearly precludes such an approach!

It was acknowledged that this was at odds with the position back at the start of the hand in, when both sections were paid out in full. So, the HO has effectively reduced compensation payouts part way through the surrender period.

I am clearly rather miffed at a lack of consistency across the handover period, as I now find myself some £500 plus poorer off simply by virtue of handing in towards the end of the period rather than at the start.

Can I please ask whether this was also the position faced by others on hand in... and if so when / which force?

[IainWR]

Was it struck out when you submitted the application with the firearms (ie by the police staff receiving the surrender) or in the Home Office admin process?

[Blackstuff]

/\/\/\/\ This is very important, the police should have had absolutely zero input in the process other than taking the firearm and equipment from you and sending the paperwork, unmolested, the the HO.

The people who handed in straightaway seem to have had a far more lenient approach, (full disclosure i didn't had mine in until the end of February and they actually paid me more than I asked for ).
People who handed in straightaway have been paid out fully in your circumstances, for a rifle with upgrades fitted after the purchase, been paid for individual ammo components, which seemed to stop in January for some reason and for factory ammo.

They're probably panicking at the far greater cost than they budgeted for, and while in the great scheme of things it will still be peanuts, being out on the figure by a factor of 10 is never going to look good on the person who did the estimate once the dust settles.

In your circumstances they seemed to change tack half way through from wanting you to claim for the base rifle in that section, then any upgraded parts in the following section, regardless as to whether the upgrades were from new or after purchase. As all of my purchases were after the purchase I was able to strip the rifle to its original state and have the upgrade parts separate and clear to see so i'm afraid i can't help you first hand. If you aren't already I'd recommend you join the Facebook group 'Lever release & mars owners club' as it will give you access to more former owners.

[bradaz11]

if it is on the rifle, then you should not have accepted the standard value, and detailed the higher value of the rifle

if you have a complete rifle, then a bag of extra parts, all of these extra parts could be claimed for on the next page as ancillary goods.

you cannot take the standard value for a complete rifle, then charge for a trigger as an ancillary if you only have one trigger as it isn't ancillary.

[BooBoo]

Ian,

It was struck out by the officer receiving, with a note added to the comments section that this was in accordance with the HO Email as circulated to forces.

It was openly acknowledged that a change had taken place part way through the surrender period, thereby reducing costs (and of course this would leave people less well compensated than those who surrendered earlier in the window).

I am not saying that I am out of pocket... as the standard payment covered an average value for guns.

However, the standard payment applied (or not) whether you handed in second hand or a fully tricked up gun... and it is the disparity over fairness that upsets me...

[DanTheMan]

It was struck out by the officer receiving, with a note added to the comments section that this was in accordance with the HO Email as circulated to forces.

There was a recent letter sent from the HO to the police which did indeed change the last few claims. One of my club members who was a bit late to the party (Surrey) had his form refused on several occasions until it was changed to the way you had to do yours. There clearly was a sweet spot during the hand in where each claim was simply vetted by the HO and as people saw earlier claims being accepted they followed suit. It got tricky where individual officers tried to apply their interpretation of the guidelines instead of leaving with the HO to sort. However that said - there are several people who are now trying to get back ancillary equipment and reloading components where the HO rejected that part of the hand in and in some cases they have since been lost.

On the LR MARS facebook group, there was a poll of 83 hand ins placing them into £1000 price ranges and the average payout is between £3132 and £4132 (£3632) so you can use that against the number of rifles handed in to work out a rough overall compensation figure.

[BooBoo]

Thanks Dan, I may call you for a chat as I'm not on Facebook.

I can tell you that there were 20 persons in my force area alone... and that is for a small force!

[HH1]

I contacted my Force the week before the hand-in was announced and my 9mm LR was collected on the 21st Dec. 2020. I was paid out on the 28th Jan 2021 (after a slight delay due to my FEO not understanding what they needed to do). .

I originally paid £2,300 for my rifle in Feb. 2016. It came with virtually every Upgrade available. At the time the basic 9mm LR started at £1,800.

On the form I listed every upgraded part (Stock, hand guard, Barrel, ambi-release, etc. and provided a photocopy of the Build sheet (with the price redacted). I accepted "standard prices" for all of the upgrades.
I handed in 2x 33rnd Glock mags (that cost me £55 each) and 6 x 17rnd Magpul mags (that cost me £15 each) for the Standard value of £28 each so I basically broke even on the price of the mags. The only items that I put down on section G, was a Speed-loader and a set of action pins. My claim was accepted and I received a cheque for just shy of £3,000.

I was happy enough with what I received.