Vento bands 2026: injury to feelings.

Explore the official bands and compare an amount you choose. A short questionnaire cannot reliably decide your band or predict a tribunal award.

What are the Vento bands for 2026?

For claims presented on or after 6 April 2026: lower £1,300–£12,600; middle £12,600–£37,700; upper £37,700–£62,900. Exceptional cases can exceed £62,900. Source: the Ninth Addendum to Presidential Guidance.

Do Vento bands apply to unfair dismissal?

Injury to feelings is not an ordinary unfair-dismissal award. These bands are commonly used in discrimination claims; some other detriment claims can also attract injury-to-feelings compensation. The legal claim must first support that remedy.

Is injury to feelings compensation taxable?

It is not automatically tax-free. HMRC distinguishes compensation solely for discrimination before termination from compensation connected with termination. Each part of a payment needs separate consideration.

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Vento bands 2026: injury to feelings.

These figures apply to claims presented on or after 6 April 2026. They concern injury to feelings, separately from financial loss. Earlier claims use the guidance for their presentation date.

Presidential Guidance — Ninth Addendum, 30 March 2026 →

Choose a band to read about. This selection is yours; it is not a finding about your claim.

The evidence of the distress and impact on the individual matters. Keep a factual account of what happened, its duration, and its effect on daily life and wellbeing, with relevant supporting records. No fixed score converts those facts into a Vento band.

These bands do not decide whether unlawful discrimination happened. Ordinary unfair dismissal, redundancy and unpaid wages do not by themselves justify an injury-to-feelings award. Separate financial losses, interest, personal injury or other adjustments require their own legal and evidential basis; avoid counting the same harm twice.

Injury-to-feelings payments are not automatically tax-free. A payment attributable solely to discrimination before termination may fall outside the termination-payment rules. A payment connected with termination can fall within those rules; tax treatment depends on what each part compensates. See HMRC EIM12965 and get advice before agreeing the allocation of a settlement.

Start My Claim is self-service software. This reference does not assess your evidence, select a band or promise an award. A union representative, advice service or employment solicitor can help with a case-specific assessment.