By Stephen Hudson. Last Updated 21st June 2024. In this guide, we explain what acid attack victims claims are and how they are made. We’ll offer tips on what to do if you are seeking compensation for injuries caused by this type of crime.
To be the victim of an acid attack must be absolutely horrifying. The physical pain and suffering experienced will have an enormous impact on the victim’s life. Also, any permanent scar injury will be a constant visual reminder of the reality of what happened, causing a great amount of mental distress.
Anyone who has been injured in an acid attack may be able to file civil proceedings claiming negligence if the attack occurred somewhere where measures should have been taken to prevent violent crime from occurring such as pubs, clubs, concerts etc.
A victim of an acid attack could also lodge a claim with the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA). This is a government organisation that provides compensation for those injured in a crime of violence. Please read on for further information.
Select a section:
- Compensation For A Criminal Injury
- How To Begin An Acid Attack Burn Injury Claim.
- What Is An Acid Attack Victim?
- Why Are Acid Attacks On The Rise?
- How Can An Acid Attack Be Life Changing?
- No Win No Fee Acid Attack Claims.
- Why Choose Us As Your Claims Service For An Acid Attack Claim?
- Call For Free Advice And To Start A Claim.
Compensation For A Criminal Injury
If you have suffered a chemical burn following an acid attack, you might wonder what compensation you could claim. As an acid attack would be considered a crime of violence, you will likely need to claim through the CICA.
If this is the case, you would be compensated according to the tariff of injuries found in the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012. Examples of tariff figures can be found in the table below. Please note, the figure in the top row is not a tariff but included to show you how you could be compensated for up to three injuries and special expenses.
| Injury | Severity | Tariff Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple Injuries and Special Expenses | You can be compensated for up to 3 injuries and expenses | Up to £500,000 |
| Burns | Affecting multiple body areas | £33,000 |
| Severe face burns. | £27,000 | |
| Significant head burns | £16,500 | |
| Severe neck burns | £16,500 | |
| Severe to the torso | £11,000 | |
| Severe lower limbs | £11,000 | |
| Mental Injury | Permanent and seriously disabling | £27,000 |
| Lasting 5+ years | £13,500 |
Compensation for an acid attack can cover a wide variety of burn injuries and scarring to many different areas of the body. It could also potentially compensate for psychological injuries caused by an acid attack.
If your claim to the CICA covers multiple injuries, then the exact amount you can receive in total as criminal injury compensation will depend on what exact injuries are being covered. It also depends on which of the injuries you are claiming for is considered the most serious.
This is because, when claiming acid attack compensation under the CICA tariff system, you’ll receive 100% of the tariff for the highest-value injury (the one considered most serious). For the second-highest value injury, you’ll receive 30% of the tariff. For the third-highest value injury, you’ll be given 15% of the tariff.
When claiming through the CICA, your compensation could also include special expenses. This addresses certain financial losses you may have suffered as a result of your criminal injury.
If the perpetrator is known and has the funds to compensate you, it may be possible to claim against them directly. Your compensation could then include general and special damages. General damages is for the pain and suffering caused by your injuries, whereas special damages addresses financial loss.
For an estimation of the compensation for a criminal injury, you could claim, speak to our advisors at any time.
How To Begin An Acid Attack Burn Injury Claim
Are you interested in pursuing acid attack victims claims for yourself or a loved one? If you need to make an acid burn compensation claim but don’t know where to begin, don’t worry, all you need to do is call us and we will help you every step of the way to launch your claim and do everything within our power to make sure it is a success.
When you call us, you will speak to a member of our professional team who will provide you with a free consultation session. This will give you the chance to ask as many questions as you need regarding making your claim, and it gives us the opportunity to get some information from you too so that we can better understand your situation and advise you in the best way we can. We can also arrange for you to have a local medical if required at no cost to you.
Then with your agreement, we will start your claim on a No Win No Fee basis. What this means is that you will only be charged legal fees if your case is a success, and so you have no need to worry about any surprise legal bills! Please read further on in our guide to find out more about No Win No Fee.
What Is An Accid Attack Victim?
Before we look further into claims for an acid attack, let’s look at what an acid attack is. Also, what physical damage can an acid attack cause?
A victim of an acid attack is someone on the receiving end of a form of violent assault, where a corrosive liquid, such as Sulphuric Acid, is purposefully thrown at them with the intent to cause harm. In most cases, the acid is thrown at the victim’s face with the intention to burn them leaving them with permanent scarring and disfigurement. Depending on the type of acid used and the quantity, the skin tissue can be so damaged that the bones often get exposed and even sometimes start to dissolve.
These types of attacks can lead to blindness, and permanent scarring and disfigurement that cause extreme pain and suffering to the victim. The psychological effect can be catastrophic and the long term impact on the victim’s life will be very detrimental on their overall health and well-being.
Why Are Acid Attacks On The Rise?
Acid attacks are on the rise within England and Wales. There are various reasons behind this. For example, corrosive substances can be easy to carry around. They can be placed into a sports bottle, where they remain unnoticed, whereas a knife may be much easier to spot.
Additionally, not all corrosive substances that can cause injury to another person are illegal. For example, it is not illegal to purchase household cleaning products, such as bleach. However, this bleach could result in severe injuries for an acid burn victim. Furthermore, bleach is readily available in supermarkets and other shops. Someone who had bleach thrown on them is considered an acid attack victim.
Resources: https://inews.co.uk/news/two-hurt-acid-attacks-every-day-britain-2884916
https://news.sky.com/story/acid-attacks-increase-by-69-in-a-year-in-england-and-wales-charity-warns-12987581
If you want to know what to do after an acid attack to claim compensation, please speak to an advisor from our team. They can discuss the eligibility to make an acid attack claim, and if you meet this, they could help you get your case started.
How Can An Acid Attack Be Life Changing?
Being the victim of an acid attack will have a massive impact on your life. The most obvious change is permanent disfigurement but there is a lot more to it than just what is visual. These are just a few of many reasons why you may want to make acid attack victims claims for compensation.
Medical Effects Of An Acid Attack
The medical effects of an acid attack can be enormous. In most acid attack cases, the acid is thrown at the victim’s face and the severity of the damage caused will depend on the strength of the acid, type of acid and the length of time it takes to start to flush with running water. The acid can very quickly burn away the skin and layer of fat and in some cases even starts dissolving the underlying bone. Nose and ears may be severely damaged and eyelids and lips may be completely destroyed. Other effects can be as follows:
- The skull may be partly destroyed or deformed and hair will be lost.
- Eyelids may be either completely burned away or deformed, leaving the eyes vulnerable and extremely dry which can result in blindness. If the acid has got onto the eye directly, loss of sight is probable, possibly in both eyes.
- Deafness may occur due to the ear cartilage being partly or totally destroyed or deformed.
- The nose can become deformed, or / and shrunken, and also due to damage to the cartilage in the nose, the nostrils may completely close off.
- The mouth may lose its full range of motion and may become shrunken and narrow. Often the lips are completely destroyed making speech difficult and also exposing the teeth.
- Scars can go down from the chin to the neck area causing restricted movement of the neck.
- Respiratory problems may arise due to breathing in the vapours of the acid.
As well as these horrific effects, the victims may also be more susceptible to developing septicaemia, renal failure, skin depigmentation and in exceptionally severe cases, even death.
Psychological Effects Of An Acid Attack
As part of your acid attack victims claims, you may wish to seek compensation for the psychological effects of your incident.
Victims of acid attacks face many mental health issues upon recovery. Levels of anxiety and depression increase a great deal as does psychological distress bought on by concern about their appearance. Low self-esteem, particularly in women, and self-consciousness become an issue.
Being attacked undoubtedly will leave the victims traumatised by what happened and many may suffer with post -traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
It may take years of counselling before victims can finally recover mentally, if at all.
Social:-
As well as the physical and psychological effects, there are also many social implications that are common for those hurt in acid attacks which may contribute to them wanting to pursue a claim. For example, violent attacks including those involving the use of acid often leave the victim handicapped in some way. They are therefore often having to depend on others to help them with their day-to-day activities such as eating and running errands. Often these dependencies occur because many victims are unable to find suitable work due to the injuries they have sustained. Injuries may include impaired vision or hearing, which can have a huge negative impact on a person’s life.
So, as can be seen, an acid attack can most certainly impact every area of the victim’s life and so be totally life changing.
No Win No Fee Acid Attack Claims
If you’re worried about the cost of legal help when making acid attack victims claims, we work on a No Win No Fee basis to minimise this.
This means that you will not be expected to pay a penny until your claim is made successful and your compensation will then easily cover the cost. In the unlikely event that your claim was unsuccessful, you would not need to pay us anything at all.
Claiming for acid burn compensation can be a long, drawn out process as there are so many individual elements to the case and if you were to choose to work with a solicitor who is paid by the hour, you could find yourself with some large legal fees without any guarantee of compensation being paid. With No Win No Fee you have nothing to lose. As our payment relies on your compensation claim being successful, we always work hard to ensure the maximum amount of compensation is paid out to you.
Why Choose Us As Your Claims Service For An Acid Attack Claim?
If you’re interested in pursuing compensation from acid attack victims claims, we’re here to help.
We are a professional, friendly and highly experienced injury claims firm that treat all of our customers with respect and importance. We do our best to get the best compensation payouts that our clients deserve in the most efficient and smoothest manner possible.
We understand that you are having a tough time and will treat you with care and consideration and be discrete at all times. We will try our best to make the claiming process as painless as possible so that you don’t have any unnecessary stress and so can concentrate on your recovery.
We have been in the industry for many years and have had thousands of extremely successful compensation claims with maximum payouts, and with our expert solicitors help and guidance, your claim will be a success too. We are honest and reliable and always put our clients first. Our reputation speaks for itself.
Call For Free Advice And To Start A Claim
If you are a victim of an acid attack and you want to make a claim or have any queries about acid attack victims claims, all you need to do is call us on 0800 073 8804.
You will speak to a member of our professional team who will assist you in any way that they can. They will answer any questions you may have and will talk you through the claiming process step by step. We are a friendly, caring team. You can feel at ease with us and rest assure that your recovery and compensation claim will be our main priority.
Useful Links
NHS Advice on Treating Acid Burns
This link takes you to the NHS website that talks you through what you should do in the event of an acid attack step by step.
This link takes you to another NHS page that gives guidance on what to do if something gets in your eye.
Below, you can learn more about CICA claims via our other guides:
- A guide to criminal injury compensation claims
- Guideance on How long does a criminal injury claim take?
- Advice on Actual bodily harm (ABH) claims
- Details about whether you can claim compensation if no one has been convicted of the crime?
- Information and advice on Arson compensation claims
- Help for Rape victim claims
- A guide on Domestic abuse victim claims
Now that you’ve read our guide, you may want to speak with an advisor. To ask further questions or get support with a claim, you can get in touch with our advisors using the contact details included on this page. An advisor can discuss UK acid attack victims claims and answer other questions.
