By Stephen Hudson. Last Updated 10th June 2024. This guide is about making a criminal injury victim compensation claim. There are many types of violent crimes and criminal injuries which people could experience both directly or indirectly. It may be that you were the victim of a criminal assault, sexual assault, or suffered grievous bodily harm (GBH) at the hands of someone else.
Various injuries can result from being the victim of a criminal attack, both physical and psychological. Filing a criminal injury claim could give some financial assistance if successful whilst you recover from your injuries. Within this guide, we’ll discuss the process of making a criminal injury claim. This includes key steps such as establishing eligibility to claim and gathering evidence. We’ll also discuss compensation for a victim of crime and how much may be offered.
Legal Expert has a team of criminal injury lawyers that could support you if you have grounds to make a criminal injury victim compensation claim. You can contact us on 0800 073 8804 or reach us online using our online form or 24/7 live chat service.
Select A Section
- What Is A Criminal Injury Victim Compensation Claim?
- Who Is Eligible To Make A Criminal Injury Claim?
- Time Limits For Criminal Injury Compensation Claims
- Victim Compensation In The UK – What Evidence Will I Need?
- How Long Does It Take To Claim Criminal Injury Compensation?
- Why Are Some CICA Compensation Claims Delayed?
- Could I Check How My Claim Is Progressing?
- Criminal Injury Compensation – Claim Calculator
- Special Expenses Applicable To Compensation Claims
- No Win No Fee Criminal Injury Compensation Claims
What Is A Criminal Injury Victim Compensation Claim?
If you suffered injuries as a victim of a violent crime, you might be able to claim compensation through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA). The CICA is a government-funded body to give victims compensation for the injuries they suffered due to a crime of violence.
The CICA could compensate you for the following:
- Physical and mental injuries.
- Sexual or physical abuse.
- Loss of earnings.
- Special expenses, which we examine later on in this guide.
- Certain relatives may be able to claim on behalf of a fatality.
When making a claim through the CICA, the perpetrator does not need to be identified or prosecuted. Additionally, you can start the claiming process right after reporting the incident to the police.
However, there are circumstances where you might be able to make a personal injury claim directly against the perpetrator or vicariously liable party instead. In these cases, the perpetrator would need to be identified and have the financial resources to compensate you.
Call our advisors for further information about how to claim for criminal injuries.
Who Is Eligible To Make A Criminal Injury Claim?
If you have been a victim of a crime, a compensation claim could be made through the CICA. However, you will need to meet the following criteria:
- You must have reported the incident to the police.
- The incident must have occurred in Great Britain (England, Scotland or Wales), or another relevant place, such as a boat registered to one of the above countries.
- You must have been injured in a crime of violence. Arson, sexual assault and an attack or some examples that the CICA Scheme define as a crime of violence.
- You must adhere to the time limits. We will discuss what these are later on in this guide.
If you have any questions about how to claim for criminal injuries through the CICA, you can contact our advisors today.
Time Limits For Criminal Injury Compensation Claims
Typically, there is a 2-year time limit to begin a criminal damage compensation claim. These 2 years begin from the date the incident occurred.
However, the time limit can be paused for exceptional circumstances, such as historical abuse. But there must be proof that exceptional circumstances prevented you from making a claim within the typical time limit.
Moreover, the time limit also differs if the claimant was under 18 years old when the incident happened:
- If a report was made to the police, but no claim was made, the 2-year time limit will start on the claimant’s 18th birthday and end on their 20th birthday.
- If a report was not made to the police, if it can be proven that exceptional circumstances apply, then the 2-year time limit will start from the date that the incident is reported to the police.
For more information on the time limits to claim victim of crime compensation, or on how to check your CICA claim process, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Victim Compensation In The UK – What Evidence Will I Need?
In order for victims of crime to claim compensation, they may need to provide certain forms of evidence. It could potentially improve their chances of receiving criminal compensation payouts.
When making a CICA claim, you will be asked to produce a crime reference number in order to show that you have reported the crime to the police. The CICA can then work with the police on certain aspects of your claim, if necessary. If you don’t report the incident to the police, you will not be eligible to receive compensation for a crime through the CICA.
You will also need to provide evidence that you meet the residency requirements. If you are claiming directly against the perpetrator, or against a vicariously liable party, you may need different forms of evidence. For example:
- CCTV footage
- Photographs of your injuries
- If there were any witnesses, you should consider asking for their contact details so that they could corroborate what happened.
How Long Does It Take To Claim Criminal Injury Compensation?
Although we cannot say exactly how long it will take for criminal injury victim compensation claims to settle, we know that CICA attempts to settle most claims within 12 months. However, this may vary and will depend on the nature of the claim. Some claims may take a lot longer, such as claims of a complex nature or where the settlements are of a higher value. Likewise, there are certain cases where settlements are much quicker.
In cases where the victim suffers serious injuries and continues with ongoing medical treatment, a final settlement decision may only come after the prognosis. With these cases, depending on the circumstances, you may be able to request CICA to pay an interim payment.
Why Are Some CICA Compensation Claims Delayed?
Although there’s no set time, the victim of a crime’s compensation could have a delay for several reasons. These include:
- Where a case is more complex – When more information and evidence are necessary, CICA may need to wait on reports made by medical professionals or the police. Also, for cases involving child abuse or abuse of an adult, if the perpetrator doesn’t receive a conviction in a court, CICA may require extra information and evidence to help them reach a final settlement decision which naturally will take more time.
- Ongoing treatment – Where the victim needs ongoing medical treatment or is waiting for an official prognosis of future recovery time, CICA may not make a final decision. They may, however, pay an interim payment to provide some financial support to help prevent the victim from suffering from financial hardship as a result of being a victim of crime. We can advise how the length and depth of treatment could influence a payout for a criminal injury victim compensation claim.
Could I Check How My Claim Is Progressing?
You can call CICA at any time to check the progress of your claim. Although it’s possible to handle a claim with CICA independently, it can often feel very daunting and overwhelming. Having a criminal injury solicitor such as those at Legal Expert can be a huge relief.
If you would like Legal Expert to conduct your criminal injury claim on your behalf, please get in touch with us. But if you start your claim and need legal advice, we can still help and take on your case.
You may wonder how much you could receive from a criminal injury victim compensation claim. If so, read our next section for the answer to your question.
Criminal Injury Compensation – Claim Calculator
If you are eligible to claim victim compensation through the CICA, your psychological and physical injuries will be valued in line with the set tariffs found in the The Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012. Since these set tariff amounts are fixed, if your claim is successful, you will be awarded the exact amount that correlates with your injuries.
If you are using the main tariffs to claim compensation for multiple criminal injuries, then the multiple injuries formula will apply. This means that you will be awarded:
- 100% compensation for the highest-valued injury.
- 30% compensation for the second highest-valued injury.
- 15% compensation for the third highest-valued injury.
We have included in the table below some examples of CICA compensation that could be awarded for a successful criminal injury claim.
| Injury Type | Severity | CICA Tariff |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple serious criminal injuries and special expenses | Serious | Up to £500,000 |
| Brain damage | Very serious | £175,000 |
| Moderately severe | £110,000 | |
| Arms | Loss of both arms | £110,000 |
| Total function loss to both arms. | £82,000 | |
| Ankle fractures | Continuing significant disability in both ankles. | £16,500 |
| Disabling mental injury | Lasting 5 years or more but is not permanent | £13,500 |
| Scarring to the face | Serious disfigurement | £11,000 |
| Fractured pelvis | Continuing significant disability | £11,000 |
Special Expenses Applicable To Compensation Claims
You might be able to claim special expenses as part of your criminal injury claim.
Under special expenses, you could receive:
- Any equipment that you relied on as physical aid that was damaged in the incident. For example, if you had a hearing aid that was broken when you were attacked.
- Equipment that you require in order to cope with your injuries. For example, a specially adapted car.
- Adaptations to your home in order to cope with your injuries. For example, a stairlift.
- The cost of care that relates to your food preparation or bodily functions.
- Supervision costs if this prevents substantial danger to yourself or others.
All of the above costs need to be directly resulting from your criminal injury, reasonable, and necessary. The thing you are claiming for can’t be available for free anywhere else.
You may also be able to claim for a loss of earnings, but specific eligibility requirements will need to be met.
Crime compensation aims to compensate people for how they have been psychologically, physically, and even financially harmed from a criminal attack. Contact us to find out in more detail how criminal injury compensation is calculated.
No Win No Fee Criminal Injury Compensation Claims
If you have valid grounds to make a criminal compensation claim, then you could seek support from a solicitor. We recommend getting support from a solicitor who has experience in handling criminal injury claims. If you contact our advisors about your case, then they may put you in touch with one of our solicitors.
One of our No Win No Fee solicitors may offer their support towards your claim for victim of crime compensation under what’s called a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). Under this type of agreement, you won’t need to pay either upfront or ongoing fees for the solicitor’s services. You also won’t need to pay for your solicitor’s services if your claim is unsuccessful.
If your claim does succeed, then the solicitor who supported your claim can take a success fee. This is a legally capped percentage deducted from the compensation you are awarded.
To learn more about making a criminal injury claim, or to see if you could be eligible to work with one of our No Win No Fee solicitors, you can contact our advisory team. They can be reached via:
- Calling 0800 073 8804
- Using our live chat.
- Contacting us online.
