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Injury

The Criminal Compensation Authority (CICA) will pay damages to qualifying victims of crime. Awards of compensation do not include a separate award to cover legal costs which are deducted from any sum awarded.

If you have been injured in a violent assault you can make a CICA claim. The CICA was established in 1964 and handles almost 80,000 individual cases and pays out around £200 million in compensation annually.

To make a successful Criminal Compensation Authority application it is essential to prove that you have been physically or mentally injured as a result of violent crime; however it is not necessary for anyone to have been prosecuted or even to have been arrested for the offence. You must however prove that the crime occurred and you must also have reported the crime to the police immediately or have a very good reason for any delay in reporting it. You may be surprised to hear that if you have been injured in the course of crime prevention you may also be eligible for compensation.

The current lowest CICA award is £1000; therefore the injury sustained must be serious enough to qualify for this level of compensation. The lower award applies if the injury took at least six weeks to resolve and required at least two visits to a medical practitioner. The maximum compensation level for physical injury is at present £250,000. Time limits are in place and it is imperative that CICA receives your application within two years of the incident taking place. In certain circumstances, exception of this rule can be made.

When deciding on compensation the Criminal Compensation Authority use a series of set tariffs for each individual injury sustained. This system is fairly rigid and will not in general give as substantial injury awards as the civil courts. The CICA will pay out for a maximum of three injuries for each violent incident but the tariff value for the second and third injury is heavily discounted.

As a ‘dependant or relative’ of a deceased victim you may also be entitled to claim, this can either be on behalf of yourself or a child. An individual dependant can claim £11,000 but if there is more than one dependant the sum goes down to £5,500 for each dependent.

If you are disappointed with the outcome of your claim, you can request a review of your award. If the outcome of this review is still in your opinion unsatisfactory then you can appeal to the CICA Appeal Tribunal.

The victims of crime have a number of options including Criminal Compensation Authority claims, issuing legal proceedings for damages in the civil courts or applying for compensation through the prosecution in the Magistrates Court or in the Crown Court and it may be best to seek legal advice about which one you should pursue.

Your claim will be dealt with on a no win no fee basis, the terms of which will be explained to you fully, both verbally and in writing before you start your claim. If for any reason your CICA claim is rejected don't worry, you don't have tp pay any legal fees or expenses. After our first consultation, you may decide not to proceed with your claim in which case you will not be liable for any fees - there is absolutely no risk involved with our claims!