CRIMINAL INJURY COMPENSATION AUTHORITY CLAIMS

A victim of violent crime is often in a difficult position when it comes to obtaining compensation for personal injury as a result of assault. Even in cases where the offender has been identified, apprehended and successfully prosecuted more often than not that person has no regular income or other means to pay any compensation that may be awarded by a criminal court or as a result of a separate private prosecution by a solicitor in a civil court. The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) is an independent public body, set up and funded by central government, the purpose of which is to distribute financial compensation to the victims of violent crime. Compensation for personal injury as a result of an assault that occurs in England, Scotland and Wales is administered by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority which has offices in London and Glasgow whilst Northern Ireland has its own separate scheme.

The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority operates a tariff scheme whereby all injuries are assigned a value within one of 25 separate tariff bands ranging in value from £1,000 to £250,000. If a victim suffers multiple injuries only the worst three are taken into account. Each separate injury is assigned into a tariff band to ascertain an individual value, with the lesser two injuries being discounted by 15% and 30% before all three amounts are aggregated, to produce the overall value of the award. The maximum that can be awarded for personal injury by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority is £250,000 however a further sum of £250,000 can be awarded for other losses, including loss of wages, in certain circumstances, to produce a maximum potential award of £500,000.

To qualify for an award the injury must have lasted for 6 weeks and have necessitated at least two visits to a medical practitioner for treatment. A claim to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority must, under normal circumstances, be submitted within two years of the incident giving rise to the injury. The matter must have been reported to the police as soon as possible and the victim must give both the police and the prosecuting authority full cooperation. It is not necessary for the perpetrator to be apprehended nor is it necessary for there to be a successful prosecution in order to make a claim to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority. The claimants behaviour before, during and after the violent incident is taken into account, as is the record of the victims ‘unspent’ previous convictions, as it may be inappropriate in certain circumstances to award compensation to some claimants who have a record of antisocial behaviour which is not limited to those with previous convictions for violent crime.

If you have been the innocent victim of a violent assault it is in your interests to be represented by a personal injury specialist who will give you clear advice on your legal rights. We use a totally risk free no win no fee scheme and we only make a charge if you successfully recover compensation. You do not have to fund or finance your claim as it proceeds. All of our lawyers are members of the Law Society panel of personal injury experts and are members of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers. If you would like to talk to experienced criminal injury compensation solicitors with no charge just use the help line. If after talking to us you decide not to take matters further you are under no obligation to do so and you will not be charged anything at all.