Criminal Injury Claims
If you’ve suffered a criminal injury, we can help you claim compensation
£70 million in compensation
Criminal Injury Claims
If you’ve suffered a criminal injury, we can help you claim compensation
What Is A Criminal Injury Claim And Can I Make One?
Criminal injuries refer to injuries that you have suffered as a result of the criminal behaviour of another party. Criminal injury claims can be made through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA). This government body awards compensation to victims of violent crimes.
The eligibility criteria for making a criminal injury claim is as follows:
- You must have reported the crime to the police
- The incident occurred in England, Wales, Scotland or another eligible place (for example, a boat that was registered in Great Britain)
- You suffered an injury due to a violent crime (keep reading this guide for examples of injuries that you can claim for)
Claiming through the CICA is often a last resort when other avenues of seeking compensation are not feasible. For example, you might be able to make a criminal injury claim against a vicariously liable party, such as a school or another institution, if you suffered an assault on their grounds. However, if you suffered a broken jaw during a mugging, it is unlikely you’d be able to claim against the criminal. It is these cases that the CICA awards compensation for.
If you are not sure whether you are eligible to start a claim, why not get in touch to use our free case assessment service? One of our advisors can provide further details on the process of claiming compensation and confirm whether you have a valid claim. They can also help assess whether your claim would be made through the CICA or against a vicariously liable party.
What Types Of Injuries Can I Claim For?
It is possible to claim for a range of different injuries through the CICA. A criminal injury compensation claim can cover both physical and psychological injuries.
Examples of what you can claim for include the following:
- Broken bones, such as a fractured jaw, which may have been sustained in an assault.
- Injuries such as cuts and lacerations which may be caused by stabbing attacks that create bodily scarring.
- Injuries to genitalia that may potentially be caused by sexual abuse or a sexual assault or instances of rape.
- Psychological conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) which you have been diagnosed with due to an assault.
- Injuries sustained as part of domestic abuse and violence, such as bruises, bone fractures, cuts and gashes.
If you are eligible to make a CICA claim, then it’s possible to be compensated for more than one criminal injury. You can learn more about criminal injuries compensation amounts further on in this guide.
Please get in touch with our advisors today if you would like to ask questions about your eligibility to make a criminal injury claim.
Can I Make A CICA Claim If I Have A Criminal Record?
You may find that you are unable to claim through the CICA if you have been convicted of a crime. There are two types of criminal convictions:
- A spent conviction, where the penalty has been carried out and a certain amount of time has elapsed. The crime is essentially wiped off the convicted person’s record.
- An unspent conviction, where the offender is still in a period of rehabilitation.
If you have an unspent conviction, you cannot receive an award if the offence led to a:
- Custodial sentence.
- Sentence of service detention.
- Removal from His Majesty’s Service, such as a dishonourable discharge.
- Community Order.
- Youth rehabilitation order.
- Sentence that is excluded from rehabilitation.
This also applies to an equivalent sentence given in Northern Ireland or an EU member state.
Anyone who has an unspent conviction but is not excluded may find that their award is denied or reduced. The CICA will take on board cases that could call for an exception.
You can claim as normal if you have a spent conviction, though the CICA notes that it could reduce or withhold a payment if the claimant has, for example, a proven involvement in crime, illegal drugs or tax evasion.
Established, Experienced, Dependable, Responsive and Committed
Criminal Injury Compensation Claim Payouts
The CICA provides set tariffs based on different types of violent crimes, the resulting physical injuries and the number of times that the assault occurred. This is established under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme (2012). Your potential compensation payout will be based on this.
Please see the table below for some of the tariff figures for criminal injuries.
| Category | Information | Award |
|---|---|---|
| Epilepsy (Condition) | An assault that results in uncontrollable epilepsy | £44,000 |
| Sexual Assault | The incident has a severe impact on the mental health of the impacted person | £27,000 |
| Sexual Assault (Repeated) | Repeated instances of assault that cause the claimant to suffer harm | £22,000 |
| Facial Burns (Injury) | Assault giving rise to severe facial burns | £27,000 |
| Facial Fractures | Multiple face fractures | £11,000 |
| Nose (Injury) | An assault that causes a complete loss of taste and small | £16,500 |
| Eye (Injury) | Assault leading to loss of sight | £22,000 |
| Brain Damage (Condition/Injury) | Slight damage to the brain that has an impact on the claimant’s intellect and personality | £27,000 |
| Tinnitus (Condition) | Permanent and severe condition | £19,000 |
You can claim compensation for up to three injuries that result from a violent crime. The calculations for this would be:
- The most serious injury with the highest value, 100% of the tariff will be awarded
- For the injury with the second-highest value, you will receive 30% of the tariff figure
- For the injury with the third-highest value, you will receive 15% of the tariff figure
You may also qualify to receive further compensation for injuries that are not included in the main tariff, in cases of:
- A lost foetus
- The contract of a sexually transmitted infection
- Pregnancy
Furthermore, your monetary award may cover the financial impact relating to your criminal injury. You can read further information on whether you can claim this type of compensation below.
Although CICA provides fixed compensation tariffs, it can be difficult to estimate the total award that you could be entitled to. Our advisors offer free case assessments to give you a better understanding of what the compensation will cover. This also gives you the chance to raise any concerns you may have about claiming.
Can I Claim Back Financial Losses?
In order to claim compensation for your financial losses, which are referred to as special expenses, you must meet certain criteria. For example, if you wish to recover the earnings that you have lost due to the incident, your inability to work must have lasted more than 28 weeks.
You will also need to show that the expenses you have incurred are related to your criminal injury. Said expenses must relate to things you needed to buy and could not access for free via other means.
Examples of special expenses you may be able to claim include:
- Equipment or property that you need but was damaged or destroyed during the violent crime (such as a wheelchair)
- The cost of adaptations required to make your home livable after your injuries
- Payments for professional care related to bodily functions and food prep
You can reach out to our advisory team to learn more about what special expenses can cover. They have experience in handling enquiries of this nature and can explain anything you are unsure of.
How Long Do I Have To Claim Criminal Injury Compensation?
Typically, you will have a 2-year time limit to start a criminal injury claim, starting from the date on which the incident occurred. Exceptions may apply to the time limit. However, you will need to prove that you could not meet it due to exceptional circumstances.
The time limit may also differ for criminal injury compensation claims involving a person who is under the age of 18. If you were below the age of 18 when you experienced a criminal injury, the two-year time limit begins from your 18th birthday.
On the other hand, you may have been under the age of 18 and not reported the incident to the police. Under such circumstances, you will need to prove that exceptional circumstances meant that you were unable to report the claim. For example, if you suffered from historical abuse. Once you have made a police report, you then have 2 years to start your claim.
If you are unsure about the limitation period to claim for a criminal injury, our advisors are available to provide free advice. You do not need to decide whether you would like to start a compensation claim at this stage. Our advisory team can simply answer any general queries that may help you decide whether to move forward.
How Our Criminal Injury Lawyers Can Help You
Our team of criminal injury lawyers have decades of experience navigating this potentially tricky area of law.
They have the expertise to offer you the support you need and the knowledge needed to navigate the claims process. They will ensure that you have the support you need to recover from your injuries and move on with your life.
Making a CICA claim for criminal injuries compensation can be a stressful process, especially if the CICA ask you for further details regarding the incident. This is where our solicitors can really help. Plus they can ensure that your claim is accurately valued and make sure every item that you can receive special expenses for is considered.
Furthermore, they can do this and more on a No Win No Fee basis. Our solicitors offer their No Win No Fee services under the terms of a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). You may have heard the term ‘No Win No Fee’ before without knowing what it means. It breaks down as:
- Your specialist criminal injury solicitor will not ask you to pay upfront for the services they provide.
- They also don’t charge for this work as the claim progresses.
- Your solicitor also won’t require a fee for this work if your claim is not successful.
- You’ll have to pay a success fee if your claim succeeds. Furthermore, this fee is taken from your compensation as a percentage that the law places a limit on.
We pride ourselves
on providing the best service
possible for our clients.
We pride ourselves on providing the best service possible for our clients.
Frequently Asked Questions
When making a claim for assault compensation through the CICA, you don’t typically need to supply evidence. However, you will need to provide:
- The police reference number. This both proves the incident occurred and allows the CICA to liaise with the police when assessing your claim.
- Proof that you meet the residency requirements.
- Medical evidence of the injuries in which you are claiming for.
The CICA assess each criminal injury claim individually, and yourself, or legal representative may be contacted for further details.
12-18 months is how long the CICA aim to spend processing each claim.
However, this is only an aim. Specific claims may take longer. For example, if the CICA is handling a backlog of criminal injury claims, it may take longer for a decision to be reached on each one. Other reasons for delays could include:
- Whether your injuries have healed.
- Uncertain prognosis.
- If they need more information.
Additionally, if the claim for criminal injuries is awarded compensation too early, you may not be fully compensated. Alternatively, you may feel as if the offer made by the CICA isn’t high enough and wish to appeal.
This is why it is best to work with an expert criminal injury solicitor. A solicitor with years of experience supporting criminal injury compensation claims will know when to accept an offer or appeal. Additionally, an experienced solicitor will make sure that your three most severe injuries and special expenses are accounted for. A specialist criminal injury solicitor will be able to help you navigate the CICA claims process. Furthermore, our solicitors can offer these services on a No Win No Fee basis.
Yes. If you meet the CICA’s eligibility criteria, you can likely have the support of one of our No Win No Fee criminal injury solicitors.
If you contact the team at JFLAW, an advisor will assess whether you are eligible to work with one of our solicitors. If you are, and you wish to have expert support through each stage of the CICA claims process, they can connect you to a specialist No Win No Fee solicitor.
To find out if you can claim:
- Fill out our contact us form.
- Call 0151 375 9916
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