By Marlon Marquardt. Last Updated 18th November 2022. This article will look at the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme in detail. If you’ve been injured in a crime of violence, you could be eligible to make a compensation claim.
Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme guide
If you want to make a claim for compensation after a violent crime, you can claim directly against the person who committed the crime. In order to do so, you would need to know who they are and they would need to have the funds to pay you compensation.
If you don’t know who it is who committed the crime, it’s possible you could claim with the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA). The CICA is a government-sponsored agency that can award compensation to victims of violent crime.
This could include crimes like sexual assault, grievous bodily harm (GBH) and battery. However, there are other types of crime you could potentially claim for.
Read on to find out how you could claim through the CICA. Alternatively, get in touch with our advisors for free legal advice about your claim. They could pass you on to a solicitor from our panel to start your criminal injury claim today.
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Select A Section
- What Is The Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme?
- What Payout Could You Get From The Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme?
- Bands For Payouts And Awards
- Types Of Payments And Awards
- Criminal Injury Compensation – Example Settlements
- Contact Us For Help With Your Claim
What Is The Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme?
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme is the scheme through which victims of violent crime can be compensated. This scheme only applies to England and Wales.
According to the Scheme, you must fulfil a few requirements in order to be eligible to claim compensation. The incident must have been reported to the police in order for the CICA to award you compensation. Furthermore, a claim should be started within 2 years of the incident taking place.
To find out more about how the CICA works, why not contact us today? You could be connected with a criminal injury lawyer from our panel to work on your claim.
What Payout Could You Get From The Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme?
So you may be wondering what payouts are available through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme and what the CICA will take into account when considering your compensation amount.
There are a number of different crimes of violence that you could claim compensation for:
- A violent crime that has led to death
- Grievous Bodily Harm (GBH)
- Actual Bodily Harm (ABH)
- Sexual abuse or assault
- Rape
- Watching a loved one be harmed in a crime of violence.
Your compensation could include:
- Money paid to compensate you for your injuries.
- Special expenses
- Loss of earnings
We will take a closer look at how your compensation could be calculated later on in this guide.
Bands For Payouts And Awards
There is a minimum and maximum of what you could claim within the tariff of injuries in the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme.
Minimum Payouts
The least you could claim through the CICA is £1,000.
If your injuries are worth less than £1,000, you could apply for The Hardship Fund. This is a fund that provides temporary relief to low-paid workers who cannot work because of injuries sustained in a violent crime.
Maximum Payouts
There is also a maximum compensation award that you can be entitled to through the CICA. The maximum award that can be made for an injury is £250,000. The maximum total value of a claim, inlcuding special expenses and loss of earnings, is £500,000.
Types Of Payments And Awards
This section will look in more detail at the types of payments you could be awarded. The CICA will judge your eligibility for any of these payments.
Injury Payments
You could claim for injury payments if your injury is in the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme tariff.
You could potentially also claim if a pre-existing injury listed in the tariff was made worse as a result of a violent crime. In these instances, the payment will reflect how the crime exacerbated the injury; you will not be compensated for the injury itself. If the exacerbation of the injury is worth less than £1,000, then a payment will not be made.
Multiple Injuries
You can make a claim for multiple injuries through the CICA. However, you would usually only receive:
- 100% of the tariff value of the most serious injury
- 30% of the tariff value with an equal value or second-highest value
- 15% of the tariff value for an additional injury with the third-highest value
You could also potentially claim additional payments if you became pregnant, lost a foetus or contracted a sexually transmitted infection as the result of the crime you’re claiming for. These payments will not be subject to the multiple injury formula mentioned above.
Loss of Earnings
To claim compensation for a loss of earnings, your injury must be serious enough to have caused a very limited capacity or total inability to work. The payment is calculated at the rate of statutory sick pay at the date your claim is decided.
You may also be asked to provide evidence to show:
- You were in employment at the time of the violent crime
- That you had an established work history for 3 years immediately prior, or a good reason why this can’t be provided (for example, being in full-time education or acting as a carer)
- That you were forced to lose out on earnings for more than 28 weeks.
Loss of earnings will only be paid from the 29th week onwards- you will not be compensated for the first 28 weeks of lost earnings.
Special Expenses
To claim special expenses through the CICA, you need to have lost earnings or have a diminished earning capacity for more than 28 weeks. However, the difference between this and a loss of earnings payment is that you may receive compensation for expenses from the date of the injury.
To be eligible, the CICA will ask you to prove that the goods or services you are wanting to claim for cannot be attained for free elsewhere. It must also be a necessary and reasonable expense that directly resulted from your criminal injury.
The CICA will also consider any benefits you could claim that would cover what you are claiming for, regardless of whether you actually claim that benefit. This could reduce what you receive.
Some examples of what you could claim for:
- Physical aids, such as glasses or a walking stick, that were damaged in the attack
- Medical treatments that are not free under the NHS
- Adaptations to the home that improve your independence
- Costs of care relating to bodily functions, such as bathing and meal preparation
Get in touch with our skilled advisors today to find out more about what you could claim for through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme.
Criminal Injury Compensation – Example Settlements
Criminal injuries compensation through the CICA is set according to the tariff found in the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012.
This tariff includes figures for many types of criminal injuries, such as compensation for domestic abuse or sexual assault.
Provided below is a table that shows some of the compensation rates featured within the tariff.
| Injury | Injury Type | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple areas | Burns | £33,000 | You could be compensated for burns that have affected multiple areas of the body. 25% of total skin will be covered with significant scarring. |
| Paralysis | Moderate Paraplegia | £11,0000 | You could claim here for a substantially incomplete impairment of motor or sensory function in the lower extremities. |
| Mental Injury | Seriously Disabling | £27,000 | Compensation could be awarded for a permanent mental injury that is confirmed by a psychiatrist or clinical psychologist. |
| Nerve Damage | Peripheral Sensory Nerve Damage | £1,500 | You could claim for a permanent and significant loss of sensation in an area such as the leg. |
| Face | Fractured Jaw Bone | £6,200 | This may cover a fractured jaw bone that requires surgery. A significant disability will remain. |
| Elbow | Dislocated or Fractured | £11,000 | You could claim compensation for the dislocation or fracture of both elbows that has left a significant and lasting disability. |
| Lung | Puncture | £1,500 | This could be awarded for the puncture of one lung. |
| Physical Abuse of Adults | Severe | £5,500 | You could claim here for a pattern of repetitive violence that has resulted in minor disfigurement. |
| Sexual Offence Against a Minor | Sexual Assault | £3,300 | You could be compensated for a pattern of repeated non-penetrative sexual and physical acts under the clothing. |
| Scarring | Head | £3,500 | Scarring to the head that causes serious disfigurement |
If you have been harmed in a criminal assault and would like to receive professional help with starting a claim, then please reach out to one of our advisers to learn more about how to claim through the CICA for criminal injury compensation.
Contact Us For Help With Your Claim
If you’re considering claiming the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme, our solicitors could help make the process as smooth as possible for you. But you may be concerned about the costs attached to hiring a lawyer.
You should know that the solicitors on our panel provide their services on a No Win No Fee basis. In this type of agreement, you won’t be required to pay your lawyer for their work if you do not receive compensation. You don’t even need to be concerned about upfront or ongoing fees.
But you may be wondering, ‘what happens if I do get compensation?’. In this case, your solicitor will deduct a success fee from your compensation amount once fully paid. This is a legally capped percentage of your settlement, meaning you will get to keep most of the compensation you are awarded.
Does a No Win No Fee agreement sound appealing to you? Get in touch with our team of trained advisors to find out more. They can pass you on to a solicitor from our panel who can help you start your criminal injury claim today.
- Call us on 0800 408 7825
- Use the live chat to get instant answers
- Use our online contact form
Related Information
Thank you for reading our guide about the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme. We hope it answered any questions you may have had. For more related information, please see below.
Can You Claim Hit and Run Compensation Via The CICA? – Want to know how to claim after a hit and run accident? Our article can help you.
What Happens When You Make a Claim? – If you have questions about the claims process, this guide could answer them.
Manslaughter and Murder Victim Personal Injury Guide – You could claim compensation if a loved one has been the victim of manslaughter or murder. Find out how in our article.
Getting Help for Domestic Violence and Abuse – An NHS page for domestic abuse and violence victims.
Rape Crisis – This charity aims to support sexual assault victims in England and Wales.
Samaritans – A mental health charity with a free, confidential helpline for those struggling with their mental health.
Thank you for reading our guide on the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme.
Article by AO
Publisher ET