Criminal injury relates to personal injury claims that have arisen as a result of a criminal assault and importantly a claim can be made even if the person that committed the assault was not prosecuted by the police.

Do I qualify for criminal injury compensation?

The government setup the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) which is a government organisation that pays out financial compensation to those that have been physically or mentally injured as a result of being a blameless victim of a violent crime. The CICA have a set of eligibility criteria which determines whether or not your criminal personal injury claim is likely to be accepted. The key criteria are:

• You must have reported the assault to the police as soon as possible

• You must have sought medical attention for your personal injury

• The assault must have occurred within the last two years

• You must not have caused or contributed to the incident

• The crime must have occurred in England, Scotland or Wales

In some instances if there is a good explanation as to why you were unable to meet one of the key criteria then the criminal personal injury claim may still be processed.

How much compensation could I receive?

Assuming that your personal injury meets the qualification criteria then the type of injury you have sustained and the circumstances dictate the level of financial compensation that you are likely to receive which is between £1,000 and £250,000 per injury with a maximum payout of £500,000 after considering all losses and expenses.

What is the process for making a criminal injury claim?

If you make a claim you will be assigned with a case worker. The process is distinctly different than the traditional personal injury claim for which the insurer is the entity responsible for paying out the claim and in many instances is willing to settle early to avoid the aggravation, time and cost of fighting a claim. The case worker will thoroughly investigate the claim and is unlikely to be easily fooled.

Will this cost me anything?

You have the option of handling your claim yourself, which is often advisable if it is small and straight forward, or you can hire an external solicitors firm but please note many large companies will not deal with criminal personal injury cases and the ones that do are likely to seek 10% to 30% of the payout amount as their fee if you are able to negotiate a 'no win no fee' arrangement with them.

What should I do next?

If you wish to find out more information or to progress a claim then please complete one of our enquiry forms.