Criminal Injuries Compensation
Who should apply for criminal injuries compensation?
You should consider applying if you can answer ‘Yes’ to all of the questions in one of the following 3 sections:
- Have you been physically or psychologically injured because of a violent crime?
- Did the crime take place within the last two years? (We may consider cases of abuse that happened more than two years ago.)
- Has your parent, child, husband, wife or partner died as a result of a violent crime?
- Did he or she die within the last two years?
- Do you have a close relationship with another person who has been the victim of a violent crime?
- Were you either present when the crime took place or immediately afterwards?
- Did your involvement in the incident cause you a psychological injury?
- Did the crime take place within the last two years?
Compensation cannot be paid in the following circumstances:
- If the crime took place outside England, Scotland or Wales.
- If you suffered only a single minor injury, such as a black eye.
- If the crime took place more than two years ago, unless there is a good reason why you did not apply before. (We will probably not accept a late application unless you were injured as a child, your English is poor, or you have a learning difficulty.)
- If you were a victim of sexual abuse, or another sexual assault, which ended before October 1979, and the person who assaulted you was a member of your family who lived in your home.
- if you were the victim of a road traffic accident, unless the vehicle was used to injure you deliberately.
Other things which may affect your claim
Helping the police
When your application is assessed The Criminal Injuries Compensation Award normally ask the police for a report on the incident, and the doctor or hospital which treated you for a report on your injury.
There does not need to be a conviction for a successful compensation claim payout, but it is important that you do what you can to help the police.
It may affect your claim if you didn’t:
- Report the crime to the police or other authority within 48 hours (if possible) of the incident.
- Help the police investigate the case (for example, by making a statement or going to an identity parade).
- Tell the police that you would be prepared to go to court and give evidence if the offender came to trial.
Circumstances before, during and after an incident
Your compensation payout maybe refused or reduced if:
- You started a fight in which you were injured.
- You agreed to take part in a fight in which you were injured.
- You provoked the person who assaulted you and injured you (for example, by behaving in an aggressive or threatening way).
Criminal record
Your compensation payout maybe refused or reduced if you (or in the case of an injury which causes death, the victim) have a criminal record. This will depend on:
- how long ago you were convicted;
- how severe the sentence was; and
- whether the conviction is ‘spent’ (that is, a conviction that no longer counts, and does not have to be declared, under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act).
We take account of all convictions, that are not spent including driving offences, whether they are related to the incident or not.
Compensation
There are two main types of compensation – personal injury awards and fatal injury awards.
- Personal injury award - You may receive this type of compensation for your own pain and
suffering, whether mental or physical. You may be able to claim a
separate payment for loss of earnings and special expenses. You
may also be able to claim this type of compensation if you were
there when someone very close to you was injured as a result of
a violent crime and this caused you mental injury.
- Fatal Injury Award - If your parent, child, husband, wife or partner has died as the result
of a violent crime, we may be able to pay this type of compensation.
(This type of compensation is currently £11,000 if there is one person
claiming, or £5,500 each if there is more than one person claiming).
If you depended financially on the person who died, you may also be
able to claim compensation for this. We can also refund funeral
expenses to the person who has paid for the funeral.
Loss of earnings
You may be able to claim lost earnings if you could not work for 28 weeks or more from the date of injury.
You will be asked for evidence, such as written reports from your employer and your doctor, so that it can be decided whether you are entitled to this compensation and, if so, how much.
If you receive state benefits to replace your lost earnings, this will be take these from any amount paid to you.
Special expenses
You may be able to claim compensation for any specialist medical treatment or special equipment you need as a result of your injury. However, you can only do this if you have lost earnings or not been able to work for 28 weeks or more from the date of the injury.
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