How To Claim Compensation For Criminal Injuries

Last updated on: July 15, 2021

Have you been injured in a violent criminal attack? If so, you could be entitled to claim. In this guide, we will look at how to claim compensation for criminal injuries.

When making a personal injury claim for a criminal attack, there are two routes available to you. The first is claiming compensation from the person responsible directly. However, this is unlikely to be successful unless they have the funds available to pay you compensation.

Compensation for criminal injuries

The other way you may be able to claim is through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA). The CICA is sponsored by the Ministry of Justice. They’re an executive agency that seeks to compensate victims of violent crimes that occur in England, Scotland and Wales.

At any point whilst reading, you can contact us direct at 0800 408 7825 or get in touch online to start a claim. Our team are available 24/7 and happy to help.

Otherwise, read on to find out more about how you could be compensated for injuries sustained in a criminal attack.

Select a Section

A Guide To Claiming Compensation For Criminal Injuries
What Are Claims For Criminal Injuries?
Crime Statistics In The UK
What Criminal Incidents Are Eligible For Compensation?
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority
Damages You Could Claim Compensation For
Criminal Injuries Compensation Calculator
Our No Win No Fee Service
Finding A Helpful Lawyer For You
Contact Our Team
Essential Reads

A Guide To Claiming Compensation For Criminal Injuries

If you’ve been the victim of a criminal attack and have suffered an injury as a result, you may assume that you aren’t entitled to claim compensation for your injuries. However, this is not the case.

You can claim compensation by launching a personal injury claim against the person who committed the crime against you. However, this may not be appropriate for a number of reasons. We will look at these reasons in greater detail as we continue in this guide.

You may, however, be able to claim through the CICA for the injuries you have sustained. In this guide, we will look at the role of the CICA and the kinds of injuries that can be compensated for when making a claim of this nature.

We will also examine what damages and expenses can be included when you claim compensation for criminal injuries. In addition, we’ll look at how the amount of compensation you might receive could be calculated.

Finally, we will examine No Win No Fee agreements and how they can help you fund legal representation when pursuing a claim. We will also provide you with some helpful resources that may be of use to you.

What Are Claims For Criminal Injuries?

When you’re the victim of a violent crime, you may think that the only thing you can do to achieve justice is to report the crime to the police. While this is an important step to take, it often won’t mitigate the pain, suffering and, in some cases, financial hardship that’s resulted from your injuries.

However, if you’ve suffered from criminal injuries, then you may be entitled to compensation. You can pursue a personal injury claim against the person directly, but this may not be appropriate for a number of reasons. For instance, the person who caused your injuries might not have been identified, which would make it impossible to claim against them directly.

Furthermore, the person who committed the crime in which you were injured may not have the funds to compensate you. If this is the case, then you would not be able to pursue a claim against them.

However, you may still be able to claim compensation even if you don’t pursue a claim against the individual directly. A claim through the CICA could enable you to be compensated for the suffering you have endured; however, the settlement amounts awarded are often lower than in claims made against the perpetrator directly.

To find out more about how to claim, speak to our friendly team. They will be able to advise you as to the best course of action to take.

Crime Statistics In The UK

Each year the Office of National Statistics produces detailed statistics to show the prevalence and type of crime that happen in England and Wales. In the year ending December 2020:

An estimated 12 million offences were committed between December 2019 and December 2020.
Of these, 1,618,000 involved violence.
Instances of violence against a person offences that were reported to the police rose 2% from the previous year.
It’s estimated that, for the year ending March 2020, 1.8% of adults aged 16 to 74 had experienced sexual assault in the last year.

Compensation for criminal injuries statistics graph

The graph above shows the prevalence of crime in the year 2019 to 2020. As you can see, the rate of crime in 2020 was less than in previous years from March onwards. However, it’s important to note that this is not just related to violent crime, and so not all of these crimes will result in injuries.

What Criminal Incidents Are Eligible For Compensation?

When making a claim, either a personal injury claim against the assailant directly or a claim through the CICA, you need to prove that you have been injured. You can claim for mental or physiological injuries as well as physical injuries.

When claiming through the CICA, you are eligible to claim as long as you were injured as the result of a crime of violence that occurred in England, Scotland or Wales. Although there is no legal definition of a crime of violence, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme defines it in Annex B as:

A physical attack
An act or omission of a violent nature that causes someone to be physically injured
Threats against a person which causes fear of immediate violence
Sexual assault
Arson

Compensation For Criminal Injuries From Assault

According to the Crown Prosecution Service, assault is defined as “an act by which a person intentionally or recklessly causes another to suffer or apprehend immediate unlawful violence”. An assault must be an action taken by someone, and not merely omission or failure to act.

Furthermore, assault can occur where a person commits an act that intends to use unlawful violence against someone else, even if it did not. For instance, if someone tries to punch or kick you but fail to do so, this could still be considered assault.

However, in order to claim compensation for this, you would need to prove that you have been injured. In the instance of a punch or kick that fails to land, you may need to show that you have suffered from recognisable psychiatric harm as a result of the incident in order to claim compensation.

ABH and GBH

There are different kinds of assault that you may be able to seek compensation for. Two of these kinds of assault are Actual Bodily Harm (ABH) and Grevious Bodily Harm (GBH).

ABH is assault that causes harm to someone. The injury caused does not need to be serious or permanent; however, it should be more than transient injury. For instance, if someone causes bruising or scratches to you in an attack, then this could be serious enough to constitute ABH.

It’s important to note that you don’t need to have intended to cause someone injury in order to be guilty of ABH; you just need to have intended to use unlawful force. For instance, if someone pushes another person and they fall and break their elbow as a result, this could be classed as ABH as the perpetrator didn’t intend to break their elbow but did mean to use unlawful force.

Assaults classed as GBH must have involved really serious harm to the victim. This might be the case if the victim broke their femur in the assault, has been left with severe psychiatric damage or is left permanently disabled by the attack.

Rape And Sexual Assaults

Sexual assault occurs when someone is coerced or forced into engaging in sexual activities against their consent or is touched sexually without their consent. Sexual touching doesn’t have to be done with the perpetrator’s body part; touching with an object can also be considered sexual assault. Rape is when someone uses their penis to penetrate another person in the mouth, anus or genitals.

Victims of rape and sexual assault can suffer from physical injuries that could be grounds for a claim. For instance, you may experience cuts, bruising or internal damage as a result of rape or sexual assault. You can also claim compensation if the attack has caused you psychological harm.

In addition to this, you could be compensated if you’ve contracted a sexually transmitted infection as the result of your attack. You may also be able to claim if you’ve lost a foetus or become pregnant as a result.

Historical Sexual Assault

If you’ve been the victim of an attack in the past, you may feel that you’re not able to claim compensation for your injuries. This is because there is a three-year time limit to starting a claim when you pursue it directly and a two-year limit when claiming through the CICA. However, there are some exceptions to this, which can make it easier for victims of non-recent abuse to receive compensation.

For instance, if you were under 18 at the time you were a victim of sexual abuse, and it was reported at the time, then you have 2 years from your 18th birthday to claim. If the abuse wasn’t reported, you have 2 years from the date it was reported to make a claim.

Non-recent abuse can cause a number of issues into adulthood, including:

Difficulties with emotions such as anger, stress or anxiety
Depression or suicidal thoughts
Poor physical health
Problems with drugs and alcohol

The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority

We’ve already looked at the role of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority and how they can help victims of violent crime claim compensation. But there are a number of things that you need to do in order for a claim through the CICA to be successful.

It’s imperative that the incident was reported to the police in order for you to be able to claim. It should have also been reported to the police as soon as it is reasonably practicable. Usually, this will mean you would be expected to report it straight away. However, exceptions can be made if:

You weren’t old enough to report the incident
You lacked the mental capacity to report it
Your injuries made it so that you could not report the incident to the police straight away

Furthermore, your ability to claim may be affected if you have unspent criminal convictions. Annex D of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme outlines the convictions that may result in your compensation being reduced or withheld.

Damages You Could Claim Compensation For

When you claim compensation for injuries sustained in a criminal attack, this can be split into two heads of claim. This is the case whether you’re pursuing a personal injury claim directly or whether you’re claiming through the CICA. The first part of the claim will compensate you for the injuries you have sustained and the impact they have had on your quality of life. This is known as general damages.

You may also be compensated for the financial effect that your injuries have had on you. What you can claim for will depend on the route you’re taking to pursue compensation. However, it is important that you provide evidence of costs that you would like to be included in your claim. We will look at how financial loss can be compensated in greater detail in the upcoming sections.

If there is any stage in the process that you are unclear or nervous about, please get in touch.

Criminal Injuries Compensation Calculator

As we have already mentioned, general damages are the part of your settlement that compensates you for the pain and suffering caused by your injury. If you claim through the CICA, this part of your claim will come from the CICA tariff of injuries. When you make a personal injury claim, this could be calculated with the help of a publication called the Judicial College Guidelines.

Read on to find out more about how these heads of claim differ depending on whether you claim through the CICA or make a personal injury claim directly.

Calculating General Damages With A Personal Injury Claim Calculator

Below, we have included a table of values taken from the CICA tariff of injuries.

Injury	How much?
Seriously disabling and permanent mental injury, that's seriously disabling and has been confirmed by a psychiatrist or clinical psychologist	£27,000
Moderate burns to the head	£2,400
Severe burns to the neck	£16,500
Minor brain damage that is significant and long-lasting	£22,000
Moderate blurred or double vision of a permanent nature	£6,200
Fractured elbow with a continuing significant disability	£6,200
Loss of one dominant arm	£55,000

It’s important to note that if you have suffered from more than one injury and you’re claiming through the CICA, you won’t be paid the full tariff amount for each injury. Instead, you will receive:

100% of the tariff amount for the injury with the highest value
30% of the tariff amount for the injury with the second-highest or equal value
15% of the tariff amount for the injury with the third-highest or equal value

If you make a personal injury claim against the perpetrator directly, then your compensation will not be calculated based on the CICA tariff. Instead, the courts may use a publication called the Judicial College Guidelines to help value your claim. This is a set of guideline compensation brackets for a number of injuries of varying severities.

Special Expenses

When claiming through the CICA, you may also be entitled to receive special expenses for your injuries. Special expenses will compensate you for the financial impact that your injuries have had on you.

In order for you to claim special expenses, you need to show that you were off work and lost earning capacity as a result of your injuries for 28 weeks. Things that can be included in special expenses include:

The cost of replacing or repairing something that you relied on as a physical aid that was damaged in the attack, for example, a walking stick or glasses
The cost of treatment not available on the NHS, but that is reasonable and necessary
Adaptations to your home that improve your independence and enable you to get around
The cost of care that relates to your bodily functions, preparation of meals or supervision where this is necessary and unable to be obtained for free elsewhere

You may also be able to claim back loss of earnings as part of special expenses. However, you will not be compensated for your loss of earnings for the first 28 weeks that you were unable to work. This is in contrast to special expenses, which can be backdated to the date of your accident.

When you pursue a personal injury claim directly, you can claim special damages. These are somewhat less restrictive than special expenses and can cover you for any cost you have incurred as a result of your injuries. This can include transport costs, loss of earning or the cost of prescriptions.

Get The Right Compensation For Criminal Injuries

You may be unsure as to what you’re eligible to claim back after being the victim of a criminal attack. Speak to our team today to ensure that every aspect of the harm caused to you is compensated.

Our No Win No Fee Service

For some, the claims process can be daunting to navigate alone. For this reason, you may consider having a solicitor work on your behalf in order to claim. However, you may be worried about incurring large legal bills without the guarantee of a successful claim.

If so, you may benefit from a No Win No Fee agreement, sometimes referred to as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This is a contract between you and your solicitor that sets out the conditions that they need to meet in order to receive payment.

With a No Win No Fee agreement, you won’t be asked to pay your solicitor anything in order for them to start working on your claim or while it’s ongoing. You also won’t be asked to pay them anything if you lose your claim.

You’ll only be asked to cover their costs in the event that the claim is successful. In this event, they’ll deduct a small, legally capped percentage of your compensation. This will be agreed upon beforehand between you and your solicitor.

If you would like to know more about getting legal representation on a No Win No Fee basis, why not get in touch with our team today? They may be able to connect you with a solicitor from our panel.

Finding A Helpful Lawyer For You

You may have noticed online that there are many websites that offer a personal injury claims calculator service. While these tools can be useful in giving a rough estimation as to how much you could be owed, they often fail to capture enough information to accurately value your claim.

Our team of advisors are well-versed in personal injury law. As a result, they can ask all the right questions in order to be able to give an accurate valuation of how much your claim could be worth. If they feel your claim has a good chance of success, they could put you in touch with a lawyer from our panel.

To see whether you could be connected with a No Win No Fee solicitor, why not give our team a call today on the contact details below?

Contact Our Team

Many people imagine that the repercussions of their assault are just additional and unfortunate burdens for the victim to deal with. But this is not the case. Victims of violent crimes can seek compensation for their injuries, either through a personal injury claim or a claim through the CICA.

As well as criminal injury claims, we can also help with a number of other kinds of claims for compensation. For instance, we may be able to help if you have broken a tooth in a car accident, dislocated your shoulder in a public place or suffered an allergic reaction because of third party negligence.

If you’re ready to start a claim, you can: