Criminal Injury Claim Solicitors

in Norwich, Cambridge, Bury St Edmunds, Ipswich, Felixstowe & Thetford.

If you are unfortunate enough to be injured as the result of a violent crime, you will often have to obtain your compensation through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) as the perpetrator rarely has the means to pay any compensation. 

Most general  personal injury claims can be brought against a driver, employer, organisation or public body who will have insurance, so the insurer foots the bill. Where the injury occurs as the result of a violent crime, there will not be an insurer to pursue, so the CICA exists to ensure that you can still be compensated.

The rules are slightly different, and the likely settlement amounts usually lower. The starting point is that you must report the assault or crime to the police, or try to do so, as soon as possible after the incident takes place. The injuries you have suffered can be physical or psychological in nature.

The compensation application should be made as soon as possible after the event, and the maximum limit is two years later (whereas for most types of injury claims, it is three years). There are various other factors which may be taken into account, including ‘the applicant’s conduct at the time of the assault or crime’ and the ‘applicant’s character’. So, as a normal member of the public who is injured in a mugging you should be able to claim, but a known criminal who has provoked their attacker is unlikely to be compensated.

Minor injuries such as grazing, cuts and bruising will generally attract a maximum award of £1,000.  More serious injuries will receive higher levels of compensation up to a maximum of £250,000 for the very worst cases. Additionally, as with other personal injury cases, you may be entitled to recover an amount to compensate you for your lost earnings and other out of pocket expenses, but this is also limited to a maximum of £250,000. Therefore the maximum award available from the CICA is currently £500,000. For this reason, it is vital you get expert advice as to whether there are any other potential options in the most serious cases such as  brain injury, spinal injury and amputations.

If you need any initial advice, or if you have made a CICA claim and don’t feel you have been treated fairly, we will be happy to hear from you. Click here to find out more about the CICA application process.