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Claiming from CICA, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority

By Ian Morris | Updated October 19th, 2022

16 questions have been answered on this subject - ask us your question

Many people are unaware that if you are an innocent victim of a crime and you are injured as a result of being involved in a crime, you are well within rights to claim for compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.

The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) is run by the government and it ensures that anybody who has been injured as a direct result of being involved innocently in a crime such as a burglary, a rape or mugging, gets the compensation they deserve. Victims of criminal assaults are entitled to put in a claim for compensation. Injuries after such crimes do not have to be physical; they can be emotional as well. Many people do not realise the mental affects being involved in such a crime and it can be very traumatic. Criminal injuries compensation also covers emotional injuries such as not being able to leave the house, or depression.

Claimants should be aware that they do not need to have a Solicitor to pursue a claim via the CICA scheme and they can, if they so wish make an application to the scheme directly via the CICA website. If they pursue a claim in such a manner, they will not have to pay a % of any compensation settlement to a Solicitor.

However, many claimants prefer the peace of mind afforded to them by having a specialist Solicitor act for them. Our Solicitors are able to assist with such claims and would handle them on the basis that no costs would be payable should the claim fail (subject to no cancellation, withdrawal from claim or provision of false and misleading information) and that a fee of 25% of any compensation settlement awarded to the claimant by the CICA would be deducted by the acting Solicitor.

Each case is assessed on a case by case basis and there is no fixed amount that is awarded to each case, but the amount you will receive for your injuries largely depends on how serious the crime was and also how badly injured you have been. You will need to provide medical evidence of your injuries as well as any costs you have incurred because of your accident. You should document any visit to the hospital or your doctor, as well as keeping a diary of things that have had to change as a result of the crime.

In order to help you progress your application through CICA and to ensure that your case is strong enough to warrant awarding compensation, it would be in your best interests to hire the services of a solicitor to help you. Your solicitor will be able to put a case together on your behalf which should cover all the aspects of the crime as well as details of your injuries and relevant evidence to support your claim. Once a case has been put together by your solicitor, it will be submitted to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority for assessment. It can be a long process but you need to persevere with it.

16 questions have been answered on this subject - ask us your question

Comments & Questions

Read on for questions and advice about claiming...

I’ve put in for criminal injuries through government website but I think I should of gone through solicitor, can I still do this?

Thanks

How far in to the process are you?

Am I entitled to any claim if i was shot during a hijacking with a delivery vehicle?

This would be a criminal injury compensation claim and you would be able to pursue such action – so long as the incident was reported to the police and you cooperated fully with their investigations.

We can help you make such a claim. If you would like advice and to make a Criminal Injury Compensation claim, please call us on 01225430285.

I instructed a Solicitor to pursue my criminal injury compensation claim, but I thought it would be dealt with more quickly.

I was assaulted and had a suspected fractured eye socket, swollen jaw, black eyes, bruising and bumps on my legs and head. The man who assaulted me was found guilty and received 26 months in prison.

The Police report was received by my solicitor but she hasn’t obtained the ambulance report (the ambulance was called to my home where the assault took place on the day). This claim was made 15 months ago!

My Solicitor told me that she needs to get the ambulance report which can’t be found?! She has informed me that without it, the CICA will not pay me any compensation. I’m very unhappy with the Solicitor.

It is unfortunate that claims made to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) scheme take so long to process. The reality is that as a tax payer funded scheme, the volume of work required is not matched by the resources provided by the state and as such, to process claims via the CICA regularly takes a minimum of 18 months and often much longer. It is not for the lack of effort by claimant Solicitors, but due to the system.

You mention being unhappy with your Solicitor. It is important that you make your Solicitor aware of your unhappiness (in writing) so that they can have the opportunity to demonstrate to you that they are doing everything that should be expected of them in representing you. You can also make a formal complaint to them if you are unhappy with them.

The Ambulance report that your Solicitor is attempting to obtain may well be important but the lack of the report should not prevent you from being able to settle the claim – so long as medical records from your Hospital or GP treatments are available.

An incident happened whilst I was a work. 2 men came in with guns, they’d pointed them at us and threatened us. This has left me feeling very anxious and stressed. I can’t sleep and I feel very jumpy.

The incident that has caused you the emotional trauma and psychological injury was one of a criminal nature. As such, under UK law the route to making a claim for compensation would be via the government funded Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) scheme for the victims of crime. To make a claim, you’ll need to have sought medical attention for your injuries whether they be physical or in your case, emotional and you must cooperate fully with the Police during their investigation of the incident. You’ll also need the Crime Reference Number (CRN).

You can make a claim direct to the CICA via their website without legal representation. However, if you prefer, you can instruct a Solicitor to pursue a CICA claim for you on a No Win No Fee basis. Pursuing a claim with a Solicitor would afford you legal representation and you would pay nothing if your claim were to fail. However, you would have to contribute up to 25% of your compensation if successful with the claim. You would not need any ATE insurance for such a claim, so you would not have any other deductions or costs other than the 25% deduction upon success.

My husband was shot while he was at work. He was taken to Hospital to undergo an emergency operation. He later required physiotherapy as he was shot from the back, with the wound next to his spine and also in the neck. The bullet went through under his left arm.

After surgery, he stayed in the hospital for 7 days. He is still off work, recovering at home but has had complications. He is attending check ups now and then. Can he claim compensation from the employer as he was at work when he got shot?

I cannot see how you could hold his employer responsible for the fact that he was injured in a shooting – unless your Husband works in a known ‘hazardous role’ where such an incident were to be expected and the employer didn’t provide adequate protective equipment.

In this matter, it would appear that the incident was the result of criminal activity. If so, the only route to claiming compensation in the UK is via the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) – a government funded statutory body that may compensate the victims of criminal injuries. Therefore, if your Husband was shot in the UK, he can contact us to make a CICA claim as long as he has cooperated with the police.

Hi, I have had a claim for criminal injuries compensation rejected, as they said I was uncooperative with the police by dropping the charges. I did this as I was led to believe by the police that there was not enough evidence for them to get the case to court. I was also getting more and more depressed with panic attacks. Is it worth me asking for my case to be reviewed? I feel so angry that I have had justice and I have had to go back to have therapy.

You should certainly appeal and provide a written explanation as to why you didn’t press the charges – it seems that you were almost advised to do so and this should give food for thought to the CICA authorities when considering your appeal.

Are you able to help me on how to ask for a review. The solicitor I was using is not willing to help me with a review and says they will send the information from cica back. If you can’t help can you forward my details onto a solicitor that would be willing to help even just the wording.

It is difficult for a Solicitor to get involved with CICA appeals due to the cost (to the Solicitor) of them doing so and the strong possibility that they would not be able to recover the cost incurred. We realise that this sounds harsh, but of course, Solicitors when considering acting on a No Win No Fee basis have to risk assess the prospects of a claim.

In many cases, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority look more kindly upon appeals that are made directly from a claimant rather than via a Solicitor. In your case, you should appeal directly in writing to them and as soon as possible. You should address each of their reasons for rejecting your initial claim and detail why your circumstances and the attitude of the Police officers dealing with the case lead to you not pressing charges against the person responsible.

Given the awful trauma that you were subjected to, it is understandable that you may not have been in the right frame of mind to understand the consequences of not pressing charges or being in a position to fight the negative attitude of the Police officers handling the case. You should explain how these issues lead to you perhaps making the wrong decision. You should also cite the details of how you have been injured – physically and emotionally and list what treatments and discussions you have had with your GP and other health professionals.

Of course, you could also return to the Police and request that your case be re-opened and again, cite that you feel that you were encouraged to ‘leave’ the case on the basis that the Police Officers were not positive about the case. If so, it would be good to add that in to any appeal that you were to send to the CICA.

Hello, I don’t know if I am on the right path here or if you will be able to help me. It will be 3 years in September my partner was attacked in our home after answering the door, he was stabbed numerous times in the arm which left him having to under go 4 hour surgery. This has made me terrified of answering the door and under no circumstances will I open the door if I am home alone. I don’t like been in the house alone either. This has had a great impact of my day to day living. Thank you and look forward to hearing from you.

Dear Jamie

I am really sorry to hear about your situation and I can understand why you feel the way you do. There is a government funded scheme to compensate the victims of criminal assaults – it’s called the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA). They have very strict guidelines regarding who they will and will not compensate, so I cannot at this stage say whether or not you will have any chance of claiming from them. You would certainly have had to report the details of your anxiety and distress to your GP and sought medical treatment.

At Direct2Compensation we do not run CICA claims – because of the changes made to the legal system and claims process as a result of the Governments LASPO Act 2012.

I will email you directly with a link for the CICA so that you can contact them directly to pursue this further. You do not need a Solicitor to pursue a CICA claim – you simply fill in an application and submit it to them.

Best wishes

Ian Morris

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