Here at Beacon Law we have a proven track record of helping clients to claim from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA), the government body that compensates the victims of violent criminal assaults. As well as offering legal advice and dealing with the complicated admin involved we provide empathetic support for our clients.

We understand how traumatic the aftermath of a violent assault can be, and we work to take on the stress of claiming compensation, leaving you free to concentrate on self-care and healing. Organisations like Victim Support and Catch 22 offer additional services, and accessing mental health support, where possible, can also help with the difficult process of coming to terms with what has happened.

How Much Compensation Can I Claim for Assault?

The amount of compensation you can claim for assault will vary depending on the nature of the assault and the severity of the injuries suffered. The CICA awards compensation ranging from £1,000 to £500,000, based on a set tariff and the physical and psychological distress caused by your injury.

The CICA will also pay special expense payments in some cases. This is money intended to cover any costs arising directly from the impact of the assault, and is paid if your injuries mean you can’t work or have been incapacitated for more than 28 weeks.

The compensation awarded by the CICA is intended to cover the following:

• Mental or physical injuries suffered as the result of a violent crime
• The physical and psychological impact of sexual or physical abuse
• Earnings lost because a criminal injury has directly led to you having no or limited capacity to work
• Other expenses – such as medical bills and travel expenses – directly linked to your injuries
• A fatality caused by a crime – other family members can claim for funeral payments, bereavement payments, loss of parental services and on-going financial dependency

The compensation amounts set out in a published table by the CICA include the following:

• Facial Scarring – £1,500 to £11,000
• Loss of Sight – £22,000 to £110,000
• Fractured Femur – £1,800 to £11,000
• Paralysis – £27,000 to £82,000
• Brain Damage – £27,000 to £250,000

These are just a few of the injuries covered, so if you’ve been subject to a criminal assault that left you injured in any way you should contact the team at Beacon Law for a free, no obligation consultation. We’ll explain whether you could claim compensation for your injuries, and exactly how claiming from the CICA works.

If we help with your criminal assault claim we’ll do it on a no win no fee basis. This means that we take nothing in payment while the claim is being processed, and will only ever charge any legal fees if your claim is successful, amounting to no more than 35% of the amount awarded.

What is a Criminal Assault Compensation Claim?

A criminal assault compensation claim involves claiming for physical or psychological injuries directly caused as the result of a criminal assault. Unlike other types of personal injury claims, the vast majority of criminal assault claims are paid through the CICA.

The reasons why claiming through CICA is generally preferable to pursuing a standard civil claim include the following:

• You may not know the identity of your assailant
• You may wish to avoid having to face your assailant in court
• Your assailant might not have the resources necessary to meet any compensation they are ordered to pay by a court

You can make a claim through the CICA even if the person responsible for assaulting you has never been captured, or is yet to be found guilty. No matter what the circumstances are, you’re more likely to receive the compensation you’re entitled to if you present a full and persuasive case to the CICA.

In the aftermath of a criminal assault, gathering evidence and putting your claim together is probably the last thing you want to deal with, which is why working with experts like those at Beacon Law is such a good idea. We understand exactly what kind of evidence is needed to prove the extent and impact of your injuries, and what you might be able to claim as special expenses.

The types of violent crime which can lead to a criminal assault claim include, but are not limited to, the following:

Assault, including Actual Bodily Harm (ABH) and Grievous Bodily Harm, defined as follows:

ABH – injuries that won’t cause long term harm, such as stitches, short-term wounding, bruises and reddening, but are still sufficiently serious to support a claim for compensation

GBH – more severe and long term injuries which may include broken bones, severe bruising or sexually transmitted diseases

In both cases the psychological impact of the assault could be included in the claim.

• Domestic abuse
• Sexual abuse
• A terrorist act
• The killing of a loved one

The Role of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA)

The CICA is the body which oversees and administrates compensation for victims of criminal assault in the UK. If you’ve been injured in some way by a criminal assault then you can make a claim through the CICA.

In order to make a claim through the CICA you have to meet the following criteria:

• In the majority of cases the claim needs to be made within two years of the assault taking place
• You need to have reported the assault to the police, and the police reference number will then be needed when you start the claim. Despite this, the assailant doesn’t have to have been convicted in order for you to claim compensation.
• You suffered physical or psychological injuries as the result of a violent crime.

A violent crime is defined by the CICA in the following way:

• An attack
• A violent act that causes harm
• The threat of an attack that causes genuine fear of harm
• Sexual assault
• Arson

While the majority of assault injury claims are made via the CICA it is possible to pursue a claim directly against the assailant at the same time. Alternatively, in the case of an assault at work for example, you may feel that another party, such as your employer, has been negligent in allowing the assault to take place.

If you do pursue an assault injury claim in addition to a claim through the CICA, any compensation paid for one claim will be taken off the amount paid for another, as you can’t be compensated twice for the same injuries.

How to Claim Through the CICA

Criminal injury claims through the CICA are made online. At the time of making the claim you will need to have the following information to hand:

• The date and location of the assault
• The name of the police force your assault was reported to
• The crime reference number you were given by the police
• The name and address of your GP
• The name and address of your dentist if your injuries required dental treatment
• Details of any previous applications you’ve made to the CICA

The more evidence you can present to the CICA when making a claim, the more likely it is that you’ll receive compensation, and that the amount will be the maximum you’re entitled to.

The team at Beacon Law will know exactly what kind of evidence to gather to prove that you’ve been injured through a criminal assault, and also to flag up the seriousness of your injuries and any financial impact they have had.

Who Can Make a Criminal Assault Compensation Claim?

People entitled to make a claim for criminal assault compensation are as follows:

• The direct victim of a violent crime
• Someone who was injured taking ‘an exceptional and justified risk’.

This means you may be eligible for compensation if you were injured in the following circumstances:

• While trying to apprehend an offender or suspected offender
• While trying to prevent or remedy the consequences of a crime
• While helping the police to prevent or remedy the consequences of a crime

To qualify for compensation the risk taken needs to be unusual in nature, and not something you are trained to deal with.

• Someone who was present at and witnessed a violent incident or the immediate aftermath of that incident. This refers to witnessing an incident in which a loved one sustained an injury following a criminal assault, or being part of the immediate aftermath of an incident involving a loved one.
• Someone who lost a loved one as a result of a criminal assault

Nationality

In order to be eligible to make a compensation claim from the CICA you need to be one of the following at the time of the assault:

• A British citizen
• An EU or EEA national
• The family member of an EU or EEA national with the right to live in the UK
• A member of the armed forces, or a close relative in their household
• A victim of human trafficking
• An asylum seeker
• A national of a country which is a signatory to the Council of Europe Convention on the Compensation of Victim of Violent Crimes

Supporting Evidence for Your Assault Claim

The stronger the supporting evidence for your assault claim is, the more likely it is that the CICA will pay compensation. In addition, clear and compelling evidence of the nature and impact of your injuries will increase the likelihood of you receiving the maximum amount you are eligible to claim.

We will always work to make sure you receive every penny of compensation you are entitled to, including gathering evidence which includes the following:

Medical records

These will include the details of treatment received in the immediate aftermath of your assault. These records will help to establish the nature of your injuries, their severity and how they were likely to have been caused.

In order to strengthen your assault injury claim you should keep documents such as:

• Medical reports
• Treatment plans
• Test results
• Prescriptions

Police reports

As well as officially recording the fact that a crime has taken place, a police report will document the detailed information you provided at the time of the assault with regard to the crime and your injuries.

Witness statements

Statements from witnesses to your assault can bolster your compensation claim. These witnesses could be friends or relatives who were accompanying you at the time of the assault or passers-by who saw what happened.

The statements should be as detailed as possible and include the contact information for each witness.

CCTV

If the assault on you happened in a public place or outside a business there’s a good chance that it may have been captured by CCTV. We’ll try to track down and get hold of any relevant CCTV footage as soon as possible after the assault took place, as many systems record over footage after a relatively short space of time.

Photographs

Photographic evidence can be used to back-up your account of the crime and your injuries. This could include photographs of your injuries, the location of the criminal assault and any property damaged in the assault.

Expenses

You should keep records of any expenses which arise as a direct result of your injuries, including the following:

• Medical bills
• Prescription charges
• Costs of travel to and from treatment
• Details of any earnings lost through your injuries
• The cost of any mobility aids required because of your injuries
• The cost of any adaptations to your home or vehicle needed because of your injuries

Expenses of the kind detailed above – i.e. spending necessary because of your injuries – will only be awarded by the CICA if your injuries have left you unable to work or similarly incapacitated for more than 28 weeks.

The Process of Making a Compensation Claim for Assault

Being subject to a criminal assault which leaves you injured in any way is an upsetting experience. The process of claiming compensation for such an assault is bound to seem daunting and complex, particularly as you attempt to come to terms with what has happened and the injuries you have suffered.

When you work with the team at Beacon Law to make your compensation claim we do everything we can to offer support and understanding alongside our legal expertise. One of the ways in which we do this is to break the claims process down into a series of manageable steps.

As soon as you contact us we’ll explain what those steps are and how we can take the work of gathering evidence and liaising with the CICA out of your hands, leaving you free to concentrate on your recovery. The steps involved in a compensation claim for assault are as follows:

Medical attention

You should seek medical attention in the immediate aftermath of a criminal assault. This will deal with your injuries, increase the chances of a recovery and create an official record of how you’ve been injured.

Report the incident

You should report the assault to the police. They’ll do everything they can to gather evidence and identify and charge the assailant, and a police reference number is needed when making a claim to the CICA.
The police will also contact and talk to any witnesses to your assault, helping to build a full and detailed picture of what happened.

Contact Beacon Law

We’ll take the time to listen to the details of what has happened and explain the compensation claims process. This will include explaining how claims to the CICA work and whether you are best placed to claim from CICA or make a claim against the assailant.

In the majority of criminal assault cases, claiming from the CICA will be the best way of increasing the chances of being awarded the compensation you’re entitled to.

We can help with a claim to the CICA from the start of the process, or if you’ve already started making a claim but want to make sure you’re including all relevant information. We can also help if you’ve had a claim turned down and want to have the decision reviewed or appealed.

Expenses

We’ll talk you through the kind of expenses that might be included in your claim, and the documents you should keep as evidence of money spent.

Claiming

We’ll help you to make a claim to the CICA online and to provide supporting evidence for your claim. This will include evidence from the police confirming that you did not contribute to the incident in which you were injured and that you co-operated with them.

Criminal record

If you have an unspent criminal conviction it could mean you are not entitled to compensation from the CICA, or that the amount awarded is reduced.

The rules around when convictions are spent are complex, depending upon the type of conviction and the sentence received.

We’ll explain whether any conviction in the past could impact your claim for compensation if we handle your claim. In general, compensation won’t be paid if you have an unspent conviction which led to:

• A sentence excluded from rehabilitation
• A custodial sentence
• A sentence of service detention
• Removal from His Majesty’s Service
• A community order
• A youth rehabilitation order

This rule only applies to a conviction which is unspent, so if you have a conviction but are not sure whether it is spent or not, talk to the experts at Beacon Law before deciding whether or not to proceed with your claim.

The CICA

Once you have submitted your claim to the CICA they will ask the police for evidence, ask for any more information they need and then make a decision. You will be informed of this decision by post.

At the time of writing, the CICA aims to process all claims within 12 months, but complex cases involving more serious injuries could take longer. If this happens we will work on your behalf to claim interim payments from the CICA to cover on-going costs.

Interim payments of this kind are possible in cases in which it has been established that you are eligible for compensation but the final lump sum payment is delayed because of the complex nature of things like your injuries, loss of earning, expenses and future care requirements.

Time Limits for Making an Assault Compensation Claim

There are strict statutory time limits in place on making an assault compensation claim from the CICA. In all but a few exceptional cases you will be expected to make the claim to the CICA as soon as reasonably possible, with a fixed limit of two years after the assault took place.

Our own experience of dealing with assault compensation claims is that it is better to claim as soon as possible following an assault as the events will still be fresh in your memory and that of any witnesses. The sooner you contact us, the sooner we can get to work gathering the evidence needed to make the strongest possible claim.

It is rare for the CICA to extend this time limit, and they will only do so in the following circumstances:

• The application couldn’t have been made earlier due to exceptional circumstances
• The evidence supporting the claim is such that it can be determined without a claims officer having to investigate further

What if the Assailant is Unidentified or Not Convicted?

The fact that an assailant is unidentified or hasn’t been convicted will have no impact on your ability to make a claim for compensation through the CICA. Compensation for criminal assault injuries can be awarded if nobody has been arrested or convicted, providing the evidence is strong enough to convince the CICA on the balance of probabilities – this is a lower bar than the ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ required in a criminal court.

The team at Beacon Law will work with you to build a case which proves that you were the victim of a criminal assault and suffered injuries as a result. We’ll also ensure you meet all other criteria such as reporting the assault to the police.

Types of Injuries Covered Under Criminal Assault Claims

The injuries which can be covered under criminal assault claims range from cuts and bruises caused by ABH all the way up to long term, life-changing disabilities. The psychological impact of an assault can also form part of your compensation claim, and some of the injuries commonly included in assault compensation claims include the following:

• Injuries to soft tissues, including cuts, bruising and sprains
• Broken bones including legs, arms, ribs and injuries to the face such as a fractured jaw
• A partial or total loss of sight
• Head injuries ranging from concussion to brain injury
• Scarring caused by cuts or burns
• Whiplash injury to the neck
• Loss of teeth
• Loss of function because part of your body has been permanently disabled or amputated following injury
• Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) leading to severe psychological distress as a result of the assault
• Anxiety and depression caused by the crime, to a degree which significantly impacts your daily life

The full list of injuries covered by the CICA scheme is available in Annex E of the official Ministry of Justice guidance.

How to Appeal a CICA Decision

If your claim for compensation is turned down by the CICA, or you feel that the amount awarded isn’t enough, you have the right to ask for a review and – if still not satisfied – an appeal. In some cases a claim will have been rejected because of eligibility failures such as:

• A delay in reporting the crime to the police
• Failure to co-operate with the police of the CICA
• Applying for compensation more than 2 years after the assault took place

In other cases a claim might be refused because not enough supporting documentation was included, or the evidence wasn’t clear enough. Working with experts like those at Beacon Law can help to stop this happening in the first place, but if your application has already been turned down or led to what you think is an insufficient award, we can help with the process of asking for a review and/or launching an appeal.

If you disagree with the original decision you have to make a written application for it to be reviewed within 56 days. You need to explain why you disagree with the decision and provide any additional evidence you feel supports your case.

You cannot simply make an emotional appeal to the CICA, but instead have to explain that their decision is wrong on grounds such as the following:

• The CICA looked at the wrong information
• The CICA didn’t take all of the evidence into account
• You have new evidence the CICA should consider

Review

A claims officer other than the claims officer responsible for the original decision will consider the request for a review. The result of this review could be any of the following:

• The original decision is unchanged
• An amount originally awarded will be increased
• An amount originally awarded will be reduced
• The original award will be withdrawn altogether

Because of the risk of compensation being reduced or withdrawn entirely you need to take great care to read the decision carefully before asking for a review, and consult with experts in criminal assault claims. If you’re not happy with the results of the review of the CICA decision, you can appeal against it.

Appeal

If you disagree with the review you can appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Criminal Injuries Compensation), an independent body which will look at the case again. You have 90 days from the date of the review decision to make an appeal.

You can’t appeal simply because you don’t like a decision, but must have grounds for claiming that the CICA has misunderstood the law with regard to the facts of your case. You should submit any new evidence which you feel justifies your appeal to the Tribunal.

In some cases the written evidence will be sufficient for the Tribunal to make a decision, but in others you may have to attend an oral hearing to answer questions. A representative from the CICA will be there to answer questions as well, and the Beacon Law team will be by your side to ensure that the evidence supporting your appeal is presented as clearly and forcefully as possible.

Why Choose Beacon Law For Your Assault Injury Compensation Claim?

You should choose Beacon Law for your assault injury compensation claim because it means choosing a team that has over 200 years of combined legal experience to call on, and because we’re a family run firm and will make a point of treating you as a person, not simply a case number.

We can point to a track record of successful assault injury claims based on our ability to craft a compelling argument and our firm understanding of exactly what the CICA is looking for when evaluating a claim. We never settle for less than the maximum amount of compensation we think you deserve, and we’re always available to answer any questions you might have about your claim.

We understand just how distressing a criminal assault of this kind can be, and work in a supportive and empathetic manner to deal with the work of gathering evidence and making a compelling claim, giving you the space and time to concentrate on recovering from your injuries.

We provide one to one support and use jargon-free language to make sure you understand exactly what’s happening with your claim throughout the process. We do all of this on a no win no fee basis, meaning there’s nothing to pay up front and we’ll only take a fee if our handling of your claim is successful.

In simple terms, you’ll walk away with at least 65% of any compensation awarded, and the Beacon Law team will work by your side to ensure that the total amount is as much as you deserve. A criminal assault is a shattering experience, but we’ll do whatever it takes to help you start to rebuild your life.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Is there a time limit for filing an assault compensation claim with the CICA?

Yes, with a few exceptions there is a time limit for filing an assault compensation claim with CICA of 2 years from the date of the assault.

Can I claim compensation for assault if there were no witnesses?

Yes, although witness statements can be helpful when building a compensation claim, you can still make a claim without them. Claims for criminal assault compensation are decided on the ‘balance of probability’, which means that you have to present evidence making it more likely than not that you were injured during a criminal assault.

The evidence in question can include police reports, medical statements, photographs and CCTV recordings.

How does the outcome of criminal proceedings influence my compensation claim?

When you make a claim for criminal assault compensation to the CICA there is no requirement for the assailant to have been convicted or even identified and arrested. As long as you can show that you were criminally assaulted and injured as a result, you could be eligible to claim compensation.

What kind of evidence contributes most to a successful assault compensation claim?

The kind of evidence which could contribute to a successful assault compensation claim includes:

• A police report of the assault including your own statement
• Medical reports on the nature and severity of your injuries
• Statements taken from witnesses to the assault, if there were any
• CCTV footage of the assault
• Photographs of things like your injuries, the location of the assault and any damage done to property during the assault
• Paperwork such as receipts and bank statements to demonstrate direct expenses caused by your injuries and indirect financial impacts such as any loss of earnings