Personal injury solicitors for clients throughout England & Wales
England & Wales
If you have been injured as a result of a crime of violence, you may be eligible to apply for compensation through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority. Injury Law Specialists assists applicants throughout England and Wales, and our solicitors can explain how the scheme works and whether your circumstances may fit within it.
This is a different route from an ordinary personal injury claim, with its own rules, its own evidence requirements and its own time limits. Understanding those differences early is the most useful thing we can help with.
Yes, in many cases. The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority is a government scheme that awards compensation to people physically or mentally injured as a result of a crime of violence in Great Britain. An application does not require the offender to have been caught or convicted, and it is made to the scheme rather than to the person who caused the injury. Injury Law Specialists can explain the scheme and help you understand whether you may be eligible.
The most important thing to understand is that this is not a negligence claim. In an ordinary injury claim, you have to show that someone owed you a duty of care and broke it. A CICA application works differently. It depends on showing that you were the victim of a crime of violence and that you meet the conditions the scheme sets, which include cooperating with the police and applying within the time limit.
A second difference is how compensation is calculated. A negligence claim is valued individually, based on medical evidence about your particular injury and its effects. The CICA scheme instead applies a fixed tariff, with set amounts for specified injuries. That makes the process more predictable, but it also means the outcome may differ from what a civil claim would have produced.
These two routes are often confused, and the differences matter at almost every stage.
In some circumstances both routes may be available at the same time, for example where an offender with means could be pursued in the civil courts. That is a judgement which depends on the particular facts, and it is worth discussing rather than assuming only one option exists.
The scheme sets a number of conditions, and understanding them early avoids wasted effort. These are the ones that most often affect whether an application can proceed.
Applications should normally be made within two years of the incident. This is shorter than the three years that applies to most personal injury claims, and it catches people out. There are limited circumstances in which the authority may accept a late application, including where the applicant was a child or lacked capacity at the relevant time.
Applicants are generally expected to have reported the incident promptly and to have cooperated with the police investigation. Failure to report, or a decision not to cooperate afterwards, is a common reason for refusal. There are exceptions where there was good reason, but they require careful explanation.
The scheme allows an award to be reduced or withheld where the applicant's conduct before, during or after the incident makes it inappropriate to pay the full amount. This can include provocation, involvement in criminal activity or failure to cooperate with the authority itself.
Certain unspent convictions can prevent an award or lead to a reduction. This is a specific area where early advice genuinely matters, because there are rules about which convictions are counted and the effect they have.
The scheme applies a minimum threshold based on the tariff. A claim cannot succeed unless the injury is serious enough to attract an award. The threshold is set out in the scheme rather than being a matter of discretion, so it can be assessed early.
The scheme covers crimes of violence occurring in Great Britain. Injuries sustained abroad generally fall outside it, and injuries sustained in Northern Ireland are dealt with under a separate arrangement. Where a crime occurred elsewhere, different advice is needed.
The main award is calculated from a fixed tariff, which sets specific amounts for specified injuries based on how serious they are. The tariff is published, so it is possible to see in advance what range a particular injury falls into, although the authority makes the decision on the medical evidence it receives.
Beyond the tariff, the scheme can in some cases add amounts for lost earnings and for special expenses such as treatment, care or equipment that were not available free of charge. These additional elements have their own conditions and limits, and they require supporting evidence.
Where a person has died as a result of a crime of violence, the scheme provides for a bereavement award and, in certain circumstances, a dependency award for someone who was financially dependent on the deceased. These applications require sensitive handling, and we approach them accordingly.
Applying to the scheme is one thing, and dealing with what happened is another. Victims of violent crime often have access to practical and emotional support that sits separately from any compensation. This can include support through local victim support services, and help from the police's own victim care arrangements in some areas.
Where the injury has caused psychological harm, the medical evidence for the application may need to come from a psychologist or psychiatrist rather than a physical injury specialist. That is a matter we can help arrange as part of preparing the application properly.
If you are already receiving support from another organisation, that does not conflict with making an application, and it is often helpful for both to work alongside each other.
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority, usually called the CICA, is a government body that awards compensation to people who have been physically or mentally injured as a result of a crime of violence in Great Britain. It is a state funded scheme, not an insurance claim, and it operates under its own rules rather than the ordinary law of negligence.
They are genuinely different processes. A negligence claim is brought against the person or organisation responsible and depends on showing that they owed you a duty and breached it. A CICA application is made to a government scheme and depends on showing that you were the victim of a crime of violence and that you meet the scheme's conditions. The scheme also applies a tariff based on the injury rather than assessing each case individually in the same way.
The usual time limit for a CICA application is two years from the date of the incident, and this is shorter than the three year period that applies to most personal injury claims. There are limited circumstances in which the authority may extend the time limit, including where the applicant was a child at the time or where they lacked capacity, so it is worth taking advice rather than assuming you are too late.
Generally yes. Cooperation with the police is a requirement of the scheme, and the authority will normally expect to see that the incident was reported promptly. There are limited exceptions, including where there was a good reason for the delay or where reporting would not have been reasonable in the circumstances. This is a common reason for applications being refused, so it is worth considering carefully.
A prosecution is not required. The scheme exists precisely because many violent crimes go unsolved, and an application can be made where no one was convicted, and in some cases where no one was even identified. What matters is that the authority is satisfied on the available evidence that you were the victim of a crime of violence.
It may be possible to bring a civil claim against the attacker directly instead of, or in addition to, a CICA application, and in some circumstances a claim can be made against another party whose negligence allowed the harm to occur, such as a pub or a security provider. A civil claim against an offender is often difficult to enforce, and which route is better depends on the circumstances. It is worth taking advice on both.
The scheme pays compensation based on a fixed tariff for the injury, with additional amounts available for lost earnings, special expenses, and in some cases a dependency award following a fatal injury. The tariff sets specific figures for specific injuries, which is different from the individual assessment used in a negligence claim.
In some circumstances, yes. The scheme provides for a bereavement award and, in certain cases, a dependency award where someone was financially dependent on the deceased. Who can apply and what can be awarded depends on the relationship and the individual circumstances, so sensitive advice early on is important.
The scheme rules and the tariff are published and are updated from time to time. Our pages explain the position generally, and the applicable rules are those in force at the relevant time.
Injury Law Specialists is a marketing and advertising platform and is not a law firm or a provider of regulated legal services. All personal injury legal advice, legal services, casework, representation, legal support, and any free initial assessment or consultation promoted or arranged through Injury Law Specialists are provided by MB Solicitors, a trading name of MB Legal Solicitors Ltd.
MB Legal Solicitors Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales under Company Number 12281731. The firm is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) under SRA ID 8000764 and is a member of The Law Society. Injury Law Specialists does not itself provide legal advice or carry out reserved legal activities. Any solicitor-client relationship arising from an enquiry will be directly between the client and MB Legal Solicitors Ltd.
Read our Regulatory InformationTell us what happened and a member of our team can explain how the scheme works and whether your circumstances may fit within it. The assessment is free and there is no obligation to proceed.
