Expertise
You may require our expertise in this area if you have been a victim of a violent crime and sufferred injuries as a result of it.
It arises from the government’s Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme which entitles those who are victims of crime to submit a claim to be compensated. You can find the government guidance here.
Criminal Injuries Compensation
You may be eligible to apply to the CICA in some of the below scenarios:
- You have been injured (physically or psychologically) as a result of a violent crime
- The incident was reported to the police promptly
- You have cooperated fully with the investigation
- The injury occurred in the last two years (exceptions apply in certain cases)
The type of compensation you could be looking at could cover:
- Physical injuries (temporary or permanent)
- Psychological trauma and PTSD
- Loss of earnings due to being unable to work
- Funeral expenses (in fatal cases)
- Costs of care and support
Main Stages
- Initial Consultation – assessing eligibility for a CICA claim and gathering your account of the incident.
- Application Preparation – compiling police reports, medical evidence, and witness information to support your claim.
- Submission to CICA – lodging the formal application on your behalf and corresponding with the authority.
- Assessment Stage – responding to requests from CICA for further evidence, clarifications, or medical reports.
- Compensation Decision – receiving the outcome from CICA; advising you on the award and payment.
- Appeal (if necessary) – challenging refusals or undervalued awards at the CICA Tribunal or via judicial review.
Complicating Factors
While we do our best to avoid your matter becoming too complicated, at times this is unavoidable.
The following factors can result in a more complicated case than first anticipated and it is important that you are aware of them:
- A claim submitted for the same injuries (in which case we would no longer be able to act)
- There are undue delays in reporting the crime to the police
- The injuries require extensive medical evidence or expert reports
- The CICA disputes causation (whether the injuries were caused by the crime)
Pricing
All costs given on our website are only indicative of a typical case. We will assess each case based on its own complexities, merits and foreseeable costs.
Fee Structures:
Our most common fee structure for this department is ‘fixed fee’ which will vary greatly based on the nature of the injuries and some other factors.
Alternative fee structures can only be explored with consideration of your specific case. Rest assured, you will be advised on whether are alternative methods available to you when you seek to instruct us at a consultation with the solicitor.
For information purposes this can either be a:
- Conditional-Fee Agreement commonly known as ‘no win, no fee’ in which you pay us a success fee at the end of the case
In order to get a better idea of the cost of our services in your particular case, we recommend you book a consultation first to see if we can assist you and advise you on the costs.
Timescales
You may be wondering how long your matter will take from first instructing us until the conclusion of the case.
This short answer is that the timescale of your case will depend on how quickly the CICA is able to process and come to a decision on your claim.
In our experience CICA claims can settle between 12 to 18 months from submission.
In the event that you are not satisfied with the award and would like to appeal the CICA’s decision then inevitably the matter will take longer.
Of course, the timescale is not rigid and will depend on many factors including the nature of the injuries, whether a medical expert needs to be instructed and potentially other factors.