Criminal Injuries Compensation

What is the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA)?

The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) is the government body that compensates blameless victims of violent crime in England, Wales and Scotland

It is an agency of the Ministry of Justice in Glasgow, from where it administers the compensation scheme for England, Wales and Scotland.

It has over 200 staff. According to the CICA’s Annual report for 2024-2025, it dealt with 42,000 applications, finalised 35,000 claims, and paid out over £164 million to victims of crime. The number of applications the CICA receives goes up each year.

Who can make a Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) claim?

A person who suffers injury as a direct result of a crime of violence committed against them.

The Criminal Injuries Compensation scheme document defines a crime of violence as involving:

1. A physical attack.
2. Any other act (or omission) of a violent nature which causes physical injury to another person.
3. A threat against a person, causing fear of immediate violence, in circumstances which would cause a person of ‘reasonable firmness’ to be put in fear;
4. A sexual assault to which a person does not consent

What you need to know before you start a CICA claim

1. The assault must be reported to the Police.
2. The CICA will take into account how you behaved before, during, and after the incident that led to your injury. If your conduct during this period is deemed inappropriate, you might not receive compensation at all, or it may be reduced.
3. It is not necessary for the person or persons who assaulted you to be identified or convicted of an offence. However, you must still co-operate with the Police and the CICA, as far as is reasonably possible, in trying to bring the offender to face justice.
4. You must co-operate with the CICA by:

• • Keeping them updated on any change of address or telephone number.
  • Responding promptly to all communications from the CICA
  • Not holding back any information that could affect your claim
  • Not exaggerating or providing false information about your injuries
  • Attending all medical appointments, you are given in relation to your injuries

What type of criminal injuries can I claim for?

The CICA 2012 scheme document sets out the types of injury the victim of a violent crime may claim for. The document runs to eighty-three pages and is not easy to follow, especially if you are trying to work out precisely what you can claim.

Don’t let the length of the document put you off claiming. If you find it difficult to follow the scheme document, speak to an experienced CICA solicitor.

How long do I have to apply for criminal injury compensation?

An application should be sent to the CICA as soon as possible after the incident. The CICA claim time limit is two years from the date of the assault.

There are a couple of exceptions to this rule:

1. For child victims of crime, the two-year time limit doesn’t start until they reach their eighteenth birthday, as long as the crime was reported to the Police before the child reaches eighteen.
2. Late applications may only be accepted if evidence surfaces that “exceptional circumstances” prevented an earlier claim. Examples of this could include:

• • The injured person was too young or too frightened to report the crime at the time.
  • The victim of the criminal act suffers from serious mental health issues.
  • New evidence comes to light that supports your claim.

Our advice is to start your claim as soon after the incident. It can take well over a year before you get an offer. The sooner the paperwork is completed and sent off, the sooner the claim will settle.

Can the CICA withhold payment from me due to my past criminal convictions?

Yes, in some circumstances, they can. Grounds for withholding or reducing a criminal injuries award include the following:

• You failed to report the assault to the Police
• Failure to co-operate in bringing the perpetrator of the crime to justice
• Failing to assist a CICA claims officer (such as not answering any questions they put to you during the course of the claim)
• When your conduct during or after the incident makes it inappropriate to make an award in your favour.
• If you have unspent convictions, the rules of the 2012 CICA scheme are clear on this: any unspent conviction may mean a refusal to award you compensation. Alternatively, the amount may be reduced by a certain percentage.

For what kinds of compensation can the CICA make an award?

• Injuries suffered as a result of the criminal act, and depending on the individual circumstances of your case. ‘Injuries’ include psychological injuries (but not for temporary mental anxiety or other similar temporary conditions).
• Loss of earnings is only payable to those who were in regular paid employment at the time of the incident, and who were unable to work for twenty-eight weeks, as a result of injuries caused by the criminal act.
• When the injuries you suffered in the assault caused you to have time off work or even give up work altogether.
• Special expenses payment – this will only be awarded if the costs are incurred as a direct result of the criminal injury suffered – e.g. care costs, optician costs, dental fees.
• Bereavement expenses are paid to the qualifying relatives of someone who died as a direct result of a criminal injury.
• Psychological injuries – an award for the onset of a mental health illness, as a result of the violent incident – will only be made if there is substantial medical evidence from a relevant medical expert, such as a psychologist or a psychiatrist.
• Dependency payments
• Funeral expenses

If you need to know more about making a criminal injury claim, call Mooneerams Solicitors in confidence on 029 2199 1927.

How much compensation can I get from the CICA?

The Criminal Injuries Scheme guidelines set out a tariff for the compensation they award for each type of injury.

1. In a civil personal injury claim, it may be possible to negotiate the amount of compensation with the other driver’s insurance company. That isn’t the case with criminal injury claims.
2. The CICA have set tariffs for each type of injury for which they will pay compensation. The different criminal injury compensation tariff amounts reflect the severity of the injuries.
3. When someone suffers multiple types of injury from a criminal assault, they can claim compensation for more than one injury. Compensation will be based on the following:

• • You will get awarded 100% of the recognised award for your main injury (‘main’ as in terms of how serious it was).
  • The CICA will reduce the amounts of compensation for the second and third injuries (again ranked by severity of illness) to 30% for the second injury and 15% for the third injury.

The criminal injury compensation tariff guidelines can be hard to understand. Every conceivable type of criminal injury is listed, together with all the different severities of those injuries. If you are struggling to find the information you want, call one of Mooneerams criminal injury solicitors for help.

What is the maximum award the CICA can make?

The maximum award that can be made to one person under the scheme is £500,000.

What can I do if I’m unhappy with the CICA’s award?

• You can apply for a review of the sum awarded by the CICA if you disagree with the CICA’s decision. You must start the CICA appeal process within 56 days of receiving the original decision.
• It may be that you disagree with the amount awarded and want a review to consider increasing it. Alternatively, if the CICA have refused to make any award, you might wish to apply for a review of that decision.
• If you are still unhappy with the decision following review, then you can appeal. The First Tribunal (Criminal Injuries Compensation) will hear the appeal. An appeal to the Tribunal must be made within 90 days of receiving the final CICA review.

Why should I use Mooneerams for my CICA claim?

1. Mooneerams are experienced criminal injury compensation claim solicitors and have helped clients achieve awards of millions of pounds overall.
2. We will advise you on the types of compensation you can claim.
3. We’ll advise you on whether the award offered is reasonable, within the guidelines and tariffs of the CICA scheme.
4. We can help you complete the necessary paperwork if you decide to challenge a CICA award.
5. We take away all the stress of dealing with the claim. After all, you or a loved one has been subject to a criminal assault and sustained injuries. Dealing with the aftermath can be a frightening experience and cause you unnecessary stress.

Read our blog post: Should I make a criminal injuries claim?

No Win No Fee CICA Solicitors

• Unlike civil personal injury claims, no legal fees are recoverable from the CICA if your claim is successful.
• Mooneerams handle CICA claims under a Contingency Fee Agreement, which is a type of No Win No Fee agreement.
• If your CICA claim is unsuccessful, there will be nothing to pay us or anyone else.*
• If you are awarded compensation through the CICA, under the terms of the Contingency Agreement you enter into, you will pay us a percentage of the compensation awarded.
• This percentage will be agreed with you before your claim starts. The percentage we agree with you will take into account the circumstances of the incident and the injuries sustained.

If you’ve been injured as a result of a violent crime and would like free initial advice about a potential CICA claim, call Mooneerams on 029 2199 1927 or request a call back using our contact form.

We have been helping the blameless victims of crime pursue criminal injury claims for over 23 years. Call us now on 029 2199 1927.

Mooneerams are your local South Wales criminal injuries claims solicitors.

*Assuming you have fully co-operated with the Police, CICA and us throughout.