Express Solicitors - Lawyers helping injured people.

Email: advice@expresssolicitors.com | Fax: 0161 945 2266 | Tel: 0800 294 6250

Polish translation

Criminal Assault

If you have been the victim of a criminal assault and were injured as a result, you will be eligible to make a compensation claim.

Violent muggings, sexual assault, unprovoked attacks on the street – thousands of incidents like this happen in the UK each year.

In an ideal world, if you suffered a criminal assault, the attacker would be caught, brought to justice and forced to pay compensation from their own pocket. However, they are often not caught and even if they are, most don’t have the means to pay.

It is therefore possible to make an application for personal injury compensation to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authorities (CICA).

The scheme allows financial awards to be made:

• To recognise injuries, physical and mental, due to criminal assault.
• In certain circumstances, to obtain compensation for past or future lost earnings or special expenses caused by such a crime
• For bereavement as a result of a criminal assault, including, in some cases, compensation for the lost earnings of the person who has been killed.

It is a fairly simple process, although the CICA has set out several rules. These include:

• Your injury must have been caused by a criminal assault that happened in England, Scotland or Wales (Northern Ireland has its own scheme).
• Your CICA criminal assault compensation application must be lodged within two years of your assault, although this is discretionary and often waived.
• You should have reported the criminal assault to the police and fully co-operated with them.
• The state will only provide compensation if your injuries exceed the £1000 tariff.

To be successful in any CICA criminal assault compensation claim, you must be able to prove that you have been the innocent victim of a violent crime. If the CICA considers you to have provoked or willingly participated in the criminal assault, it could refuse or reduce personal injury compensation. This could also happen if you have a record of violence.

Although legal assistance is not always necessary when applying to the CICA for a criminal assault compensation claim, we may be the difference between a successful claim and one that is rejected. We can also use our experience of working with the CICA to help you win enough financial compensation to get your life back on track after a criminal assault.

We work on a no win no fee basis to obtain maximum compensation, so please call us now for free initial legal advice from our personal injury solicitors.

• APIL
• Law Society
• Lexcel
• Headway
• InjuryLawyers4U
• Solicitors Regulation Authority