Criminal injuries compensation ??!!

You're not wrong!

Lots of misinformation as well. For example today I had a conversation from a gentleman who had been told by investigating police officer that the time limit for the application didn't start until after the court case (not true) and that there had to be a conviction (also not true) 🤦‍♀️

I've also had people contact me who've settled their claims understanding that they can just reopen it later because that's what a well-meaning ISVA has told them (not true, incredibly, incredibly limited circumstances in which an application can be reopened) .

Very very frustrating. CICA can also be less than helpful and not direct applicants to the relevant sections of the scheme.

Sorry to go on, a real bugbear of mine! I do training sessions for charities and keep an eye out for CICA queries here and on other social media and continue to bang on to anyone that will listen about the scheme and navigating it

Morning, hope you are as ok as possible. Sorry for slow reply.

You can download a copy of the scheme here📧
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/criminal-injuries-compensation-scheme-2012

I have it bookmarked if easier, if you would like me to send you a copy just send me a message with your email address and I'll send it over.

So the scheme pays out if you satisfy all the eligibility criteria (making the application within 2 years of the assault, you have reported to and cooperated with the police, residency criteria, happened in the UK, you have no unspent convictions) and have suffered an injury set out in the tariff of injuries.

The tariff is a list of the injuries they compensate for and the set amounts for each. It starts at page 44 of the scheme.

For the injury to your nose, look at page 54. They deal with impact on smell and taste or both but not sure if that applies, and partial loss of the nose which would from the sounds of what you say. They will only compensate if at least 10% of your nose has been lost and then the amount is £2400.

You might also like to look at the section for facial scarring depending on how your injury is going to recover and look long term. Page 49 has a section for facial scarring and the scheme splits it between "significant disfigurement" (£2400) and "serious disfigurement" (£11,000).

Note if both apply (the loss and the scarring) you don't get both amounts added together, you get 100% of the highest and then 30% of the second. If there was a third tariff injury that would get 15% of that one.

If you have been impacted psychologically you may also be eligible for a payment for that. The CICA uses the phrase "disabling mental injury" for that aspect. See page 48 of the scheme. The psychological impact has to be disabling within their definition ("A mental injury is disabling if it has a substantial adverse effect on a person's ability to carry out mornal day-to-day activities for the time specified e.g. impaired work or school performance or effects on social relationships or sexual dysfunction"). They require a diagnosis and prognosis by a psychiatrist or a clinical psychologist. Very occasionally I have seen them make a payment on the basis of a counsellor/psychotherapist view where that person is supervised by a clin psych. The amount they pay for that depends on the duration of the symptoms.

If you have been off work for longer than 28 weeks as a result of the injury have a look at pags 11 and 12 about lost earnings. If you have "no or very limited capacity for paid work" as a result of the tariff injury then week 29 onwards they pay the current rate of SSP.

The scheme is not generous but often it is the only option and all we have.

I'd say you may as well make the application. If you have the information to hand it's is pretty easy to submit online (here - https://www.gov.uk/claim-compensation-criminal-injury/make-claim ) - you will need date and time of when it happened, report to police, police ref number etc.

Hope this helps but any queries, just give me a shout.

All the best for your recovery.

Anything from 0% (pro bono) to 25% inc VAT.

I do quite a bit of pro bono especially where there's nothing tricky to overcome eg time limit extension or where I wouldn't be able to add any value to the claim.

Bedtime for me, I'm a mess 🤧😂

That’s ok, I hope you’re feeling better soon x

I am SO sorry, got struck with a horrible virus thing and been absolutely useless all day. I'll do this first thing tomorrow I promise

That would be great thank you!

How awful, so sorry you are going through this.

Amount would depend on level of disfigurement you're left with as well as possible psychological impact. There is also a section in the tariff for lack of feeling but t it's quite limited.

I'm in bed at the moment but can steer you to the relevant bits of the scheme tomorrow.

Hi I’m new to this, recently I was attacked and the end of my nose was bit off (by a human!) I was just wondering what a payout on a claim would look like from the cica chart it says £2400 is that about right? I’ve had to have reconstructive surgery and skin taken from
my neck to make a new nose which I now have no feeling in? Appreciate any advice

2019 I got 18k for psychological issues and miscarriage. Don't get any solicitor involved do it yourself, it took over 5year for payout

@EdithDickie thank you sooo much!!! I think the physical abuse is the one for me as I had concussion split lip black eye and bruising all over my face. Thank you once again ❤️

Sorry for my slow reply, not sure where the last couple of days have gone!

You shuold be able to download a copy of the scheme here📧
https://www.gov.uk/claim-compensation-criminal-injury/print

I have a PDF version which I have bookmarked to highlight the relevant bits - if you would like that please drop me a DM with your email address and I will pop it over.

Assuming you satisfy the eligibility criteria (application made within 2 years of the abuse, cooperated with police, no unspent convictions etc) then the CICA will make a payment based on the tariff of injuries. This is a section of the scheme which sets out a list of injuries and abuse they compensate for and the set amounts they pay.

There are two sections that sound likely to be relevant for you - page 68 - physical abuse of adults; and page 48 - disabling mental injury. You don't get both - you get whichever would be highest of those two sections.

If the split lip left scarring or numbness then tell the CICA about that as that may fall within the scheme (page 53 re numbness and page 49 re scarring).

I'm sorry to hear you had previous psychological troubles. The scheme does allow for excerbation (see paragraph 36 - page 10).

Bear in mind that if you are looking down the "disabling mental injury route" that the tariff specifies that such an injury must be confirmed with a diagnosis/prognosis being given by a psychiatrist or a clinical psychologist). I have had some applications where they do make payment on the basis of confirmation from e.g. counsellor or psychotherapist where such a person is supervised by a clinical psychologist so worth checking that as well.

Finally, if you were unable to work for a period longer than 28 weeks then you may be eligible for an additional payment in relation to lost earnings - look at paragraph 43 for eligibility and then the following paragraphs for how that is worked out.

I hope this helps.

Wishing you all the very best and do feel free to drop me a line if any queries.

@thisisasurvivor im fine now thank you for your concern , the police didn’t do anything they said even though he admitted it there’s no evidence 😩 , now he’s completely abandoned our son. But I guess it’s a blessing in disguise because he’s a narcissist anyway and just bullied me everyday . I am awaiting my medical evidence to send hopefully we get something to make up for lack of care from police and all the trauma me and my kids went through. Thank you ❤️❤️❤️

They also take into consideration whether the aggrieved has fully cooperated with the Police investigation.

An award may be denied or reduced if there is an unspent conviction. Also the CIC panel will consider any evidence available about your character, other than in relation to unspent convictions, which makes it inappropriate to make a full or reduced payment. This includes evidence of involvement or association in illegal drugs, crime, tax evasion and benefit fraud.

@EdithDickie thank you for your reply , I had concussion a black eye and split lip. as for mental injury I said no because to be honest I am on anti depressants anyway but I have no support with babysitter etc for my children so where I should have been going to GP about my worsened anxiety and depression I just left it and didn’t go, I only went to the GP a week after assault as I had bad concussion so my medical report says black eye , split lip concussion as does the police report minus the concussion because I realised I had that after. I don’t know if this is enough evidence . It’s worth a shot I guess. The tariff is hard to understand it says something about isolated domestic assault I believe or something on them lines I suppose that one applies to me also. Would you bother sending the medical evidence if you were me? I’ve took the form to my GP just waiting for them to phone me about it. Thank you for replying xxx

Did you fully co operate with the Police investigation because they take this into consideration.

I'm sorry to hear about what happened.

What you will need to provide in relation to medical evidence will depend on what injuries you're looking at on the tariff.

Have you suffered disabling mental injury? What physical injuries did you suffer?

DM me if you'd rather. I can hopefully help with some guidance.