Making A CICA Claim With A Criminal Record

If you are reading this guide, you may already know that victims of violent crimes could be compensated through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA). It is a government-run scheme that allows compensation to be awarded to victims of crimes such as assault, sexual assault and historical abuse. However, the scheme has different eligibility criteria to normal personal injury claims. Having a criminal record yourself could affect your right to claim through the CICA. Therefore, in this guide, we are going to review the process of claiming compensation through the CICA with a criminal record. We will look further into how the scheme works, who can apply and how much compensation could be paid.      

Making a CICA claim with a criminal record guide

Making a CICA claim with a criminal record guide

Advice.co.uk is here to support you. When you get in touch, we’ll offer to review your case on a no-obligation basis.

After listening to what’s happened, an advisor will give free legal advice on your options. If suitable, your case could be passed to an experienced personal injury lawyer from our panel. Should they agree to process your claim, it could be handled on a No Win No Fee basis.

To discuss how we could help you claim today, please call our specialists on 0161 696 9685, use the chat feature to the bottom right of this screen or fill out our callback form. Alternatively, to learn more about claiming through the CICA scheme with unspent criminal convictions, please read on.

Select A Section

A Guide On Making A CICA Claim With A Criminal Record

The CICA scheme allows victims of some violent crimes to seek compensation for their suffering. It differs from other compensation claims because awards are paid by the state-funded scheme rather than the person responsible for the suffering or their insurance company. Another point about the CICA scheme is that the criminal doesn’t need to have been convicted before you can make a claim.

Although the scheme helps many, if you’ve got a criminal record yourself, any payment you might be eligible to could be denied. We will show you whether you could still claim compensation with a criminal record as we progress through this guide.

Later on, we will review the way in which previous convictions affect your rights to claim. We’ll look at the guidelines within CICA that determine why payment could be refused. It is worth pointing out at this stage, though, that your claim won’t be affected if your conviction/sentence is already ‘spent. The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 discusses spent and unspent convictions. 

In addition to looking at whether you’re eligible to claim, we’ll explain what you could claim for. Additionally, we’ll look at the amount of compensation that the scheme could award for different types of injury. 

Claims through the CICA scheme are subject to a different time limit than other claims for personal injury. When claiming through the CICA, claims usually must be made within 2 years of the crime occurring, and the crime must have been reported to the police. However, cases with exceptional circumstances could see the limitation period extended. We will take a closer look at these exceptions further on in the guide. 

To find out more about making a CICA claim criminal record, please call our team once you’ve finished reading.

Calculate Compensation For A CICA Claim With A Criminal Record

In this section, we will look at potential CICA compensation figures for a range of injuries. Below, we’ve included a table containing various injuries from the CICA tariff. 

Criminal InjuryLevel of SeverityCompensation (From the CICA Tariff)Details
HemiplegiaModerate£55,000Impairment of sensory or motor function in one half of the body.
QuadriplegiaSubstantially complete £250,000Complete impairment of sensory or motor function in both upper and lower limb levels.
Mental injury Permanent£19,000A permanent psychological injury diagnosed by a psychologist.
Blurred vision Moderate£6,200Injuries that result in permanent double or blurred vision.
JawContinuing significant disability £3,500Jaw dislocation resulting in continuing and significant disability.
ArmLoss of function£44,000The paralysis or equivalent function loss of the dominant arm.
LungPuncture£1,500Injuries causing the puncturing of a single lung.
LegFracture£4,600Covers a fractured femur causing a continuing significant disability.

These figures do not take into account if you have a criminal record. If you have a criminal record and want to make a claim through the CICA the amounts shown may be reduced. To ascertain how you have suffered, the CICA scheme may invite you to have a medical assessment of your injuries. This will be conducted in a sensitive manner by an independent specialist. 

What can be included in a CICA claim?

In addition to your injury claim, the CICA allows some ‘special expenses’ to be claimed, too. These are necessary and reasonable claims for costs incurred as a result of your suffering

You could claim for:

  • Modifications to your home that are both necessary and unable to be obtained through another source.
  • The cost of care related to bodily functions, the preparation of meals and supervision to avoid risk to yourself and others.
  • The cost of replacing physical aids if they were damaged during the crime. This might include hearing aids, glasses or walking sticks. You need to show that these aids are necessary rather than desirable and that they aren’t available for free from another source. 

There is a possibility that you could be paid lost earnings through the scheme as well. However, this is only possible where you have missed over 28 weeks of work because of your injuries. You also need to show that you had a good work record for the 3 years leading up to the accident or a good reason for lack of a work record (for example, acting as a carer or being enrolled in full-time education).

To demonstrate your financial losses, you should provide copies of benefits statements, wage slips or bank statements, so it is worth providing these to your lawyer when claiming.

What Is A CICA Claim With A Criminal Record?

Normally, you will be eligible to claim through the CICA scheme if you’ve been injured in a violent crime that has been reported to the police, and you make a claim within 2 years of the crime taking place. However, if you’ve got a criminal record with unspent convictions, your eligibility to claim could be affected. In accordance with the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, some crimes can become spent after a certain amount of time. 

For example, if you received a prison sentence of less than 6 months, your conviction would become spent two years after the sentence ends. However, some sentences, such as custodial sentences over 4 years, will never become spent.

If you would like to know more about whether you could be entitled to compensation, call our team today. We will happily review your options for you and let you know if you could be compensated. We don’t charge to assess your case or for our advice, even if you decide not to proceed.

Who Could Make A Claim To The CICA?

The Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme is funded by the government. Claims officers deal with applications to the scheme and review whether payments should be awarded. When a settlement is agreed upon, the amount paid is based on an established tariff of injuries. Claims to the scheme can be made for:

  • Physical or mental injuries that result from crimes of violence.
  • Physical or sexual abuse.
  • Lost income because your capacity to work is reduced due to your injuries.
  • Special expenses to cover essential costs you incur as a result of the crime.
  • Fatality payments for loss of parental services, financial dependency and funeral costs.

On top of claiming for injuries you’ve sustained yourself, you are also able to claim on behalf of a child. In addition, claims can be made on behalf of adults who lack the mental capacity to represent themselves. You may be required to provide evidence of their lack of capacity in accordance with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 or similar legislation.

One of the main criteria for claiming is that the incident has been reported to the police. This should be done as soon as is reasonably possible. If you have delayed reporting the incident, for instance, in historical abuse cases, you will need to show why this was the case. This could include the fact that you were too young to report it, your injuries prevented you from reporting, or you didn’t have the mental capacity to act quickly.

Start A CICA Claim

If you believe that you are eligible to claim compensation through the CICA scheme, why not give us a call? If you’re eligible to proceed, we could review your case with you and give you free legal advice on the next steps to take. Where your claim is viable, we could connect you with an expert personal injury solicitor from our panel. Using their skills and experience, they may be able to work with you to try and achieve the best level of compensation possible. What’s more, they may represent you on a No Win No Fee basis if they accept your case.

How Does A Criminal Record Affect CICA Claims?

Within the CICA tariff, Annex D sets out how a criminal conviction can affect your claim. In the first instance, claims will be rejected where, on the date of your application, you had an unspent conviction that resulted in:

  • You serving time in prison, a young offenders institution, corrective training or similar forms of detention.
  • A sentence that was not eligible for rehabilitation.
  • Removal from Her Majesty’s service.
  • A youth rehabilitation order.
  • Any form of community order.
  • A sentence of service detention.

Even if your conviction did not involve any of those sentences, your claim could still be reduced or withheld. The decision on whether to reduce your payment based on criminal convictions will be made by a claims officer.  

If you believe that you are eligible to make a claim through the CICA, please contact our team. They’ll review your eligibility and explain what options are available to you.

Can You Still Claim If You Have An Unspent Conviction?

The CICA scheme may not pay compensation to those who have unspent convictions for certain offences, such as those that resulted in a custodial sentence of 4 years or more. Unspent convictions don’t always prohibit you from applying for compensation, however. 

If your conviction remains unspent, you could still seek damages through the CICA, and they will review your case, taking your criminal convictions into account. If the nature of your previous crime allows it, a claims officer could still settle the case in your favour and pay compensation, albeit at a reduced rate.

We can check whether your unspent conviction would prevent a CICA claim for you. Please provide more details to a member of our team, and they’ll review your case for free.

Will A Criminal Record Reduce Your Compensation Settlement?

One of the options available to the CICA is to reduce the amount of compensation awarded if you have unspent convictions. That means that if you have an unspent conviction other than those excluded from the scheme altogether, you could still be entitled to compensation.

For example, if you received a non-custodial sentence for a crime that is still unspent, you could be eligible for compensation. A claims officer will apply a reduction to the amount paid out to you based on a penalty point system. This could involve reviewing the nature of your crime or how long ago it took place. 

For free advice on whether you could proceed on this basis, please contact us to discuss your case.

Check Your Eligibility To Make A CICA Claim

The main criteria that you’ll need to meet before you can claim through the CICA scheme are:

  • You must have sustained some form of injury following a violent crime against you.
  • The crime needs to have happened in England, Wales or Scotland.
  • You need to have told the police about the crime as soon as it was possible to do so.
  • Unless there are exceptional circumstances, the application must be made within 2 years of the crime.
  • Claimants must cooperate fully with the CICA and the police.
  • Injuries must be at a severity that meets the minimum requirements of the scheme.

We have discussed how any unspent criminal convictions could impact your right to claim already. However, if you are unsure if you’re eligible or if you have any queries, please call the number above to seek free legal advice from us.

Make A No Win No Fee Claim Through The CICA With A Criminal Record

The prospect of losing money on lawyer’s fees could prevent you from claiming. However, you are not legally required to have a solicitor pursue your case. That said cases for compensation can be tricky and an experienced solicitor would have the knowledge to solve any issues along the way. We have a panel of solicitors that can take on your case using a No Win No Fee agreement. Which means they do not get any fees unless your case succeeds. 

The CFA will set out the conditions your solicitor will have to meet in order to be paid. Additionally, you’ll see that:

  • Solicitor’s fees don’t need to be paid in advance.
  • You won’t be asked to pay anything while they deal with your case.
  • Should the claim fail, you won’t be asked to cover their costs.

Where a positive outcome is achieved, your solicitor will be paid a success fee. This will be a percentage that will be deducted from your compensation, known as a “success fee”. So that you’re not overcharged, solicitor’s success fees are capped by law.

If you are interested in proceeding with a No Win No Fee agreement, you can call our specialists today. If your claim has a good chance of success, they may be able to connect you with a solicitor who can represent you on a No Win No Fee basis.

Get Advice On Your CICA Claim

Thank you for reading our article on claiming criminal injuries compensation with unspent convictions. We hope our guide has helped to clarify matters. If you are now ready to discuss your options with Advice.co.uk, you can:

  • Call our claims line on 0161 696 9685 to explain your claim to a specialist.
  • Seek online advice from an advisor using our live chat feature.
  • Get in touch via our contact form to arrange a callback.

We won’t waste any time when you contact us. We’ll start by reviewing your case and letting you know your options. If we don’t believe your case is suitable, we’ll let you know right away. However, if there is a good chance of success, we could pass it to a specialist solicitor on our panel. If they decide to move forward with you, they could be funded using a No Win No Fee agreement. 

Related Criminal Injury Claim Guides

We have almost reached the conclusion of this article. Therefore, we have added some resources in this section that might be useful to you. Should you require anything further, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Victim Support – A charity that helps victims of crime by offering independent, free and confidential support.

Reporting Crime – Information from Police UK on how to report a crime. This is an online service but explains how else you could report an incident.

Unlock – A registered charity supporting those with criminal records.

Claiming For An Assault – Free legal advice on what’s involved in criminal assault claims.

Rape Compensation – Details about the process for claiming compensation from CICA following sexual assault or rape.

CICA Claims: How Long? – This guide looks at how long it could take for your claim to be processed through the CICA scheme.

Other Criminal Injury Claim Guides

CICA Claim Statistics

If you need support in making a CICA claim, you can get in touch with us today. If you have previous criminal convictions, we can check whether they’ll affect your right to claim or not.

CICA Claim FAQs

To provide additional support, we have answered some common queries about the CICA scheme below.

How long will my CICA claim application take?

The CICA aim to process claims as soon as possible. Many claims are assessed within a year. However, where it is not clear how long you will suffer, further information may be required. In these cases, the time taken to process your claim may be longer.

What happens if the claims time limit has passed?

CICA claims have a 2-year time limit in most cases. However, this limitation period might be reviewed in exceptional circumstances. When claiming after the time limit, you will have to explain why your claim could not have been submitted earlier.

Could I claim if I witnessed a violent crime?

If you were present when a loved one was injured during a violent crime (or during the immediate aftermath), the CICA scheme may allow you to seek damages. This may be possible if you can supply medical evidence to show any mental injuries that have been diagnosed because of the incident.

Who sets my compensation settlement?

When you make a claim through the CICA scheme, a claims officer will review it thoroughly. After a decision is made, they will use medical records and the tariff of injuries to determine how much compensation is awarded.

Thank you for reading our guide on making a CICA claim with a criminal record.

Page by TE

Published by NS