By Danielle Nicholson. Last Updated 8th November 2023. One of the most sensitive types of cases we help with is sexual abuse claims. They are not uncommon but have some of the most damaging effects on claimants both physically and psychologically.
If you’d like to begin a claim today, then please call us when you are ready on 0161 696 9685 and one of our advisers will begin your claim with you. You can also use our online contact form.
If you’d like more information, prior to deciding what to do next, please carry on reading this guide which we hope you’ll find useful.
Select A Section
- Examples Of Sexual Abuse Compensation Payouts
- Special Expenses With Sexual Abuse Compensation From The CICA
- What Is Assault And Sexual Abuse?
- What Is The Eligibility Criteria For Claiming Sexual Abuse Compensation?
- Can I Claim For Historic Sexual Abuse?
- How To Report Sexual Abuse
- Get Help From No Win No Fee Solicitors
- Related Guides And Advice
Examples Of Sexual Abuse Compensation Payouts
If you are eligible to make a claim for sexual abuse, this will be through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) if the perpetrator cannot be identified or does not have the funds to compensate you.
When valuing compensation for sexual abuse, the CICA uses the tariff of injuries in the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme (2012). The figures in this tariff are set amounts. The table below demonstrates some of these values.
| Harm | Description | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Sexual abuse and extra damages | This includes compensation for earnings loss, special expenses and other injuries | Up to £500,000 |
| Non-consensual penile penetration of one or more of vagina, anus or mouth | The claimant has suffered serious internal body injuries along with a permanent and severely disabling mental illness. | £44,000 |
| The claimant suffers from a moderately disabling mental illness that is permanent in nature along with serious internal bodily injuries. | £33,000 | |
| The claimant has a permanent and disabling severe mental illness which has been confirmed by a psychiatric prognosis. | £27,000 | |
| The injured party has serious internal bodily injuries. | £22,000 | |
| The claimant suffers with a permanent, disabling moderate mental illness that has been confirmed by a psychiatric prognosis. | £22,000 | |
| This tariff applies when there are two or more attackers involved. | £13,500 | |
| This tariff applies when one attacker is involved. | £11,000 | |
| Sexual Assault | A psychiatric prognosis has confirmed severe mental illness. | £27,000 |
| The claimant has serious internal bodily injuries. | £22,000 |
It is possible to claim sexual assault compensation for multiple injuries, however, compensation is awarded for no more than three injuries and further injuries will not be compensated at the full amount.
You would receive 100% of the tariff amount for the most serious injury. For a second injury, you would receive 30% and for a third, 15%.
If you become pregnant, lose a foetus or contract sexually transmitted infections following sexual abuse, the tariff amount is not discounted according to the multiple injury formula.
When you do not claim through the CICA, but rather directly against the liable party, sexual abuse compensation is worked out via a different means. Continue reading to learn more about this. Otherwise, speak to our online advisors for free legal advice.
Special Expenses With Sexual Abuse Compensation From The CICA
Compensation for victims of abuse, might also include special expenses. Under special expenses, you could receive:
- Relied upon equipment, such as glasses, that were damaged in the incident.
- Equipment you need to cope with your injuries, such as a specially adapted car.
- Home adaptation such as installing a stairlift.
- Care costs that relate to your bodily functions or food preparation.
These costs must be necessary, reasonable and directly result from your injury. They must also not be available for free elsewhere.
Additionally, your sexual abuse compensation may also cover a loss of earnings. However, you need to meet specific criteria to claim for your lost earnings through the CICA.
If you have any questions about how compensation for sexually abused victims in the UK could be awarded, please get in touch with one of the advisors from our team.
What Is Assault And Sexual Abuse?
Sexual abuse can happen in many ways and, as mentioned above, isn’t always physical. It is defined as somebody being forced to take part in some form of sexual activity by another person.
Sexual abuse compensation claims guide
The main 2 categories that sexual abuse is defined as are:
- Sexual abuse with contact – This is where the abuser makes unwanted physical contact with the victim such as:
- Rape or penetration of the victim’s vagina, anus or mouth
- Forcing the victim to undress
- Sexually touching the victim whether they’re dressed or undressed
- Forcing the victim to participate in any type of sexual act or activity
- Sexual abuse with no contact can include sexual exploitation of the victim or grooming and could include:
- Forcing a victim to watch pornography or sexual activities
- Encouraging or belittling the victim into watching or hearing a sexual activity.
As there are both physical and non-physical forms of sexual abuse the injuries caused by it can be both physical and psychological in nature and, while most cases recorded are against females, it can happen to male victims as well.
What Is The Eligibility Criteria For Claiming Sexual Abuse Compensation?
When making a claim for sexual abuse compensation through the CICA, it is important that you meet the eligibility criteria. These are:
- You must have reported the incident to the police. If you do not inform the police, you cannot claim compensation for rape or other types of sexual abuse through the CICA.
- The incident must have occurred in England, Scotland, Wales or another relevant place, i.e. on a ship registered to one of these countries.
- You must submit your claim within the relevant time limit, (we will discuss what this is in more detail later in this guide).
- You must have been injured in a crime of violence. Some examples that the CICA Scheme define as a crime of violence include sexual assault, an attack, arson and a threat of attack.
If you have any questions about the sexual abuse claims process, our advisory team can be contacted at any time and will not charge you for their advice.
Time Limits For Making A Sexual Abuse Compensation Claim
What is the sexual abuse claim time limit?
When you claim sexual abuse compensation through the CICA, you will typically have two years to take action. Generally, the time limit begins from when the incident is reported to police. You should do this immediately unless you have evidence that exceptional circumstances prevented you from doing so.
In sexual abuse claims where the claimant is under 18 when the crime occurred if they reported the incident to police but did not claim, they’ll have two years from turning 18 years old to begin their claim. In some cases, if you did not inform the police at the time, you’ll have two years from the date you report the crime.
Whether you are seeking sexual assault compensation for an incident that happened when you were a child or recently, our panel of criminal injury solicitors could help you. Please don’t hesitate to contact us for more information.
Can I Make A Sexual Abuse Claim Against Someone Directly?
You could make a sexual abuse claim directly against the perpetrator. However, you would need to know that they have the funds or assets available to pay you compensation.
In other cases, you may be able to make a sexual abuse compensation claim against a vicariously liable party. For example, if you had been sexually abused at a school and it turned out that the school did not perform a DBS check that would have highlighted issues like this with that teacher in the past, stopping them from being hired, then you might be able to claim compensation from the school.
To learn more about making a criminal injury claim for compensation for abuse of a sexual nature, you can contact our advisors today. They may also connect you with a solicitor on our panel.
Can I Claim For Historic Sexual Abuse?
As with any claim made through the CICA, you will need to meet the eligibility criteria we discussed above to seek compensation for historic sexual abuse. However, due to the nature of historic abuse, you may not have reported the incident to the police right away.
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) defines historic abuse as non-recent child abuse, which occurred when an adult was abused when they were under the age of 18.
If you experienced non-recent abuse as a child and would like to seek sexual abuse compensation, you should report the historical sexual abuse to the police if you haven’t already done so. Once you do that, you will generally have 2 years to start your claim through the CICA. However, if you can prove that exceptional circumstances prevented you from starting a claim within this time limit, you might be able to start your claim later on.
If you would like to find out more, please contact one of the advisors from our team.
How To Report Sexual Abuse
If you’ve been sexually abused, there are a number of ways to report it:
- Firstly, if the crime is about to happen, is happening or has just happened then call the police on 999
- You could visit a police station and explain what happened to specially trained officers.
- You could use the police’s online reporting service which is confidential and reports are dealt with promptly and passed to an officer who will get back to you.
- Or, you can also call the non-emergency police number 101 for advice on how to report the abuse.
Sexual Abuse Claims – Do I Need Evidence
You do not have to present evidence that proves your assault to claim sexual assault compensation. The collecting of evidence and the investigation of a criminal act is the police’s responsibility. Your claim will be assessed on a balance of probabilities.
However, the CICA may request some evidence from you directly. This could include:
- A police crime reference number (this is required in order to make a CICA claim)
- A medical report of your injuries
- Supporting evidence of any financial losses you are claiming for
In addition to the injuries featured in the tariff, compensation for victims of abuse can also include compensation for lost earnings (if you had been unable to return to work 29 weeks after the assault) or compensation for special expenses – these expenses must be deemed necessary and unable to be found free elsewhere.
In such a case, you may be required to present proof of your employment or evidence that can show how the items you are claiming for are necessary.
To learn more about these types of expenses or for any questions you may have about sexual abuse claims, please reach out to one of our advisers.
Get Help From No Win No Fee Solicitors
If you are aiming to claim compensation for sexual abuse, then you could choose to seek legal representation from a solicitor who has experience with sexual abuse claims. One of the solicitors on our panel could help you with claiming sexual abuse compensation.
Additionally, they could offer to work with you on a No Win No Fee basis with a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA), which is a type of No Win No Fee agreement. When working with a No Win No Fee solicitor you will not be required to pay any legal fees upfront. You won’t need to pay any fees when your case is being processed either.
A success fee is taken from the compensation awarded to you if your claim is successful. This is a legally capped percentage of your compensation that is taken by the No Win No Fee solicitor working on your case. If your claim is unsuccessful, you usually won’t pay for their services.
To find out more about claiming sexual assault compensation, you can get in touch through the following methods:
- Speaking to an online advisor using our 24/7 live chat service
- Calling for free on 0161 696 9685
- Requesting a call back using the form featured on our contact us page
Related Guides And Advice
Hopefully, you’ve now got all of the information you need about claiming sexual abuse compensation. For your information, we’ve provided the following guides which may be useful:
- Help after Rape and Sexual Assault – a guide from the NHS about rape, sexual assault and trying to deal with life afterwards.
- Criminal Injuries Compensation Guide – information from the government website about the CICA scheme mentioned within this guide.
- Sexually Transmitted Infections – Another guide from the NHS regarding STI’s, including symptoms and treatments.
- Head Injury Compensation Claims – If you’ve suffered a head injury due to another’s negligence, our guide could help you claim compensation.
- Broken Rib Claims – Learn how you could claim if your rib was broken as a result of negligence.
- Burn Injury Compensation – Our guide explains how to claim compensation for a burn injury.
- Work-Related Stress Claims – If you’re suffering due to work-related stress, you could potentially claim compensation. Find out how in our guide.
- Permanent Scar Compensation Claims – Find out how you could potentially claim for permanent scarring.
Other Criminal Injury Claim Guides
- Criminal Injuries Compensation
- Rape Victims Compensation Claims
- How Much Compensation Will I Get For An Assault Claim?
- Sexual Abuse Compensation
- Historical Sexual Abuse Compensation
- Sexual Abuse Compensation FAQ
- How To Report Historical Sexual Abuse FAQ
- Negligent Breast Augmentation Surgery Claims
- Stab Victim Compensation Claims
- How Families Of A Murder Victim Could Claim Compensation
- Sexual Abuse By A Father Compensation Claims
- Sexual Abuse At School Claims
- Criminal Injuries Compensation – How Much Will I Receive?
- How Long Does A CICA Claim Take?
- Sexual Abuse By A Family Member Claims
- Making A CICA Claim With A Criminal Record
- Stepfather Sexual Abuse Claims
- Sexual Abuse Claims Guide
- Husband Sexual Abuse Claims
- Family Friend Sexual Abuse Claims
- Grandparent Sexual Abuse Claims
As discussed, if you require any help at all with beginning your own sexual abuse claim, please do not hesitate to get in touch.