Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority

Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority

The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority is a government organisation that can pay money (an award) to people who have been physically or mentally injured because they were the blameless victim of a violent crime. The awards can range from £1,000 to £500,000.

The current Scheme was introduced on 27 November 2012 and applies to any application made on or after that date. If your application was made before that date then different rules may apply.

You may be eligible to apply if:

• You have been injured seriously enough to qualify for at least the minimum award (£1,000).
• You were injured in an act of violence in England, Scotland or Wales. An offender does not necessarily have to have been convicted of, or even charged with that crime.
• You have made your application within two years of the incident that caused your injury. (But they might accept applications outside this limit if exceptional circumstances prevented you from submitting an application earlier). 

But you will not be eligible if:

• You did not report the incident. If the crime for which you are seeking an award has not been reported to the police an award cannot be made.
• You were injured before 1 August 1964.
• You have already applied for an award for the same criminal injury, under the 2012 Scheme or under any earlier Scheme operating in England, Scotland and Wales
• The injury happened before 1 October 1979 and you and the person who injured you were living together at the time as members of the same family in the same household.
• The injury and the act of violence took place outside England, Scotland or Wales.

The 2012 scheme has been restricted in that where officers sustain injuries accidentally they will still need to show that they were taking an exceptional risk that was justified in all the circumstances. There is strict reference to a risk that is normally expected to be undertaken in the course of work that will not be considered to be exceptional. This means that a police officer chasing someone will not qualify under the new scheme. If you have any doubts in this area please contact the Federation Office to discuss.

How to apply:

Contact the Police Federation Office on 01603 971420 or e-mail Norfolk@polfed.org for a CICA application form. Return the completed form to the Federation Office and we will administer the claim on your behalf. The main contact within the Federation office who deals with CICA claims is our Office Manager, Helen Wickens.

If the initial application is turned down we will seek legal advice/representation for the ‘review’ stage and final appeal stage if appropriate.

Our partners at Slater & Gordon legal firm have provided a useful FAQ document which gives some more details on the CICA process. CICA FAQ's