Criminal Injuries Compensation

A new Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme came into force on 3 November 2008. 

The first thing to note is that although there have been some increases in payments, there is no inflationationary rise to payments as a whole.

The minimum payment remains at £1,000 and the maximum remains at £500,000. 

There are new forms to be completed dependent opon the type of claim being pursued by an applicant.  There is a form for an individual accident, a form for sexual offences and a form for fatal incidents.  The forms appear to be more straight forward and user friendly than the previous forms. 

Criminal convictions now require to be noted down on the application form and a clear indication has been made within the Scheme that an award will be reduced to reflect any previous unspent convictions held by the applicant unless there are exceptional reasons for not doing so. 

It is also clear from the form that compensation may be refused if the incident was not reported to the Police. 

There are also changes to the time limits for cases, how expenses are calculated and the appeals procedure.

Compensation Claim Form