Criminal Injuries Compensation

Under the new Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme which came into effect in November 2008 the time limit is still two years for an application to be lodged, but there has been a tightening up of the rules in relation to any waivers of this time limit. 

It appears that it has been made more difficult for a claimant to intimate a claim beyond the two year time scale as the test in essence has become stricter.  It will be for all applicants and Solicitors acting on their behalf to ensure that application forms are lodged timeously. 

Any application for an extension of time scales has also been tightened up and will only be considered under exceptional circumstances, although there is no indication what constitutes ‘exceptional circumstances.’ It will be a case of putting as much information to the Board in the request for an extension in order to ensure that an appropriate decision is made.

Acceptance of an award must be received by the Authority within ninety days of the date of decision.  If an applicant does not accept an award within such a timescale then the Authority may withdraw the award.  It will be very much a question of seeing how this paragraph is interpreted and implemented by the CICA but any applicant should be aware that and notified of this new requirement to ensure that they again respond timeously. 

Compensation Claim Form