Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme
Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme
Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme – If you’re injured as a result of a crime, in theory, you can sue the person who injured you for compensation, but they might not be able to pay.
Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Act 1995 set up the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme. The scheme has more than 400 different classes of injury and pays out small amounts (at least compared to the compensation payments people can claim in the civil courts) to victims.
The minimum award under the scheme is £1,000. If you don’t qualify for at least £1,000, you get nothing. Tariffs exist in each class of injury. A sprained wrist that disables you for more than 13 weeks is worth £2,500, a loss of an ear £11,000, and permanent and extreme brain damage is awarded £250,000 (but compensation for loss of earnings and special expenses can bring a total award up to a maximum of £500,000).
Any award you get from the scheme may be reduced if you didn’t report the crime to the police straight away, you didn’t cooperate with the police, you have a previous criminal conviction yourself even though it’s completely unrelated to the incident you’re claiming for, or you’re judged to have contributed in some way to your own injury.
You must normally claim within two years of the incident. You claim from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority at Tay House, 300 Bath Street, Glasgow G2 4LN – 0800 3583601, https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/criminal-injuries-compensation-authority.