Criminal injury claims
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) is an organisation set up to compensate the victims of crimes of violence in the UK.
The time limit for making a criminal injury claim is two years from the incident. In the case of a child the two year period will run from the date when the child reaches the age of maturity. The time limit may be relaxed in cases of childhood abuse depending on circumstances.
How is compensation calculated for criminal injuries?
Compensation is based on a tariff system. The scheme sets out a large number of specific injuries each of which has a prescribed monetary value. No compensation is payable unless the injury attracts a minimum value of £1,000.
Loss of earnings is not payable unless the absence from work exceeds 28 weeks. Other expenses such as dental charges can only be paid if the claimant has been off work for more than 28 weeks.
Requirements for claiming compensation for criminal injuries
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority scheme has a number of important provisions –
- The incident must have been reported to the police without delay. A delay of even a few days may be enough to rule out or reduce an award. If you have been assaulted at work a report to your employer may be treated as sufficient.
- You must have co-operated fully with the police in bringing the attacker to justice. Withdrawal of a complaint or refusal to give evidence will usually result in refusal of the claim.
- Your own conduct before during or after the incident will be taken into account and may prevent or reduce an award. If you have provoked an argument or voluntarily taken part in a fight that will generally result in refusal of the claim.
If you have criminal convictions these will be taken into account and may prevent or reduce an award depending on the number and seriousness of the convictions and how recent they are.
Who pays for legal costs?
It is important to note that if the CICA does make an award, the award will not include your legal costs. These will have to be paid out of the award. For that reason it will not be possible for us to act in low value cases and it would not be economic for you to instruct a solicitor in such cases.
At Digby Brown we specialise in criminal injuries claims involving serious injury, particularly brain injury. In appropriate cases we offer no win, no fee through our funding package, Compensate.
No win, no fee personal injury solicitors
The expression “No win, no fee” is often used in personal injury cases. It is used as a way of funding a compensation claim where the accident victim does not have the means to pay for the costs involved as the case progresses.
A number of solicitors are prepared to handle personal injury cases on a “No Win – No Fee” basis but very few are able to offer their clients complete protection if the case is unsuccessful.
In that event, the client could end up being liable for many thousands of pounds in legal expenses or the case won't be fully investigated and therefore likely to under-settle.
Compensate 'no win, no fee' funding
Digby Brown has its own funding company, Compensate, which provides the funding to allow the case to be fully investigated, employ the best experts surrounding the circumstances of the accident and/or injuries sustained and where and if necessary go to court.
If for whatever reason the case is unsuccessful, Compensate pays all your legal expenses and those of your opponent – you pay nothing.
On average our clients receive over 3 times the pre-litigation offer
Because of Compensate funding Digby Brown's success rate is extremely high and on average our clients receive three times the pre-litigation offer.
In the event the case is successful, a small percentage of your damages will be deducted with VAT to pay for this service. The percentage which Compensate will charge depends on the degree of risk involved. We believe that this is the fairest method of giving clients access to justice whilst ensuring their cases are fully investigated, prepared and funded.
Don’t take our word for it, just read many of the court decisions and case studies on our website.
Beware of compensation offers which may be too good
We know you will have seen many adverts offering 100% compensation or telling you that you will not lose any of your compensation, however we believe there are a number of problems with companies that do this.
- How do they make their money if they don’t charge you anything?
- If they aren’t taking any money from you, the client, what incentive do they have to ensure you receive the right level of compensation, appropriate to the injuries you have sustained?
- Fully preparing a case, finding out exactly what happened and what the consequences of your injuries may mean in the long term, is expensive, how do they do this properly?
- If they aren’t fully preparing these cases will they just accept the first offer they are given on your behalf by the Insurance company?
- It makes simple business sense, the less work they do the higher their profit margin is - they simply have no incentive to work harder on your behalf.
- These adverts in the main are from English firms on national television which operates in a different way and therefore wouldn’t apply to a Scottish person.
We know from the many client cases we mandate from other firms of solicitors (in the main at the request of the client who is extremely unsatisfied with the service received for the other firm) that many shortcuts are taken in preparation and that the first offer received is being recommended for acceptance, regardless of the value.
Getting something for nothing is usually the first sign of poor service.
Correct level of compensation with Digby Brown
Our experience and statistics show time and time again we will achieve the correct level of compensation which will be substantially more than the insurer is initially prepared to offer.
Even after we have deducted our percentage as a success fee you will gain considerably more than you would have achieved using a 100% compensation model.
Contact Digby Brown's personal injury solicitors
We have offices across Scotland in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Kirkcaldy, Inverness, Aberdeen and Ayr.
For further information about no win, no fee, or anything else, call us on 0333 200 5925 or fill in our enquiry form below and someone will get back in touch with you.
Victims of violent crime can suffer devastating physical and psychological injury. Digby Brown’s experience and expertise in acting for the victims of criminal assaults allows us to assess the prospects of success. If we form the view that a case has reasonable prospects of success, we can fund the case from start to finish. In the event that the case is unsuccessful, we will cover any liability to meet the client's own outlays, eg for medical reports, and will not charge a fee.
Using our expertise we have obtained awards in excess of £2 million.
Expert advice on criminal injuries compensation
For expert advice on your criminal injuries compensation claim please call us or fill in our brief enquiry form and someone will contact you.
0333 200 5926
Monday to Friday: 8am - 7pm
Saturday and Sunday: 12pm - 4pm
(Please note, local rate, even from mobile)
Email enquiry form
Complete our enquiry form and we will strive to reply within 24 hours
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