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If you are assaulted or attacked whilst in the UK, there are three different ways you can make a personal injury claim for compensation for your injury.
The first is to make a personal injury compensation claim against the assailant directly; however, this is not recommended as even if your personal injury compensation claim is successful, it is difficult to enforce the judgment meaning you may win your case but still never receive the compensation from the guilty party.
The second way to make a personal injury compensation claim is against your employer. This would only apply if the attack/assault took place while you were at work and you feel that your employer exposed you to an unnecessary and foreseeable risk of personal injury which could have been avoided.
The third and probably the most common route to take to make your personal injury claim is to contact the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority which pays compensation to victims of assaults which have occurred in Great Britain (including British aircraft, hovercraft and ships but not Northern Ireland). Several special criteria apply to claims made via the CICA including: -
A two year deadline for making your personal injury compensation claim instead of the usual three year deadline for regular personal injury compensation claims.
No legal costs are payable, meaning that you must either deal with the CICA directly yourself and keep your full compensation award or appoint a personal injury solicitor to deal with the compensation claim for you and pay them a fee.
No personal injury valued at less that £1,000 will be considered as they deal with compensation claims for serious injuries only.
Compensation is not paid for the first 28 weeks of lost earnings and the amounts are capped meaning that if you are a high earner, you may not be compensated fully for your lost earnings.
It is possible that you could make a personal injury compensation claim through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority as well as against your employer if appropriate; however the amount of compensation you receive from your employer would be deducted from any claim paid by the CICA.
In 2000 our client was working for a security company handling the transfers of cash. During routine visits he and his colleagues were confronted with armed robbers and, despite offering no resistance and dropping to the floor, our client was deliberately shot in the leg by one of the men, an injury as a result of a criminal act.
Receiving immediate hospital care, his injuries affected not only his knee but hip, thigh and ankle, and were such that he needed immediate surgery procedures, and then further surgery some time later when the injuries failed to heal correctly. These were followed by numerous scans and other procedures, and he has suffered extensively both from the original injury and ongoing health issues, made considerably worse by escalating financial hardship.
Some years on, our client is still unable to work due to his now permanent disability. He has had to invest heavily in alterations to his home to accommodate his lack of mobility, has been forced to make major changes to his lifestyle, and still suffers psychological problems if shocked or stressed.
Unable to receive various benefits, his injuries were compounded by problems with his medical care. He also suffered additional health problems resulting from the ongoing stress caused by financial hardship. Our lawyers presented his case to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority and were successful in obtaining over £200,000.
In this case, our client was employed as a caretaker at a High School. He was assaulted by a group of youths and suffered psychological injuries.
With help from his Trade Union, Unison and Thompsons' specialist personal injury solicitors, he was awarded £11,246 from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.
Mr Appleton was a teacher and was at work when he was called to the library to attend to a pupil. When he arrived at the library, the pupil attacked him by kicking, punching and trying to strangle him.
Mr Appleton suffered a back injury as well as psychological injuries which brought on Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).
With help from his Trade Union, NASUWT and Thompsons Solicitors Mr Appleton was awarded £4,650 compensation.
Thompsons Solicitors are experts in all matters relating to criminal assaults. They will be happy to advise you as to whether or not you have a valid compensation claim and will talk you through the entire process in plain English.
There are strict time limits in place to make any injury claim. For further information, contact us or visit our Questions Answered page.
For more information, help or advice about making a criminal injury claim, telephone us now on 08000 224 224 or complete one of our online compensation claim forms.