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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.
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.