Criminal Injury Compensation Scheme: Application procedure in the UK – from start to finish
Discover the process the UK Criminal Injury Compensation Scheme will follow – from receiving your application to making a compensation payment.
What happens once have sent your application form via the Criminal Injury Compensation Scheme?
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority more commonly known as the CICA (pronounced C I C A) is the body responsible for administering the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme,
Once your application for compensation has been received – the CICA will take the following steps:
1. Acknowledge receipt of your application – this will normally take place within a couple of weeks of receipt.
2. Ask for further details – if your application is incomplete the form will either be returned to you for you to fill in further details or a request for further information will be made.
3. Contact the police – within two weeks of receipt of your application the police will be contacted in writing to confirm the circumstances of your injury.
Click Criminal Injury Compensation Authority to see the importance of informing the police before making your criminal injury compensation scheme claim
4. Consider the reply from the police – within two weeks of receipt of the replies from the police the CICA should make a decision as to whether you are eligible to receive compensation.
Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme Lawyer
5. Await the result of the criminal trial – if the offender is awaiting a criminal trial for the offence which caused your injury, the CICA must delay any compensation payments until the criminal trial is concluded.
6. Contact the hospital and your GP – two weeks from the CICA deciding you are eligible to receive compensation, it should contact your GP and any hospital you attended for details of your injuries.
7. Send you additional criminal injury compensation scheme forms to complete if necessary – if you have made a claim for lost income on your original application the CICA will send additional forms requesting further information.
8. Send a decision in writing – within six weeks of all the enquiries being answered the CICA should send you a decision in writing either rejecting your claim or making you an offer for a sum of compensation. You will also receive an acceptance form and a review form. If you are happy with the compensation sum offered you should sign and return the criminal injury compensation scheme acceptance form.
9. Request for review of the decision – if you are not satisfied that the compensation offered is correct or if your eligibility was refused (at point 4 above), you should complete a review form and send it within 90 days to the CICA with any additional information you believe will help the your application to be reassessed under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme
10. Acknowledge receipt of your review application – within two weeks of receiving your review application the CICA should sent a letter confirming receipt.
11. Further enquiries – the CICA will assign your claim to a more senior scheme caseworker who will make further enquiries.
12. Review of decision – within 6 weeks of receipt of the response to the further enquiries the caseworker will review the original decision and send the reviewed decision in writing.
13. Appeal of decision – if you are not satisfied with the review decision you have 90 days from receipt to appeal the decision. The appeal will take place in person before members of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme Appeals Panel.
14. Payment of your compensation – the CICA will normally send payment of your compensation within 4 weeks of receipt of your acceptance or the decision of the appeals panel.
If you are thinking of appealing a decision – be warned your application will be completely reconsidered at the hearing so your compensation may go up or down.
Criminal Injury Compensation Scheme Summary
This page has described in 14 steps the complete process for making a UK criminal injury compensation scheme claim from the CICA – from receipt of your application to payment of your compensation following an appeals hearing.
I recommend you:
Click criminal compensation claim to learn how you can still make a CICA claim even when the person who caused your injury is not prosecuted or convicted.
Click criminal injuries FAQ to find legal answers to site visitor “criminal injury compensation scheme” questions.
