Injury Lawyer: How to choose the best personal injury lawyer to claim UK criminal injury compensation
Find out why a personal injury lawyer is best able to provide the legal assistance you need to make a criminal injury claim and the various guidance forms the Criminal Injury Compensation Authority provides to give you the confidence to start a criminal compensation claim on your own behalf.
Can I make a criminal injury claim without having the help of a personal injury lawyer?
“Yes” – the Criminal Injury Compensation Authority makes it as easy as possible for you to make your own criminal compensation claim without the need for the assistance of a personal injury lawyer. You can apply online or download an application form.
The Criminal Injury Compensation Authority provides many different online guidance forms to help you make your initial application, which include:
i) General guidance form to the whole criminal injury scheme in the UK.
ii) Guidance forms in different languages.
iii) Guidance form to make a criminal injury claim for the death of a loved one as a result of a crime of violence.
iv) Guidance form to make a compensation claim for criminal injury as a result of the London bombings on 7th July 2005.
v) Guidance form to make compensation for criminal injury as a result of terrorist attacks overseas.
vi) Guidance form to help you claim criminal compensation for child abuse.
vii) Guidance form to explain how to claim for loss of earnings and other expenses.
viii) Guidance form if you suffered a criminal injury in a European Union country.
Click CICA to see the Criminal Injury Compensation Authority website.
Although the application process for criminal injury compensation can seem quite straight forward I would recommend using a personal injury solicitor especially at an appeal hearing. Strong advocacy skills are essential to ensure you receive the maximum amount of compensation. On one occasion I represented a client and succeeded in having her compensation increased from £1,000 to £15,000.
What type of lawyer should you choose to make your criminal injury compensation claim?
If you decide you need the help of a lawyer to make your criminal injury claim – you might be surprised to learn that the best type of specialist lawyer is a personal injury lawyer and not a criminal lawyer.
A criminal lawyer is best able to deal with a criminal defence to a criminal prosecution, but a personal injury lawyer will be more familiar with the procedure for claiming compensation for personal and criminal injury.
Injury Solicitor Compensation Claim
How do you choose the best personal injury solicitor to make your claim?
You can either make use of our solicitor free online legal help facility where you can ask an online question, have your claim assessed,
click personal injury lawyer to find out how to choose the best solicitor to claim compensation.
There is no specialist Law Society panel for criminal injury, so we recommend choosing a general personal injury solicitor, who is an accredited member of the Law Society Personal Injury Panel.
Injury Lawyer Summary & Next Steps
In this article we have set out why it is not always necessary to use a lawyer to make your claim for criminal injury compensation, but if one is necessary – why a specialist personal injury lawyer will best able to help you with your claim.
Before you seek the help of a personal injury solicitor we recommend you:
Click compensation advice to discover the cheapest ways to fund the cost of your “injury lawyer”
