What is a CICA claim?

For anyone looking to claim compensation as a victim of crime, it’s likely that they’ve heard the term ‘CICA’ being mentioned. But what exactly does it mean and could it help with receiving a settlement for a criminal injury?

In an effort to help those who’ve been affected by criminal injuries, we explain what CICA means, how you can claim compensation through CICA and the potential settlement you may receive.

What is CICA?

CICA is an abbreviation of Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority. It is a taxpayer-funded organisation controlled and operated by the UK government and sponsored by the Ministry of Justice. Originally set up in 1964 as the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board, the organisation developed into CICA in 1996 and is now based in Glasgow.

CICA currently operates within the legislation of The Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme of 2012, which applies to claims from 13th June 2019 onwards. This legislation contains guidelines on how much compensation can be paid for various types of injury, as well as setting out the criteria that determines whether a case meets the eligibility criteria for compensation.

What does the CICA do?

The purpose of the CICA is to deal with compensation claims and pay settlements to victims of violent crimes that occurred in England, Wales or Scotland. Dealing with claims relating to both physical and mental injury, CICA evaluates the available evidence and pays successful applicants compensation as reparation for the effects of violent crime. 

CICA deals with over 30,000 claims every year, evaluating the specific details against the criteria set out in the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme and paying out more than £130m in compensation. Their priorities are to treat victims with compassion, fairness and sensitivity with an accessible compensation service, as well as to promote awareness and understanding of the various statutory compensation schemes run by the organisation. 

Who is eligible for compensation from the CICA?

In order to make a claim with CICA, you must be either the victim of a violent crime, or someone whose loved one has died as a result of such a crime. Your injury or injuries must be caused directly by the violent crime, or as a result of taking a justified risk to apprehend an offender, prevent a crime or remedy the consequences of a crime. 

Additionally, you may be eligible to receive compensation if you witnessed an incident or the immediate aftermath of an incident in which a loved one was injured as a result of violent crime. 

However, one important exception to be aware of is if the action the injured individual was taking is something regularly expected of them in their line of work. For example, if you are a police officer or a security guard who was injured while apprehending an offender and this was a standard part of your job description, you may not be eligible to claim with CICA. 

In terms of location, your injuries may be eligible for compensation if the crime or injury occurred in Great Britain (England, Scotland or Wales). There are also a few other specific locations which are considered ‘relevant places’ and could mean you are eligible to claim in certain circumstances.

In most cases, you also need to be a British citizen, a relative of a British citizen, have applied for asylum in the UK or ordinarily resident within the UK on the date the crime was committed. Again, there are certain exceptions to this rule, so you may still be eligible for compensation in some circumstances if the above conditions don’t apply to you. 

Crucially, in all the above circumstances, the crime in question does not need to have led to a criminal conviction in order for you to be eligible to receive compensation. If you are at all unsure whether or not you’re eligible to claim for compensation with CICA, it’s best to seek advice from an expert criminal injury solicitor on your specific situation.

What injuries are covered by the CICA?

There are a huge number of criminal injuries which could make you eligible to claim with CICA, with both mental and physical injuries included. Below is a small sample of the kinds of injuries that could make you eligible:

• Burns
• Paralysis
• Nerve damage
• Scarring
• Illness or infection caused by a criminal act
• Miscarriage
• Physical or sexual abuse
• Chronic mental illness with a substantial effect on the individual’s everyday life
• Disfigurement
• Brain injury
• Loss of limb/other body parts
• Impaired senses
• Numbness or loss of sensation
• Fractures, breaks and dislocations
• Whiplash
• Disability

CICA claims can relate to a wide range of injuries, so it’s worth seeking legal advice to find out if you could be eligible for compensation if you or a loved one were injured as a result of violent crime. 

How much compensation will I get from CICA?

Since you can claim for such a wide range of injuries with CICA, there is no one set amount of compensation you can expect to receive if your application is successful. Instead, the amount of money you are entitled to will depend on a number of factors, such as how many injuries you had, the severity of them and the impact those injuries have had on your day-to-day life. For example, two people with similar types of injuries may receive different amounts of compensation if one needed surgery and the other did not. 

The Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme of 2012 sets out a tiered tariff system which stipulates the amounts of compensation you could be eligible for depending on your injuries, with a minimum award of £1,000 and a maximum of £250,000. This tariff system is freely available on the CICA section of the gov.uk website, so you can take a look at the tariff value of injuries similar to your own to get an idea of how much compensation you could be entitled to.

If you have two or more injuries caused by the same criminal injury that are serious enough to each qualify for compensation independently, your compensation is calculated by the following rules:

• 100% of the full tariff value of the most serious injury, plus
• 30% of the tariff value of an equal or second highest value, plus
• 15% of the tariff value of an equal or third highest value
  

CICA will only pay out for a maximum of three injuries in this situation. However, you may still receive additional payment if the following occurs as a direct result of the criminal incident:

• You become pregnant
• You lose a foetus
• You contract a sexually transmitted disease.

As well as compensation for your injuries, you may be able to receive payments for other losses incurred as a result of the incident in question. These can include loss of earnings if you are prevented from working either entirely or at full capacity as a result of your criminal injury. You might also be entitled to special expenses for things such as medical costs or home adaptations if you have been unable to work or have been similarly incapacitated for longer than 28 weeks. 

CICA is a government organisation that can help you to receive the compensation you deserve after suffering an injury as a result of violent crime. For more information or assistance with making a CICA claim, get in touch today.