Criminal Injury Compensation Claims (CICA Claims)
For people hurt by violent crime
If you were injured in a violent crime, you may be able to claim compensation through a government scheme run by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority. It does not depend on anyone being convicted, and in many cases it does not depend on the attacker ever being identified. We will explain how the scheme works, what it pays, and what it would cost you to have us involved.
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Can you make a criminal injury compensation claim?
Criminal injury claims are decided by the Authority, and three conditions carry most applications: you were injured in a crime of violence, the crime was reported to the police before you applied, and you apply within the time limit. Criminal injuries compensation claims are assessed on the papers rather than argued in court, which is why the paperwork matters here more than advocacy does.
You do not need a conviction. The Authority decides on the balance of probabilities rather than waiting for a criminal court, so a criminal injuries claim can succeed where nobody was charged, where the case collapsed, or where the attacker was never identified. A criminal injuries compensation claim does not wait on a verdict. What it does need is the police report and your co-operation with the investigation.
You do not have to be the person who was attacked. GOV.UK sets out that you may be able to claim if you were physically or mentally injured, if you were the victim of sexual assault, if a close relative died, if you saw the crime happen to a loved one or were there immediately afterwards, or if you paid for the funeral. There is also provision for people hurt taking what the scheme calls a justified and exceptional risk to stop a crime.
If you never reported it to the police. This is the single most common reason an application fails at the first hurdle, and it is a real obstacle rather than an automatic no. Speak to someone before you assume the door is closed.
Which criminal injuries compensation scheme covers you?
One scheme, several names. Criminal compensation claims, criminal injury claims, a claim for criminal injuries and CICA claims are all the same application, and a criminal compensation claim and a CICA compensation claim are the same document. If you are asking can I claim criminal injuries compensation, this page is the right place. Searches for criminal injury board compensation and the criminal injuries board reach an old name: claiming for criminal injuries now means applying to CICA under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012.
Where the crime happened decides which scheme pays. The criminal injury compensation scheme covers England, Wales and Scotland, and it is one scheme with one authority, based in Glasgow. Northern Ireland is not part of it. A crime there goes to Compensation Services under a separate Northern Ireland scheme, with its own appeals panel and its own deadlines, including three months to appeal a review rather than the 56 days that apply here. Crimes committed abroad are handled separately again.
CICA claim time limits
The criminal injury claim time limit is shorter than most people expect, and the rule for people injured as children is not the one they have been told. Four situations cover almost everybody.
Two years, not three
An adult normally has two years from the date of the crime, under paragraph 87 of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012. That is a year shorter than an ordinary personal injury claim and it is the single thing that catches people out most often.
If you have been told you have three years, you have been told the rule for a different kind of claim.
If you were under 18, the rule is not what you would expect
Where the incident was reported to the police before your eighteenth birthday, paragraph 88 gives you until your twentieth birthday. Where it was reported after you turned 18, two years runs from the date of that report.
The familiar rule that a child has until their twenty-first birthday belongs to ordinary injury claims. A young adult who assumes it applies here will be a year late.
Childhood abuse is treated differently again
GOV.UK states directly that the deadline extends beyond two years where you are claiming because of childhood sexual or physical abuse. The calendar is not the reason to rule yourself out.
Disclosure often comes decades later, and the scheme is written on the understanding that it does. If you were hurt as a child and have only recently been able to talk about it, the date on the calendar is not the thing that decides whether you can apply.
The Authority can extend the limit
Paragraph 89 allows a late application where exceptional circumstances meant you could not have applied earlier, and where the evidence still allows a decision without extensive further enquiry.
Injury that made it impossible to apply, and abuse that took years to speak about, are the situations that provision exists for. It is a discretion rather than an entitlement, so the reason has to be evidenced as carefully as the injury is.
If you are past two years, the question is not whether you are late. It is whether your reason falls within paragraph 89, and that is worth one free conversation rather than a guess.
Crimes that can lead to a CICA claim
The scheme covers crimes of violence. That is wider than most people picture, and it includes patterns of harm as well as single incidents.
Physical assault
Attacks causing injury, including assaults with a weapon, stabbings and woundings. A vehicle used deliberately to injure someone counts as a weapon for this purpose, and so does an attack by more than one person where you cannot say which of them caused which injury.
Sexual violence
Rape and sexual assault, including offences committed many years ago. The scheme has its own tariff for these injuries and its own approach to the time limit. Ask us and we will tell you where yours falls.
Domestic abuse
Violence by a partner or family member, including a sustained pattern over a period. The tariff treats a persistent pattern of severe abuse lasting more than three years as its own, higher category.
Childhood abuse
Physical or sexual abuse suffered as a child, with the extended deadline described above. The tariff for physical abuse of a child runs to a separate set of levels, set out in the tables below.
Robbery and violent theft
Where force or the threat of force was used against you, including street robbery and carjacking. The threat alone can be enough where it caused a recognised injury.
Crimes causing death
Where a relative was killed. Qualifying relatives may claim a bereavement payment and whoever paid for the funeral can apply towards those costs. Both amounts are published and are given further down this page.
Injuries suffered while helping the police or preventing a crime are also covered. If what happened to you is not on this list, that does not mean you cannot apply.
CICA compensation amounts: the CICA tariff table and examples of CICA payouts
A criminal injury claim is not negotiated. The Authority pays a fixed amount set against the CICA tariff of injuries, which means you can look your injury up before you speak to anyone.
Criminal compensation payouts under this scheme are published in advance, and the criminal injuries compensation tariff below is that published table. Payments for the injury itself run from £1,000 to £250,000, and the total award including everything else is capped at £500,000 by paragraph 31 of the Scheme.
Examples of CICA payouts: domestic violence, abuse and assault
| Injury | Level | Payment |
|---|---|---|
| Physical abuse of an adult, serious abuse | B3 | £2,000 |
| Physical abuse of an adult, severe abuse with minor disfigurement | B6 | £5,500 |
| Physical abuse of an adult, persistent pattern of severe abuse over a period of more than three years | B8 | £8,200 |
| Physical abuse of a child, minor abuse, isolated assault | B1 | £1,000 |
| Physical abuse of a child, serious abuse | B3 | £2,000 |
| Physical abuse of a child, severe abuse with moderate injuries | B6 | £5,500 |
| Physical abuse of a child, severe abuse with significant injuries | B8 | £8,200 |
| Physical abuse of a child, severe abuse with severe injuries | B10 | £13,500 |
Fractures
| Injury | Level | Payment |
|---|---|---|
| Nose, partial loss of 10% or more | A4 | £2,400 |
| Jaw, no operation, substantial recovery | A2 | £1,500 |
| Jaw, operation, substantial recovery | A3 | £1,800 |
| Jaw, no operation, continuing disability | A5 | £3,500 |
| Jaw, operation, continuing disability | A7 | £6,200 |
| Cheekbone, operation, substantial recovery | A1 | £1,000 |
| Cheekbone, no operation, continuing disability | A4 | £2,400 |
| Cheekbone, operation, continuing disability | A5 | £3,500 |
| Skull, simple fracture, no operation | A1 | £1,000 |
| Skull, depressed fracture, no operation | A4 | £2,400 |
| Skull, simple fracture, operation | A5 | £3,500 |
| Skull, depressed fracture, operation | A6 | £4,600 |
Head and brain injury
| Injury | Level | Payment |
|---|---|---|
| Minor head injury, lasting 28 weeks or more | A2 | £1,500 |
| Minor head injury, permanent | A7 | £6,200 |
| Minor brain damage, slight and short lived, less than six months | A7 | £6,200 |
| Minor brain damage, moderate, six months up to two years | A10 | £16,500 |
| Minor brain damage, significant and long lasting, two years or more | A12 | £22,000 |
| Moderate brain damage, slight | A13 | £27,000 |
| Moderate brain damage, moderate | A16 | £55,000 |
| Moderate brain damage, significant | A17 | £82,000 |
| Moderately severe brain damage, serious disablement of physical or mental faculties | A18 | £110,000 |
| Very serious brain injury, severe physical limitation | A19 | £175,000 |
| Very serious brain injury, no useful physical movement | A20 | £250,000 |
Scarring, burns and teeth
| Injury | Level | Payment |
|---|---|---|
| Scarring of the torso or limbs, significant disfigurement | A1 | £1,000 |
| Scarring of the head, significant disfigurement | A2 | £1,500 |
| Scarring of the face, significant disfigurement | A4 | £2,400 |
| Scarring of the torso or limbs, serious disfigurement | A5 | £3,500 |
| Scarring of the face, serious disfigurement | A8 | £11,000 |
| Burns to the head, moderate | A4 | £2,400 |
| Burns to the face, moderate | A5 | £3,500 |
| Burns to the head, severe | A10 | £16,500 |
| Burns to the face, severe | A13 | £27,000 |
| Loss of one front tooth | A2 | £1,500 |
| Loss of two or more teeth other than front teeth | A2 | £1,500 |
| Loss of two or three front teeth | A4 | £2,400 |
| Loss of four or more front teeth | A5 | £3,500 |
Sight and hearing
| Injury | Level | Payment |
|---|---|---|
| Partial loss of vision, 6/12 | A6 | £4,600 |
| Partial loss of vision, 6/36 | A10 | £16,500 |
| Loss of sight in one eye | A12 | £22,000 |
| Loss of one eye | A13 | £27,000 |
| Loss of sight in both eyes | A18 | £110,000 |
| Loss of both eyes | A18 | £110,000 |
| Permanent partial deafness, one ear | A3 | £1,800 |
| Permanent partial deafness, both ears | A7 | £6,200 |
| Permanent total deafness, one ear | A10 | £16,500 |
| Permanent total deafness, both ears | A15 | £44,000 |
Disabling mental injury
| Duration | Level | Payment |
|---|---|---|
| Lasting six to 28 weeks | A1 | £1,000 |
| Lasting 28 weeks to two years | A4 | £2,400 |
| Lasting two to five years | A7 | £6,200 |
| Lasting more than five years but not permanent | A9 | £13,500 |
| Permanent, moderately disabling | A11 | £19,000 |
| Permanent, seriously disabling | A13 | £27,000 |
Source: Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme, injury payments, GOV.UK, published 1 September 2025.
Because the figures are fixed, no solicitor and no claims company can increase what your injury is worth under the tariff. Be careful of anyone who suggests otherwise.
What representation can affect is whether the application succeeds at all, whether the right tariff level is applied to your injury, and the payments that sit outside the tariff and are assessed on your own circumstances.
CICA PTSD payout amounts and other psychological injury awards
The scheme pays for mental injury on its own, separately from any physical injury, and a CICA mental injury payout is set by how long the injury lasts rather than by what happened to cause it.
Criminal compensation payouts under this scheme are published in advance, and the criminal injuries compensation tariff below is that published table. Payments for the injury itself run from £1,000 to £250,000, and the total award including everything else is capped at £500,000 by paragraph 31 of the Scheme.
| Disabling mental injury | Level | Payment |
|---|---|---|
| Lasting six weeks or more, up to 28 weeks | A1 | £1,000 |
| Lasting 28 weeks or more, up to two years | A4 | £2,400 |
| Lasting two years or more, up to five years | A7 | £6,200 |
| Lasting five years or more but not permanent | A9 | £13,500 |
| Permanent, moderately disabling | A11 | £19,000 |
| Permanent, seriously disabling | A13 | £27,000 |
Get it recorded, and keep it recorded
The gap between the 28 weeks to two years band and the two to five years band is £3,800, and the only thing that separates them is evidence of how long the injury went on.
Tell your GP each time, and keep any counselling or psychology appointments on record, because a gap in the notes reads as a gap in the injury.
Do not rush an application on a psychological injury
Applying at the two year deadline with six months of records will be assessed on six months of records. Where the mental injury is the main injury, the evidence usually needs time to exist.
Paragraph 89, which allows a late application in exceptional circumstances, exists partly for that reason.
How the scheme pays for more than one injury
Where you were hurt in more than one way, paragraph 37 of the Scheme pays the full tariff figure for the injury worth most, 30 per cent of the figure for the second, and 15 per cent for the third. Nothing is paid for a fourth injury.
Because the percentages fall away so steeply, which injury the Authority treats as the primary one materially changes the award. That is a question of how the application is presented and evidenced, and it is one of the few things about a tariff award that can be affected at all.
Total: £8,420 before anything outside the tariff is added.
Payments the scheme makes on top of the injury
On a serious injury these can exceed the tariff figure itself. They are assessed on your circumstances rather than read off a table, and they are the part of an application most often left thin.
Lost earnings
Nothing is paid for the first 28 weeks. Payment runs from the first day of the twenty-ninth week, and it is paid at the statutory sick pay rate set by section 157 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992, not at your actual wage.
Someone earning well above statutory sick pay should understand that gap before they build expectations on it.
Special expenses
Treatment costs, special equipment, adaptations to your home, and care or supervision. It also covers property or equipment you relied on as a physical aid, such as glasses or a hearing aid, that was damaged in the attack.
There is a gateway: under paragraph 50 you must have lost earnings or earning capacity for more than 28 weeks before special expenses can be paid at all.
Bereavement payment
Criminal injuries compensation amounts for a death are fixed too. The payment is £11,000 where one qualifying relative is eligible, and £5,500 each where more than one is.
It is not paid to a former spouse or civil partner, or to anyone who was estranged from the person who died at the date of their death.
Who counts as a qualifying relative
Paragraph 59 defines it as a spouse or civil partner living in the same household, a partner who had lived with them for at least two years, a parent, or a child.
It also covers someone who would have qualified but lived apart because of either person’s ill health, and a former spouse or civil partner who was financially dependent on them.
Funeral costs and dependency
Criminal injuries compensation amounts for a death are fixed too. The payment is £11,000 where one qualifying relative is eligible, and £5,500 each where more than one is.
It is not paid to a former spouse or civil partner, or to anyone who was estranged from the person who died at the date of their death.
The £500,000 ceiling
Everything above counts towards the £500,000 overall maximum in paragraph 31, not on top of it. The cap applies to the whole award arising from one incident.
In practice it only bites on the most serious injuries, where lost earnings and care costs over a lifetime are the largest part of the figure.
Is there a CICA calculator?
You do not need one, and that is unusual enough to be worth saying plainly. Searches for a CICA claim calculator, a CICA compensation calculator, a criminal injury compensation calculator or a criminal injuries calculator are all looking for a figure that has already been published.
On an ordinary injury claim a calculator is guesswork, because the figure is negotiated. Here the figure is fixed, so the tariff above is the calculator. Find your injury, read across, and that is your CICA payment before anything else is added.
Three things a calculator will not tell you, and they are the three that decide what you actually receive.
The 30 and 15 per cent rule changes the total, and the order the Authority puts them in changes it again.
On a serious injury, lost earnings and special expenses can be larger than the injury payment itself, and neither is read off a table.
Unspent convictions and the police reporting requirement are the two that come up most often, and both are worth raising before you apply rather than after.
How to make a CICA application
A CICA application is made to the Authority directly, online, and GOV.UK states that there is no fee for making one. The sequence is short.
If you do not have your crime reference number, the police force that took the report can give it to you, and it is worth getting hold of before you start rather than part way through.
Report the crime to the police if you have not. The report must exist before you apply. Ask for the crime reference number and write it down.
Check which scheme covers you. A criminal injuries claim UK wide is not one process: England, Wales and Scotland are covered here, and Northern Ireland runs its own.
Apply within the deadline set out above. Two years for most adults, and different again for under-18s and for childhood abuse.
Give CICA your medical details and consent. It obtains most of the records itself once the application is made, which is why the process is manageable without a solicitor in straightforward cases.
Wait, and answer what it asks for promptly. The Authority decides on the papers. There is no hearing unless a refusal goes to appeal.
What a CICA claim is built on
Applications are decided on the papers rather than in a courtroom, so what you can put in front of the Authority is what decides the outcome.
Your police reference
The crime reference number is the single most important thing to have, because the report is what makes an application possible at all. Without it the Authority has nothing to check the account against.
Medical records
Accident and emergency notes, GP notes, and any treatment for psychological injury, which the Authority may ask a doctor to assess. These are what place you on a tariff level rather than near one.
What you can remember
Dates, what was said and done, and who else knew. Write it down while it is fresh, because an account given once and consistently is worth more than one reconstructed later.
The effect on your life
Time off work, counselling, and things you have not been able to do since. This is what the payments outside the tariff are assessed on, and it is the part applicants most often leave thin.
Injuries suffered while helping the police or preventing a crime are also covered. If what happened to you is not on this list, that does not mean you cannot apply.
Refused, or the award looks too low
A review is carried out by the Authority itself and looks at the decision again, including any new evidence you send with it. If the review does not change the outcome, an appeal goes to the First-tier Tribunal. The tribunal is independent of the Authority and can hold a hearing.
This is the stage where representation earns its cost most clearly. A refusal usually turns on a specific provision, such as the reporting requirement, the time limit, conduct, or an unspent conviction, and a review that answers the actual reason is a different document from a review that restates the original application.
Paragraph 119 sets the period for applying for a review, and it runs from the date of the written notice of the decision. It is far shorter than the two years you had to apply in the first place, and it is the point at which most people lose a claim they could have kept.
If you have had a decision you think is wrong, send it to us before those 56 days run out.
What it costs, and whether you need
a solicitor
You do not need a solicitor to apply to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority, and applying costs nothing. You can do it yourself, and a friend or relative can help you without being a formal representative. If you do that and the application succeeds, you keep the whole award.
If your health problem built up over months or years of exposure at work, such as a lung condition, occupational asthma, hand-arm vibration, or hearing loss, that is usually an industrial disease claim, and the time limits work differently. If you are not sure which applies, we will help you work it out.
So the honest answer is that it depends on your case. A straightforward application after a recent assault is something many people manage alone. Where representation tends to earn its cost is on the harder ones: historical abuse, psychiatric injury that needs expert evidence, awards reduced because of an applicant’s own convictions, and reviews or appeals to the tribunal after a refusal.
Tell us what happened and we will say honestly which of those you are, before any agreement is signed.
- Applying to the Authority is free, whoever does it
- The Authority does not pay legal costs, so any fee is taken from your award
- Ask any firm, including this one, exactly what percentage they would take
- Get it in writing before you commit, and take your time reading it
How long does a CICA claim take?
Whether the police investigation has finished
The Authority will usually wait for the outcome of a live criminal case before deciding, because the police evidence goes to whether the crime happened as described. A case still at court is the most common reason an application sits.
Whether your injuries have settled
A decision made before the medical picture is clear is a decision made on the wrong tariff level. For psychological injury in particular, the level turns on duration, and duration takes time to demonstrate.
Whether the Authority has asked for anything
Applications stall on outstanding requests more often than on anything the Authority is doing. Answer promptly, and keep a note of what you sent and when, so that a chase can point at a date.
Whether there is a review or appeal
A review restarts the clock on a decision, and an appeal to the tribunal adds its own listing time on top. That is the slowest route through the scheme, and also the one most worth taking when the reason for refusal is wrong.
What a CICA claim is built on
Most of this already exists. The Authority obtains a good deal of it directly once an application is made.
Never reported it to the police? That is a real obstacle rather than an automatic no. Talk to someone about it rather than assuming the door is closed.
What it costs, and whether you need
a solicitor
You do not need a solicitor to apply to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority, and applying costs nothing. You can do it yourself, and a friend or relative can help you without being a formal representative. If you do that and the application succeeds, you keep the whole award.
If the claim succeeds, an agreed success fee is deducted from your compensation, and insurance is usually put in place to cover the other side’s costs. Your industrial injury solicitors will explain all of this clearly, in plain English, before you commit to anything.
We will tell you honestly which of those you are, before any agreement is signed.
Criminal injury compensation claims
your questions answered
The questions we are asked most, answered plainly.
Can I claim if the attacker was never caught or convicted?
Yes, in many cases. The Authority decides on the balance of probabilities rather than waiting for a criminal conviction, so an application can succeed even where nobody was charged or the attacker was never identified. What it does need is that the crime was reported to the police and that you co-operated with their investigation as far as you reasonably could.
Do I need a solicitor to make a CICA claim?
No. Applying is free and you can do it yourself, or with help from a friend or relative. If you instruct a solicitor or a claims company, the Authority will not pay their fee, so it comes out of your award. Representation is most likely to be worth that cost on complex cases, such as historical abuse, psychiatric injury needing expert evidence, or a review or appeal after a refusal. We will tell you honestly which category you are in before you sign anything.
How much compensation will I get?
It depends on your injuries, and it is set by a fixed government tariff rather than negotiated. Injury payments run from £1,000 to £250,000, with a £500,000 cap on the total award, and the upper end is reserved for the most severe injuries. Where there is more than one injury, the tariff pays 100 per cent of the highest, 30 per cent of the second and 15 per cent of a third. Lost earnings are paid only after 28 weeks and at statutory sick pay rates.
Can my own criminal record affect a claim?
It can. The Scheme allows an award to be refused or reduced where an applicant has unspent convictions, with the effect depending on the sentence. It is one of the more technical parts of the rules, and it is a common reason applications are turned down or cut. If this applies to you, say so at the start rather than hoping it will not come up, because it will, and it is easier to deal with openly.
Can I claim if a family member was killed?
Qualifying relatives may be able to claim a bereavement payment, and whoever paid for the funeral can apply towards those costs. There may also be payments where someone was financially dependent on the person who died. The Scheme sets out who counts as a qualifying relative, broadly a spouse or civil partner who was living with the person, a partner of at least two years, a parent or a child, so it is worth checking your position rather than assuming.
How long do I have to apply?
Normally two years from the crime, which is a year shorter than an ordinary injury claim and catches people out. The Authority can extend it in limited circumstances, for example where the crime was childhood abuse, or where someone could not apply sooner because of their physical or mental health. If you are past two years, it is still worth asking rather than assuming you are too late.
Find out where you stand
Tell us what happened and how you have been since. We will explain which route applies to you, what it would involve, and whether it is worth pursuing. If it is not, we will say so.
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Ask what your options are
The two-year deadline is shorter than most people expect, so it is worth asking early even if you are not sure you want to go ahead. The conversation is free, private, and you are under no obligation to instruct anyone, including us.
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