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CRIMINAL COMPENSATION – A SERIOUS MATTER

Many a time, it may have happened that a person might have been an innocent bystander or a victim of a violent crime, and thus has suffered serious physical and mental injuries. For example, the amount of physical and mental damage done by a rapist to the innocent victim is beyond describing. In such situations, the medical expenses to patch up the damage and get back to normal are like the final blow to the victim. The CICA – or the Criminal Injury Compensation authority is an organisation that serves to provide compensation to such victims. It is a government headed organisation, and it is not a profit making body – its sole purpose is to provide relief to the victims by providing criminal compensation.

Terms and Conditions

People, however should understand a few things about the CICA. Only the victims of a violent crime can claim insurance. Depending on the degree of injuries inflicted, a person can be granted an amount between £1000 and £250,000 as criminal compensation. People must use their fair judgement and must respect the injuries sustained by real victims before making a claim. You need to have been present at the scene of the crime when it took place. Also, it should have happened in the UK. For instance, you cannot claim compensation just because you are too scared to climb trains anymore after the news of a recent terrorist attack. The rationale behind this is that train accidents happen on some other days too, yet it doesn’t make people stop boarding trains.

Making a Claim

When you make a claim, you will be assigned a special officer who will analyse the degree of the injuries you have sustained, and will then send a report to the CICA. Based on this report, you will be given criminal compensation – if the report deems that you indeed deserve any at all. Even if you try using a lawyer who works under a contract that does not make it necessary for you to pay any fees if you lose the case, in case you do win the case, the amount of compensation you will receive at the end of paying the lawyer his fees will be minimal. Thus, it would be wiser to seek advice online from people who have had some experience, and try to make only genuine claims.

Sometimes, the details of the crime may appear a bit shaky to you – you may not be able to recall the exact chain of events that led you to be victimised by the crime. In such cases, having a lawyer may help. Please do remember, the CICA is an organisation that is trying to help genuine victims – so if you are one, don’t be afraid to make your claim.