If you have suffered psychological or physical personal injury due to an assault or other violent crime, e.g. violent muggings, attacks on the street, sexual and violent assault, you may be entitled to claim compensation through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA).

The government set up the CICA in 1996 to provide compensation for victims of violent crime in Great Britain. CICA claims are different to other personal injury claims in that compensation is calculated on a strict tariff basis, ranging from £1000 - £250,000.

You may also be eligible to receive compensation for the following:

Pain and suffering
Your past financial losses
Loss of earnings
Any private medical dental and/or optical expenses.
Any care provided by your spouse or partner, relatives or friends.
Any special equipment.
Any alterations or adaptations made to your home to help you cope with the effects of your injuries.
Any damage to property or equipment upon which you would normally rely, e.g. glasses.

To be able to make a criminal assault claim, your injury must be a directly caused by a violent crime that has taken place within the last two years. The CICA may allow late claims if you have a good explanation for the delay.

The fact that the offender may not have been caught or prosecuted will not automatically prevent you from making your claim.

The first step is to make sure you report the attack, assault or incident that caused your injuries to the police without delay. Failure to do this may prevent your claim succeeding.

By working with you and the CICA, a specialist solicitor can achieve a just compensation package for the losses you have suffered and if it is considered that your claim has good prospects of success, then the specialist solicitor can act under a Contingency Fee Agreement, with the solicitors fees representing say 15 or 20% of the compensation agreed if the claim is successful , but that you will have no costs to pay if your claim is unsuccessful.