When the compensation offered to you by the CICA is too low, it may be time to take expert legal advice.
If you think your CICA compensation is too low and you would like to know whether anything can be done to get it increased, then contact our free legal helpline.
This real-life case study illustrates what you can do if your CICA compensation is too low.
We were contacted by the mother of a young man who had been viciously attacked with a machete while still a teenager. He had been stabbed in his arm and shoulder resulting in him being left with reduced use of his arm, muscle wastage and scarring. He also found it difficult to cope with the psychological aftermath of this terrible experience, struggling to get out of the house and suffering from depression and anxiety.
His mother supported him and helped him make an application to the government’s Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) Scheme.
He received an offer from the CICA scheme but it seemed too low. He applied for the award to be reviewed. However the CICA repeated the same low offer – just £4,220.
Frustrated and confused, mother and son turned to our specialist team of lawyers. We deal with Criminal Injuries Compensation Claims, including cases where an offer of compensation from the CICA is too low. Partner Elizabeth Duncan reviewed the case documents. She agreed that the award was too low and was confident she could secure a higher amount from the CICA. She noted in particular that the CICA had not considered the man’s psychological injury at all. Nor had they allowed anything for the disruption to his education caused by the psychological problems which would delay his entry to the workforce by several years.
Elizabeth took the case on and agreed to work on a No Win No Fee basis. She filed a notice of appeal with the First Tier Tribunal and obtained a report from a clinical psychologist to support the claim. This report provided a diagnosis and a prognosis for her client’s psychological injury, including an estimate of when he would be recovered sufficiently to enable him to get into work.
With this evidence Elizabeth was able to put together a detailed “statement of case” setting out the award sought under the scheme backed up by legal reasoning. During the tribunal proceedings the CICA responded with a counter schedule making huge concessions on their previous position of £4,220.
Ultimately Elizabeth secured a settlement in excess of £40,000 for her client, enabling him to make a fresh start and move on with his life after suffering this terrible crime.
Elizabeth commented:
“It’s incredibly frustrating that the CICA – a government scheme for the innocent victims of violent crime – remains so inaccessible to unrepresented applicants. This is yet another case where someone was let down by the organisation by failing to award the compensation he was entitled to. I am just glad that he reached out to us because we were able to make a huge difference and ensure that justice was done.”
If you have received an award of compensation from the CICA which you believe is too low then contact our legal experts for a free case review to see whether the offer can be increased.