4.1.16 Criminal Injuries Compensation for Child Victims

.The Criminal Injuries Compensation Board (CICB) may pay compensation to the victims of crimes of violence, including children. Compensation may be paid whether the child is in care or living with his/her family. Applications are normally made by the victim, but in the case of a child or young person, may be made on his/her behalf by a Social Worker.

The conditions for making an application are:

That the injury was sustained in Great Britain
That the injury arises directly from a crime of violence
That the total amount of compensation would be at least £1,000
That the offender will not benefit from the award

There are further conditions if the victim and the offender were living in the same household as members of the same family at the time of the injuries. These are:

That the offender has been prosecuted, or there are practical, technical or other good reasons why a prosecution has not been brought
If the victim is less than 18 years old, that an award would not act against his/her interests

At any stage in the proceedings, as soon as it has become apparent that a Criminal Injuries Compensation Application is likely to be made, this issue should be dealt with immediately. The application should be drafted and the documents prepared. The documents should be sent to Legal Services to check prior to them being forwarded to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.

The contact details for the CICA are:

Address	Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority Tay House 300 Bath Street Glasgow G2 4LN
Website	www.cica.gov.uk
Telephone No.	0141-331-2726
Freephone No	0800-358-3601
Fax No.	0141-331-2287

Please note that if you come across cases which ought to have had CICA applications made on them because the child/children are in the care of the Authority you are required to make attempts to seek an award on behalf of the child/children. A failure to do so may result in negligence on behalf of the Authority.

You will need to be aware that the 1996 Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme dealt with applications between 1st April 1996 and 31st March 2001. The scheme was revised in 2001 and the current scheme is the 2001 Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme which deals with applications after 1st April 2001.

The main changes to the 1996 scheme are:-

an increase in the level of awards
an increase in the formula for multiple injuries
extending eligibility for fatal awards to same sex partners
changing the way the Tariff of Injuries is set out to make it easier to understand

The Schemes contain all of the rules of eligibility for compensation and the procedures, applications as well as the descriptions of injury and levels of compensation. They can be downloaded from:- Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme Website

If you have queries or require guidance about the scheme you should contact the CICA directly.

CICA Appeals

When should an appeal be considered?

Once an award is made consideration should be given as to accepting or appealing the award.

In all cases where the result is not as anticipated it should be reviewed with counsel and/or the allocated lawyer prior to the expiry of the time to appeal the award. If an appeal is advised, then it is advisable to appeal the award and your Team Manager should be involved in making this decision.

The first stage of appeal would result in a review of the decision by another CICA board member. If they re-affirm the original award then the next stage will be an appeal to a Panel and will take the form of a quasi-Court hearing.

The contact details for the Criminal Injuries Compensation Appeals Panel is:

Address	Criminal Injuries Compensation Appeals 11th Floor Cardinal Tower Farringdon Road London EC1M 3HS
Email	info@cicap.gsi.gov.uk
Telephone No.	020-7549-4600
Fax No	020-7549-4643

If you have queries about the appeals process you should contact the Criminal Injuries Compensation Appeals Panel directly.

What happens when an award has been accepted?

The Social Worker should notify the CICA to make the cheque payable to Coventry City Council and you should send it to the relevant financial Manager for Children, Learning and Young People’s Directorate.

The Council House
Earl Street
Coventry
CV1 5RR

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