The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) is the government organisation that runs this type of criminal injury claim.
All decisions made by the CICA in regards to claims are based on the criteria outlined within the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012. Therefore, if your claim has been rejected, the specific circumstances of your incident will not be in accordance with the scheme.
There are a number of reasons why the CICA would reject an application which we will discuss in this article. Rest assured, for whatever reason the CICA may reject a claim, they should always provide a letter explaining their reasoning behind this and which section of the scheme the rejection is in reference to.
The reasons behind a rejection include, but are not limited to, the following:
- The incident was not reported to the Police as soon as reasonably practicable – Typically the CICA would expect the incident to have been reported within the first 48 hours. However, they can make exceptions to this. For example, if you sustained a fractured jaw which required surgery preventing you from reporting until after you were discharged from hospital.
- Your conduct in relation to the incident would make it inappropriate to make an award
- Lack of cooperation with the Police investigation – Co-operation would include providing statements with the Police and also choosing to press charges if given the opportunity.
- Unspent convictions – Paragraph 26 of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme states ‘an award… will be withheld or reduced because the applicant to whom an award would otherwise be made has unspent convictions.’ Whilst it is true the CICA can choose to reduce rather than reject in this instance, it is incredibly rare that they would do so. The following document provides an outline of how long each specific conviction would take to become spent.
- Insufficient injury – If the injuries you sustained during the incident are not included within the ‘Tariff of Injuries’ laid out within the above mentioned scheme, unfortunately this will mean you are not eligible for an award via this method.
- Lack of cooperation with the CICA’s investigations – If the CICA do not receive the information they have requested from you (i.e. treatment of injuries form, medical documentation etc) within a reasonable time frame, they will not hesitate to reject your claim. This is why it is vital to keep the CICA updated with your contact details if they do change as the CICA need to be able to contact you in order to claim.
- Unable to prove you were a victim of a ‘violent crime’ – Once the CICA have obtained the initial police report, it will become clear whether there is enough evidence to continue with the claim. Whilst it is not a necessity for an assailant to be identified or convicted, the CICA do need to determine that you were the clear victim within the situation.
Should you have received a rejection letter and you disagree with the reasoning provided by the CICA, you do have the right to submit an Application for Review. A form regarding this should have been provided within the rejection documents and this needs to be submitted to the CICA before the deadline.
If an Application for Review is submitted after the provided deadline, it is highly unlikely the CICA will accept this unless you are able to provide strong extenuating circumstances which resulted in the late submission.
If you are unsure whether you have grounds to submit an Application for Review, it may be worth obtaining a legal representative to assist you. They will be able to review the rejection documents and determine the best way to move forward.
Further reading
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