Have you been the victim of a serious assault?
Have you been the victim of a serious assault? You may be able to make a criminal injuries compensation claim, even if you never found out who your assailant was.
In its latest annual Recorded Crime in Scotland statistics the Scottish Government recorded a total of 262 attempted murders and serious assaults in the year to April 2021. A further 761 people were victims of non-sexual crimes of violence and another 184 people were subject to other violent crimes.
If you have been the victim of a violent crime, then you may wish to sue your attacker to compensate for the pain and suffering that they have caused you. However, it is often the case that an assailant will not have enough money to compensate their victim adequately. Similarly, you may not know the identity of the individual that attacked you. To see that some justice is delivered to innocent victims of violent crimes, many years ago the Government established the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA).
CICA will step in where your wrongdoer fails to compensate you. Therefore, even if you do not know who attacked you, you may still be entitled to claim compensation ranging from £1,000 to £500,000 if you have suffered physical and/or psychological injuries. There is an online application form on the CICA website. However, the scheme is tariff based which places a cap on the amounts payable.
Often victims of crime do not realise that there are other parties that can be sued, which could result in a larger sum of compensation being awarded. For example, your employer could be liable if you work with violent individuals, yet no reasonable steps were taken to protect you from potential assailants. This is an example of a civil claim and in such cases, damages are assessed by the courts and not a tariff basis. An employer is likely to be found liable to pay a greater sum of compensation than CICA will pay out for the same injury.
Each case is unique. If you have been the victim of a violent attack and want to know whether you may be entitled to compensation, please seek specialist legal advice. A personal injury solicitor will know the best route(s) for your circumstances.
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