The government’s Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) scheme can sometimes be difficult for people to navigate and expert legal assistance often makes all the difference, as this recent claim handled by specialist criminal injury lawyer Elizabeth Duncan shows.
Elizabeth was contacted by P, a now adult woman who had been subjected to horrendous abuse at the hands of her father. She had made her own application to the CICA and had received an offer of £13,500. Feeling that this was not enough given all she had been through she reached out to our specialist team for help with having the decision reviewed and Elizabeth agreed to help on a No Win, No Fee basis.
Elizabeth arranged for P to meet a psychologist who prepared a specialist report dealing with the various test set out in the CICA scheme when it comes to compensating those who have suffered disabling psychological effects as a result of abuse. Elizabeth also took the view that P should receive an additional payment under the scheme in relation to her lost earnings as she had been forced to give up her small business some years ago due to her mental health. Elizabeth gathered evidence in relation to earnings from the DWP and HMRC, as well as records that P herself still held. This resulted in an increased offer being made but only of £22,000. The CICA argued that, as P had an unrelated degenerative condition in her spine, she would not have been able to work anyway ,and therefore this was not as a result of her mental health.
Undaunted, Elizabeth appealed to the First Tier Tribunal. She obtained a report from an orthopaedic surgeon who was able to confirm that although P’s spinal condition caused her some problems these would not have been enough to stop her working in her business.
Fortunately this had the desired outcome and the Tribunal ultimately made an order for the CICA to pay P a sum in excess of £87,000.
P was very happy with the outcome, which means she will be able to have some security as well as being able to access private specialist treatment to help her process all she has suffered. She said:
“Thank you for everything, will highly recommend you to anyone I come across as you were the only people that would take my case on thank you from the bottom of my heart”.
Elizabeth is passionate about helping survivors of abuse access the compensation they deserve from the CICA scheme and receive what they are entitled. to. She says:
“It is incredibly frustrating that survivors of abuse, who can be some of the most vulnerable people in society, seem to be consistently low balled by a government scheme set up to help the victims of crime. I urge anyone concerned that they may not be being properly compensated under the scheme to contact us for a free case assessment”.
Call our free CICA helpline on 0333 888 0446 to speak to a specialist criminal injury lawyer, or send us an email.