We all see crime happening on TV, but when we see it in real life it is a totally different story. But what should you do if you saw a crime in person and were actually injured from it? Well the first thing you should do is file for a criminal injuries compensation so you can get compensated for all the bills. In this article we will talk about how to do that, let’s first talk about CICA.
CICA – Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority
The first criminal injuries compensation first was established in 1946 in Great Britain. They were a firm who started off with personal injury claims then realized they could actually start another branch for people who were hurt because of a criminal activity, they cover people who have suffered:
- Any sort of injury at all. One thing people need to understand is it isn’t just physical injury they are talking about, it could be mental injury as well
- Any sort of loss of stuff that had value to you such as rings, earings, or any other sort of physical thing you purchased
- Emotional pain and suffering from the loss of someone you loved because they got caught up in a criminal act.
If you are going to file a criminal injuries compensation claim we highly recommend that you go through CICA because they have been the most established company and will be able to help you get out of the majority of messes you are in!
How To Make The Claim
The main thing you need to prove when you are trying to make a claim is that you have suffered some sort. Whether it is physical or mental pain doesn’t matter, but you do need to make sure you will be able to prove this.
It is important you realize that you need to just show that the crime actually took place, you don’t have to show whether or not the person was convicted and found guilty.
The first step to filing for one of these claims is to first visit a personal injury solicitor and get a form from them. Once you fill out the form (be sure to include details) you will return it to them and they will go over it with you.
Once you do this your lawyer will send it to CICA and they will take a look at your form and give it a thorough review. One thing you need to remember right now is to have patients. The reason I say that is because it can take up to a year and a half for this process to actually happen.
You need to also realize that the minimum payout is 1,000 dollars so you need to make sure you need to get compensated for at least that amount. Also be aware of the fact that they will not pay you over 250,000 dollars..
If you get your compensation and realize you think you should have gotten more, you do have 90 days to submit an appeal form and request more money. You also need to state the reasons as to why you deserve more money. We recommend you do this because more often than not they will actually follow through and give you more money.
Once you go through this process and still feel like you deserve more money, you have thirty days to file another appeal, but this time you will actually go in to talk to someone face to face. If you still aren’t happy with what they told you your last thing you can do is take it to a higher court to plead your case to them. Be sure to take it all the way if you feel like you truly deserve more.
Is There Anything Else You Can Do?
If you have been caught up in a crime and had been injured for it the first thing you should always do is talk to a criminal solicitor and seek advice from them. The reason for this is because these types of lawyers are really smart when it comes to criminal activity and know how to handle certain situations like these.
You also need to get advice from them to figure out if there are any other compensations you can go after because there are probably a ton out there that you didn’t even know you were entitled to.
Now there are many people that send us emails letting us know that they have been involved in a criminal injury and want criminal injuries compensation but don’t have the funds right now to hire a lawyer. Our advice to them in cases like this is to hire what is called a no win no fee solicitor which basically means you don’t have to pay them unless you win, and if you do win you will have the money to pay them. It’s perfect!
And last but not least…
Make sure you tell the truth in all situations no matter what! We have seen people lose cases for the simple fact that they refused to tell the truth because they felt it would decrease their chances of winning. This is a big mistake!
So let’s talk more about going through this process:
We live in such an amazing world, but the truth is crime and violence are starting to happen more and more every single day. The sad truth is the fact that there are some people who are scared to get out of bed because they are so scared of something happening to them, that is no way to live life! Now it is true both the city and the government take steps to try to reduce criminal activity, but with how much is going on and how sudden it happens, there is nothing they can do to truly stop it all
I am here to tell you that you no longer have to be scarred? Why? Because the majority of people who are scarred are scarred because they think that the if they get hurt they will not be able to financially afford everything including the medical bills and recovery.
Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority is the organization we talked about above that will allow you to file a claim and get compensated for whatever happened to you during a criminal activity assuming it was bad enough to receive compensation for.
Like we said above, if you suffered from mental trauma you can still file with them, you just need to prove to them how it is affecting your daily life and how you are no longer able to get as much work done as you did in the past.
One thing you need to know about the CICA is the fact that you can’t just say you suffered and then get compensated for it, if it were that easy everyone would be doing it! You need to be able to gather evidence. If you were injured your evidence is your medical bills and all the bills you have gathered up from recovery. If it is a mental trauma, then you need to get a note from your boss or something along those lines.
Another thing you need to be aware of is the fact that you need to prove that a crime actually took place because if you can’t prove that, then they are not required to pay you anything because you haven’t been able to prove that a crime happened. It Believe it or not, if there was one thing you needed to prove more than anything this is actually it. You don’t need to prove that the person was convicted and found guilty, you just need to prove that something actually did happen and you aren’t just saying it did.
Once you have been able to prove that there was actually a crime that happened (this is easy to do if the person was found guilty) and you have proven that you have suffered from some sort of trauma, then and only then will you be compensated for your losses or hard times. They will send you claims form and ask you to fill it out. It is vital you fill it out in detail because if you do not then you might be missing out on a lot of money.
Again, when you fill this out we really recommend you do it with the advice of a lawyer because the lawyer will be able to help you fill it out and he will know what will help you get paid the most and what will actually hurt you chances of getting paid
We mentioned above that you need patients when you send the form back in because they have to do so many background checks to make sure you are telling the truth it can take up a lot of time. Remember one thing though, if you tell the truth you will probably be paid faster because they won’t have to look through as much.
Filing for a criminal injuries compensation doesn’t have to be a hard or stressful thing. In fact it shouldn’t be. Just get a lawyer and be patient and you will be fine!