CICA Claims – Why you need a Solicitor

If you were an innocent victim of a crime and are considering whether to make a claim against the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA), you may find yourself asking the question as to whether you should get some help from a Solicitor.

The CICA has attempted to make it as simple as possible for an individual to submit a claim on their own, so why would anyone require legal help in submitting a claim?

There are several misconceptions with CICA claims and this article aims to give a better understanding to anyone who is unsure as to why a legal representative can prove to be vital.

What Would Legal Help Do?

The role of any legal help you receive should be to assist in pushing your claim to a positive conclusion. It is highly understandable that an incident that has left you with either physical or psychological injuries can have a traumatic effect on your day to day life.

The easiest task can feel like a mountain to climb and the burden of having to chase up your case is huge in these circumstances. In my experience, the majority of clients who have this stress taken from their shoulders are allowed to then concentrate on their recovery. Quite often, this will allow them to have a much more positive outlook.

A CICA claim can also be deceptively complex. While it may seem fairly straight forward upon first glance, the requests for documents and additional information can be confusing. In addition to this, the information requested can often be difficult to get a hold of. Having an experienced representative available whenever you need to talk to them, guiding you through the process, can be an utter godsend.

It is important to identify that no matter is too trivial and sometimes, a simple chat about what you are currently going through can make the world of difference.

The Statistics

Simply put, having a legal representative has been shown to improve the likelihood of a CICA case succeeding. The most recent statistics published by the government illustrate that more people decide to undergo this type of claim on their own, than with a legal representative.

Unfortunately for those people without representation, they are more likely to end up with their claims rejected in comparison to those who seek legal help. Of the 39,356 people who had a CICA claim finalised between 2017 and 2018, 60% decided not to seek legal help and a whopping 62% of those had their claims rejected.

This could be attributed to numerous things such as lack of understanding of the claims process, the required criteria that needs to be met and failure to meet set deadlines, all of which can be assisted by having a legal representative.

‘Paying Extra’

Here at Oakwood Solicitors, we agree to work on your CICA claim on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis. If your claim is unsuccessful, you will not be expected to pay us a penny.

If you are successful in your claim, we take a percentage of the compensation meaning that the only time we will receive money is if we have brought your claim to a fruitful conclusion.

This arrangement obviously means that we are incentivised to try and obtain the maximum amount of compensation for your claim.

Of those applicants who did not have any legal help with their claim and received compensation between 2017 and 2018, the average payout was £6,934. Those applicants who received compensation with the help of a CICA Solicitor, received on average an additional £3,804, with a total average payout of £10,738.

I still have further questions

The best way for us to help with any enquiries you have regarding a CICA claim would be for you to get in touch with us directly and speak to a CICA solicitor.

• Have a look at these CICA Statistics.
• To learn about the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority, read our guide to the CICA here.

WHAT TO DO NEXT

For impartial, confidential legal advice, get in touch today for a free initial consultation. Choose one of the methods on the right-hand side of this page, or call us on 0113 200 9787 to find out how we can help you.