If you are a survivor of sexual abuse or physical assault in the past, it is possible that you might be eligible to seek compensation for the negative impact it has had upon your health.
Our historic abuse claims FAQ aims to answer a few of the most common questions about this specialist area of psychiatric injury law.
What can be claimed for in an historic abuse case?
Claims can be made for the physical impact on your health, but crucially – compensation could also be sought for damage done to your mental wellbeing. Damages may be claimed for personal injury, but also any financial losses suffered due to ill health caused by the incident.
Who bears responsibility?
Perpetrators are usually individuals with no financial means, and in historic abuse cases may be difficult to trace or may even have passed away by the time action is taken. It would then be necessary to see whether an organisation or company may be liable for the acts of the individual.
This may be when an incident occurred during the course of employment, where employers’ liability insurance could be accountable.
Is there a time limit on bringing a claim?
Usually with personal injury claims, the limitation period is from three years of the time when it became apparent that injury had occurred as a result of the incident. This may be when you first sought medical intervention, whether this be your GP or hospital.
Separate allegations may fall under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, which if eligible may fall into a period of six years of limitation.
In cases of suppressed memories and seeking medical intervention to manage trauma in later life, it may be arguable to the court that any three-year limit may not commence until this initial medical help was sought out. Our team would be able to advise on whether we are able to support your claim upon enquiry.
How would my case be funded?
Funding can be done in a number of ways. Upon individual assessment, most commonly claims of this nature are covered by a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA, which is most often referred to as a ‘No-Win, No-Fee’ agreement.
If you have any questions or concerns about this, our team will happily talk you through it and address your concerns.
Further reading
if you have found our historic abuse claims FAQ helpful, you can read more information on this area of law here.
WHAT TO DO NEXT
Get in touch today for a no-obligation consultation. Choose one of the methods on the right-hand side of this page, or call us on 0113 200 9720 to find out how we can help you.
Carol Cook joined Oakwood Solicitors in May 2017 to lead the Medical Negligence Department.
Carol handles a wide range of clinical, cosmetic and dental negligence claims and has years of experi…
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