Monica Allen: The woman who changed the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme for the better

The Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme was initially introduced in 1964.

Within this was the ‘same roof rule’ which stated that an applicant was not eligible for compensation if the assailant was a family member they were living with at the time of the incident.

Whilst the intention of the rule was to prevent assailants from potentially benefiting from an applicant’s award, it did not consider child abuse cases where an applicant would have had no choice but to live with the assailant due to dependency.

In 1979 the ‘same roof rule’ was amended to only refuse an applicant compensation if they continued living with the assailant after the date of the incident/s. However, the fact remained that many victims of both physical and sexual abuse within the home had wrongly been denied compensation pre-1979.

One person affected by the CICA’s ruling was Monica Allen. In 1976, Monica’s birth mother was charged with attempted murder and was jailed for trying to kill her multiples times when she was a baby.

Monica herself was unaware of this until, years later, she was able to look through her social services records and see that her mother had attempted to kill her twice when she was a child.

In 2010, Monica tried to seek compensation for the abuse endured from her mother but was rejected due to the ‘same roof rule’ as the incident had taken place before 1979, meaning the amendment did not apply.

She also tried to claim compensation from the CICA for the physical and sexual abuse she suffered from her foster family but was again rejected.

These rejections only fuelled Monica in her pursuit for justice and led her to take her case all the way to the Supreme Court.

After 12 years of fighting, she was finally awarded compensation regarding the abuse she went through in foster case. A second settlement in relation to the abuse from her mother is currently pending.

Due to Monica’s victory at the Supreme Court, in June 2019 the CICA decided to abolish the ‘same roof rule’ meaning abuse victims pre-1979 are now able to claim compensation through the government scheme.

Currently, the CICA still maintain that an applicant will not be awarded compensation should they continue to live in the same household as the assailant or have a continuing relationship with them. However, this is also being looked at within the review of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme.

Further reading

Criminal injury (CICA) claims – Oakwood Solicitors

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 with your enquiry.