The CICA appeal process

An article was posted on the Solicitors Journal website on the 25^th October, entitled ‘Crime victims received six times more injury compensation at appeal’.

Within the article it explains how analysis shows that victims of crime face being under-compensated for their injuries if they do not make a challenge by appealing the CICA’s (Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority) payout of their final award.

The article refers to data and analysis from the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL), which highlights huge discrepancies between initial offers made through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme and then how much victims go on to receive if they do appeal the payout of the initial offer made through the CICA.

The data obtained from the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) obtained the below figures:

• There were 379 cases which reached the appeal stage in 2022/2023 and an average of £7,848 were officially offered for each claim.
• At appeal of the 379 cases the CICA’s offer increased to £47,399 which is six times more per person.

Kim Harrison. vice president of Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL), has commented about how the above figures clearly suggest that victims are not receiving the compensation they are entitled to if they don’t have legal representation when pursuing a claim to the CICA. This is because the CICA advises victims of crime that they do not need to appoint a legal representative.

This article really ties into why it is vital for victims of a violent crime to seek legal representation when pursuing a claim through the CICA, especially when challenging the CICA’s initial offer.

The CICA appeal process

The claimant can appeal to the First-Tier Tribunal (Criminal Injuries Compensation) if they disagree with a decision, because they are either refused compensation or unhappy with the amount of the final offer on their claim for compensation.

The tribunal can:

• Uphold the CICA’s decision.
• Increase or reduce the claimant’s award.
• Decide that the claimant should not get anything.
• Ask the CICA to make the decision again.

The applicant has 90 days to appeal to the tribunal from the date of CICA’s review decision. The tribunal is independent of the government, and will listen to both sides of the argument before making a decision.

The tribunal will then send a copy of an appeal form to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA). The CICA will respond to the claimant and the tribunal within six weeks. After this, the claimant will have one month to get back to the tribunal with any extra information or arguments.

The appeal is decided through the tribunal and they will write to tell the claimant if their appeal is going to be decided either using paperwork in their case or a hearing.

The claimant can ask the tribunal for a hearing if they haven’t been given one in the first instance. The tribunal judge’s decision will be sent to the claimant by post if their appeal was decided using paperwork.

Hearings

• The claimant is given 14 days’ notice of any hearing.
• Hearings are usually held in the area covered by the police force which investigated the claimants crime.
• The hearing will be attended by two or three tribunal judges or members, a clerk, a representative from CICA and any witnesses. A police officer who knows about the claimant’s case can also attend the hearing.
• At the hearing, the claimant will be asked about their crime and any injuries that they sustained in the incident.
• The claimant will present their case to the judge or someone else can do this for the claimant if they preferred.
• Witnesses will come into the claimant’s hearing to give evidence and leave once they have.
• The claimant or the representative can ask questions during the hearing and make points at the end.
• The claimant usually gets the tribunal’s decision of their appeal on the day of the hearing.

If the claimant loses the appeal they may be able to ask for a ‘judicial review’ of the decision if the claimant thinks the decision was wrong for a legal reason. This means they may hear the case again, which must be concluded within one month of the date of the decision.

Further reading

Criminal injury CICA claims – Oakwood Solicitors

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