CICA Compensation vs Civil Claim

If you have been injured by a violent crime, there are two main ways to seek compensation, and they work on completely different foundations. The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority runs a government-funded scheme that pays fixed tariff awards without you having to sue anyone. A civil claim is a court action against the offender personally, which can be worth far more but only if they have money or insurance behind them. The time limits differ too, and the shorter one comes first. This comparison sets out both.

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Feature	CICA	Civil Claim
Who pays the compensation	Government (taxpayer-funded scheme)	The offender or their insurer
Cost to you	Free to apply	Solicitor fees apply, though no-win no-fee arrangements are common
Time limit to claim	2 years from the incident	3 years from the incident (personal injury limitation period)
Evidence required	Police report and evidence that the incident was reported to police	Must prove case on the balance of probabilities
Maximum award	Up to £500,000 (tariff-based scheme)	Unlimited — based on actual losses and injuries
Speed	Often months — can be faster than courts	Can take years, especially if offender is difficult to trace or has no means

If the offender has no money, a civil claim may be worthless in practice even if you win. CICA is often the more reliable route for victims of violent crime. You cannot usually claim from both for the same injury.

Which route is realistic for you

Start with a hard question: does the offender have anything worth claiming against? A civil claim can recover your actual losses without a tariff ceiling, which matters where injuries are serious or earnings have stopped. But a judgment against someone with no assets, no insurance and no income is a piece of paper. Where the offender was uninsured and has nothing, the CICA scheme is usually the only route that produces money.

Offender unidentified, untraceable, or without means? CICA is the practical option — it pays regardless of whether anyone was convicted or even caught.
Offender has insurance, property or a business? A civil claim may be worth taking, often on a no-win no-fee basis, and can cover losses a tariff scheme will not.
Serious long-term injury? Get specialist advice quickly. The right route depends on the medical evidence as much as the legal position.

The mistake that ends claims before they start is not reporting the crime to the police, or reporting it too late. The CICA scheme requires the incident to have been reported without delay and expects you to co-operate with the investigation. A prosecution is not needed, but a police report is essentially unavoidable.

Watch the deadlines. CICA has the shorter limit of the two, running from the incident, with only limited discretion to extend it. Do not wait for a criminal case to conclude before applying — apply and tell the CICA that proceedings are ongoing.

Frequently asked questions

Can I claim from CICA and sue the offender as well?

You can pursue both, but you will not be paid twice for the same injury. If a civil claim succeeds after a CICA award, the CICA will normally seek repayment of what it paid you, and you must tell it about any other compensation you receive. In practice most people start with the CICA application because it is free, then take advice on whether a civil claim adds anything. Tell each process about the other rather than keeping them separate.

Does the offender have to be convicted for me to claim?

No. The CICA scheme does not require a conviction, or even an identified offender, which is one of its main advantages — it applies its own standard to decide whether a crime of violence took place. What it does require is that you reported the incident to the police as soon as reasonably practicable and co-operated with the investigation. A civil claim also uses the lower civil standard of proof, so it can succeed even where a criminal prosecution did not.

What if the crime happened years ago?

Apply anyway and explain the delay. Both routes have time limits, and both allow extensions in defined circumstances — most commonly where the victim was a child at the time, or where the effects of the crime, including psychological injury, made it unreasonable to expect an earlier claim. Historic child abuse cases are specifically contemplated. The application will need to explain why it could not have been brought sooner and what evidence supports the account now.

Will something in my own past stop me claiming?

It can affect a CICA award. The scheme can reduce or refuse compensation where the applicant has unspent criminal convictions, where their own conduct contributed to the incident, or where they failed to co-operate with the police. This does not automatically rule you out, and the rules turn on the nature and timing of the convictions. Be straightforward about it in the application — the CICA will check, and an undisclosed history damages a claim more than a disclosed one.

Related guides

CICA Criminal Injuries Compensation

If you have been physically or psychologically injured as the result of a violent crime in Great Britain, you may be able to claim compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA). The scheme is funded by the government and does not depend on the offender being caught or convicted. Awards range from £1,000 to £500,000 depending on the nature and severity of your injuries.

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Victims' Code Rights

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Disclaimer

The information on this page was correct at the time of writing. Amounts, thresholds, and rules may change. Always check the latest official guidance.