How long do I have to claim criminal injuries compensation?

The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority runs a government-funded scheme for people injured by violent crime in England, Scotland and Wales — Northern Ireland has its own separate scheme. The standard deadline is two years from the date of the incident, and it matters more than almost anything else about your claim: a late application can be turned away before the merits are ever considered. Our CICA deadline calculator works out your date.

When the two years start running

• The usual rule — two years from the date of the crime.
• Injuries suffered as a child — the two years run from your 18th birthday instead, so a claim for childhood sexual abuse is generally still in time until your 20th birthday.
• Late-established links — where the connection between the crime and your injury was only established later, the two years run from that point. This matters most for psychological injury.
• Extensions — the CICA can extend the limit in exceptional circumstances, for example where you lacked the capacity to apply. You must give strong reasons.

One deadline you do not have to wait for is the offender's. You need no conviction and no named suspect: the CICA decides on the balance of probabilities using police records, medical evidence and your account, and many successful claims involve offenders who were never identified. What you do need is to have reported the crime to the police as soon as reasonably practicable and cooperated with the investigation.

Applying, and the deadlines that follow

Applying online at gov.uk is free. Have ready the date and location of the incident, your police crime reference number, medical evidence, your National Insurance number, and details of any lost earnings or special expenses. Awards follow a fixed tariff of 25 bands, from £1,000 at Band 1 to £250,000 at Band 25, with £500,000 the maximum single award. Where you have several injuries the highest award is paid in full, the second at 30% and the third at 15%. You can also claim loss of earnings if the injury keeps you off work for more than 28 weeks.

If the decision disappoints you, two further clocks start. Ask the CICA for an internal review within 56 days of the decision letter — a different caseworker looks again, and the award can go up, stay the same or go down. If you are still dissatisfied, appeal to the First-tier Tribunal within 90 days of the review decision. Tribunal appeals are free, you can represent yourself, and many victims' charities and law centres offer free representation. Victim Support can help you apply and keep to these dates.