Criminal Injuries Compensation Claims

Last Updated: 03.07.2026

Were you injured as the victim of a violent crime?

If you were physically or mentally injured because you were the victim of a violent crime in England, Scotland or Wales, you may be able to claim compensation through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) — a government-funded scheme.

You can apply free, direct to CICA

You do not need to use a claims management company, or a solicitor, to make a criminal injuries claim. The CICA scheme is designed so that you can apply yourself, directly and free of charge, at www.cica.gov.uk.

If you apply yourself, you keep 100% of any compensation awarded. If you choose to use a representative, a fee will be deducted from your award (see Fees, below). We want you to have this information before you decide.

For full details of who can apply, time limits and how awards are calculated, go to www.cica.gov.uk.

Who we are

Fairweather Group Ltd, trading as claim.co.uk, is a claims management company. We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Firm Reference Number 935899.

We are not a law firm and we do not give legal advice. What we do is assess your enquiry and, where appropriate, introduce you to a firm on our legal panel that handles criminal injuries claims. The firm we introduce you to is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).

We will not charge you anything for our service. We are paid a fixed monthly marketing fee by our legal partners for the marketing services we provide. This fee is agreed in advance and does not depend on the number of claims we refer or the outcome of any claim — we are not paid a fee per claim.

We will tell you the name of the law firm before we pass on your details. You can also see our current legal panel here: Our Panel.

Fees

You can apply to CICA yourself for free. The fees below only apply if you choose to use the law firm we introduce you to.

The law firm on our legal panel acts on a No Win, No Fee basis for criminal injuries claims. This means you only pay a fee if your claim is successful and compensation is awarded to you.

If your claim is successful, the firm will charge, from your compensation, the greater of:

  • £500, or
  • 40% inclusive of VAT of the compensation awarded

— whichever is the greater amount. The fee stays the same regardless of how long your claim takes or how much work is involved.

Because the fee is the greater of a fixed £500 or 40% of your award, on smaller awards the £500 minimum may represent more than 40% of what you receive. Please make sure you understand how the fee applies to your circumstances before you proceed.

Cancelling

You have a 14-day cooling-off period after entering into an agreement with the law firm, during which you can cancel free of charge. If you cancel your agreement with the panel law firm after the 14-day cooling-off period, that firm may charge you a termination fee under the terms of its agreement with you. The panel law firm will set out the amount and how it is calculated in its client care information before you sign.

How compensation is decided

Compensation under the CICA scheme is based on a fixed tariff of injuries and on your individual circumstances. The amount of any compensation depends on your individual circumstances, and we cannot say in advance whether you will receive an award or how much it might be. Full details of how CICA awards are assessed are at www.cica.gov.uk.