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| Compensating Victims of Crime |
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) - established in 1964 as a non-departmental public body, they manage the criminal injuries compensation scheme for Scotland, England and Wales. They are responsible for the administering of criminal injury compensation to those who have been injured as a result of crime processing over 65,000 applications per year resulting in over £200,000,000 being paid out to the victims. The offering of criminal injury compensation only goes out to those who are "victims" of violent crime - in other words they must not have participated willingly in the crime that caused them to be injured. There are also stipulations regarding criminal record with the theory being that if you have commited crimes before that have cost the government money they why should you receive money when it happens to you? (A theory I agree with so why do prisoners still get compensation if they slip in the shower? A discussion for another day ...)
They are a branch of the Home Office and Scottish Executive and have offices in London and Glasgow employing around 450 staff. They are publicly funded which means that misuse of the funds they are given would have serious implications for their own staff, as well as the general public. The hard line nature is well known and frivilous cases are rarely taken on by solicitors.
You can make a claim through their web site or by requesting and application form from their customer services department. When they receive your completed criminal injury claim form you will be given a personal reference number should you need to them during the course of your application. First and foremost they will contact the police, then doctors, hospitals or other organisations/people with relevant information. You will need both a police report and medical notes to be able to successfully obtain a payout. Once replies start coming in from these various sources you will be allocated a case worker who will contact you to let you know how the case is progressing. The CICA UK state that 90% of their cases are finalised within a year which isn't bad. For all current contact details, including telephone numbers and email inquiries, and for further information you should visit their website
- http://www.cica.gov.uk
Established in 1946 as a private company, the Motor Insurers' Bureau (MIB) was set up to compensate the victims of negligent uninsured and untraced motorists. Every motor insurer is obliged by the Road Traffic Act 1988 to be a member of MIB and to contribute to its funding. This means that payments you make for your own insurance policy have some part that goes to the MIB, hence their mission statement - "To seek a significant reduction in the level and impact of uninsured motoring in order to reduce the Members' levy and cost to the consumer." In 1946-1947, the first year of its operation, the Bureau paid compensation totalling £11,500. Total compensation paid since then amounts to more than £2 billion.
- http://www.mib.org.uk
The Motor Insurers' Information Centre (MIIC) is a division of the Motor Insurers' Bureau (MIB). With the UK having one of the worst records in Western Europe for uninsured driving (an estimated one in every twenty cars on the road is being driven without proper insurance) this results in every honest motorist in the UK paying up to £30 of their insurance premium to compensate the innocent victims when one of these insurance cheats has an accident. The Motor Insurance Database (MID) was set up by the insurance industry to help combat this crime, and the police are now the MID's biggest customer, making over 2.5 million enquiries per month.
- http://www.miic.org.uk
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