CICA compensation calculator

If you have been injured as the victim of a violent crime — an assault, a robbery, sexual violence or a stabbing — you may be able to claim from the CICA even if the attacker was never caught or convicted. The scheme works very differently from an ordinary injury claim: instead of negotiating a figure, your injuries are matched to a fixed price list set out in Annex E of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012. This calculator applies that tariff and the multiple-injury formula for you.

CICA tariff calculator

What the CICA is

The CICA is a government body that compensates blameless victims of violent crime in England, Scotland and Wales (Northern Ireland has its own separate scheme). It is funded by the taxpayer, not by the offender, which is why you can be paid even when no one is convicted — or even identified. To qualify, you must have been injured by a “crime of violence”, have reported it to the police as soon as reasonably practicable, and cooperate with the CICA and any investigation. Awards can include the injury tariff, a payment for loss of earnings after 28 weeks, and special expenses in serious cases.

The multiple-injury formula

Many victims suffer more than one injury in a single attack. The scheme does not simply add every tariff together. Instead it counts the three most serious injuries and pays:

• 100% of the tariff for the most serious injury;
• 30% of the tariff for the second most serious; and
• 15% of the tariff for the third most serious.

Anything beyond the third injury is not separately compensated under the tariff. There are specific, more generous rules for certain sexual offences and for serious mental injury, and an additional payment where a sexual offence results in pregnancy, loss of a foetus or a transmitted infection.

Worked example

Sam is assaulted and suffers a fractured jaw (£4,400), a fractured rib (£2,500) and a black eye (£1,000). The CICA pays 100% of the jaw (£4,400), 30% of the rib (£750) and 15% of the black eye (£150), giving a tariff award of £5,300. If Sam also lost more than 28 weeks of earnings, a loss-of-earnings payment could be added on top, subject to the scheme’s caps.

Who can apply

You can usually apply if you were the direct victim of a crime of violence, a witness to a loved one being harmed, or a close relative of someone who died as a result of a crime. Awards can be reduced or refused if you have unspent criminal convictions, failed to cooperate with the police, or your own conduct contributed to the incident. Our guide to criminal injury compensation claims covers eligibility and the common reasons claims are reduced.

Time limits

An adult must normally apply within two years of the incident, although the CICA can extend this where it was not reasonably practicable to apply sooner and the evidence still allows a fair decision — a common situation for survivors of historic abuse. Where someone was injured as a child, the window generally runs to their 20th birthday if the crime was reported to police before they turned 18. See our time-limits guide for how these rules interact.

Frequently asked questions

More reading: criminal injury compensation claims, CICA compensation explained, psychological injury claims, PTSD & trauma, compensation calculator and all claim types.