Victims of violent crime who suffer life-changing injuries receive less than half the financial support today than those in the 1990s because a compensation scheme has been “left to fester”.
“The highest payment in the Government’s Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme (CICS) was set at £500,000 in April 1996 and has not been uprated in line with inflation since,” said Kim Harrison, immediate past president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL).
APIL’s analysis reveals that had the payment been increased by inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) it would now be just over a million pounds at £1,015,284.
“The payment is for victims of crime with the most catastrophic injuries, including brain damage and paralysis, who need compensation to support their care and equipment needs. It might be hard to believe but the money does not stretch a long way,” said Ms Harrison.
“While having a cap on compensation for survivors of crime is not perfect, at the very least it should be recognised that the amount established when the cap was set in 1996 will not go as far in today’s money, three decades on.
“This small, vulnerable, group of people who deserve help have been overlooked for too long. Other government support schemes for people in need are reviewed and uprated but the provision for injured victims of crime has been left to fester,” she went on.
“The situation puts into stark light how much the CICS is not working properly and is in need of a full review. There are many areas where this scheme is falling short, including in terms of eligibility, time limits on bringing claims, and keeping in-step with modern crimes including online grooming,” Ms Harrison said.