Cuts to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme


Changes to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme (CICS) in 2012 have reduced or withdrawn compensation payments to many people injured in violent crimes, including those injured as a result of work-related attacks. Before the changes, the scheme awarded compensation to between 30,000 and 40,000 people a year who were seriously injured in a crime of violence but could not obtain recompense from any other source, such as their assailant. Those who suffer minor injuries no longer get compensation under the changes.



The changes removed around 17,000 victims of violent crime from the scheme each year, including those with injuries like a smashed hand or an injury to the knee serious enough to require surgery. Thousands of workers who are injured because of criminal acts at work, such as shopworkers or security guards who are assaulted, are no longer compensated through the scheme.



Shopworkers’ union Usdaw told the LRD it registered only 122 claims in 2016 and only 18 claimants received compensation, totalling £82,000. In 2011, the year before the scheme was changed, it processed 260 claims and secured £753,000 for 117 members.