CICA- How long??

Dullville

My solicitor on my behalf applied to the Criminal injuries compensation authority (CICA) back in December and i was wondering how long the process takes to get a decision.
I try and press my solicitor and hes always a bit vague,probably not to get my hopes.
I know the CICA have had all the police statements and medical reports in.
So if anyone else has claimed to the CICA, how long did it take?
Thanks.

CouponWoman

Dullville wrote: »

My solicitor on my behalf applied to the Criminal injuries compensation authority (CICA) back in December and i was wondering how long the process takes to get a decision.
I try and press my solicitor and hes always a bit vague,probably not to get my hopes.
I know the CICA have had all the police statements and medical reports in.
So if anyone else has claimed to the CICA, how long did it take?
Thanks.

Most cica cases take a minimum of a year and sometimes up to 3 or 4 years. The more complicated a claim the longer it takes.

Once the forms have been submitted your solicitor has no control over a time frame until a decision has been made.

CWxx

Dullville

The same solicitor is doing the civil claim for me also.
Thought it would be a lot easier and less stressful.
Hes charging 20% of my award(hopefully)
Didnt reliase tho till you just said how easy the forms are...

Dabassist

Hello, whereas I imagine your claim has been settled now I shall pass on my experience for other users.

I was assaulted in July 2011, I waited until everything had gone through court before claiming with CICA, this was November 12th 2012.

All my documentation had been received by CICA before the new year, so it seems the assessment process takes the longest amount of time, in the post on Saturday 20th April I received my offer from them (luckily I applied a week before their new tariff came in as my injury (broken jaw with surgery) was awarded £3800 and under the new scheme it's £1800.

All that's left now is for me to send my acceptance of the offer and they will put the funds into my account within 10 working days.

My advice to anyone who hasn't claimed yet would be to do so yourself to save paying a solicitor a fee, the process is extremely easy and can all be done in around 15 minutes online.

I hope this helps anyone reading.