Jonathan Bridge and the abuse team at Farleys have successfully concluded a 5 year long Criminal Injury Compensation Authority (CICA) claim for £133,476.

Client Z approached Farleys in 2019 to open a CICA claim and a claim against the local authority. A CICA claim was submitted in November 2019. Client Z was in the care of the local authority when she was raped at age 15 by an older man. The perpetrator had preyed on Client Z’s vulnerabilities and was later sentenced for the offence.

Client Z experienced psychiatric injury following this, and it had a detrimental effect of her education and her ability to work. Client Z was experiencing anxiety, depression, and agoraphobia. These mental health problems had prevented Client Z from bringing the claim within the relevant 2-year period.

The CICA first advised that they were unable to find evidence of the crime when they approached the police themselves. Farleys therefore requested the police and social services records for Client Z, which confirmed that the incident happened. The records were in the form of police interview tapes and disclosure confirming that the perpetrator was charged with rape. These were provided to the CICA in support of the claim.

The claim was then on hold for some time whilst the civil claim against the local authority progressed. The civil claim was ultimately discontinued in March 2022 following advice of a leading barrister. Jonathan Bridge and Client Z instead chose to focus on obtaining compensation from the CICA claim.

The abuse team regularly chased the CICA for an update on the claim. In January 2023, the CICA requested information as to why Client Z had not submitted the claim sooner. Farleys initially requested a letter from Client Z’s GP, which would have confirmed that Client Z’s mental health had prevented her from bringing the claim further. Unfortunately, Client Z’s GP was unable to provide this, and so instead, Farleys provided to the CICA relevant extracts from the medical records which confirmed her mental health problems.

The CICA accepted that Client Z had good reasons for not bringing the claim sooner, and an offer of £11,000 was made by the CICA in October 2023. However, this offer did not take into account the psychiatric injury that Client Z was suffering from, nor did it account for the loss of earnings she had experienced due to the psychiatric problems.

Farleys therefore reviewed this decision and instructed a psychiatric expert to prepare a report to assist with Client Zs claims. Due to the length of time the claim was taking, Client Z continued to experience mental health problems and financial hardship. An interim payment was requested from the CICA in November 2023, and client Z received £5,000 to support her whilst the claim was ongoing.

Client Z met with Dr Laura Pickering in January 2024 for her assessment. Dr Pickering was provided copies of Client Z’s medical records as background to the claim. Farleys also obtained HMRC and DWP records during this time, which were used to support Client Z’s loss of earnings claim.

The medical report was received in March 2024. This confirmed that Client Z was experiencing PTSD and Generalised Anxiety Disorder, which was directly attributable to the rape that Client Z had experienced. This diagnosis would require future treatment, and would have an impact on Client Zs ability to work.

Following this, Jonathan Bridge drafted a Schedule of Loss which set out financial loss that Client Z had suffered as a result of what had happened. This was provided to the CICA in June 2024, along with the medical report and employment history records.

Farleys’ abuse team then wrote to the CICA regularly for an update on the claim; however, the CICA continued to be heavily delayed. Farleys ultimately submitted a complaint to the CICA in December 2024, detailing the detrimental effect that the delays were having on Client Z. This prompted the Decision Makers to review the claim more promptly, and an offer of £133,276 was received in January 2024.

After considering the offer with Jonathan Bridge, Client Z decided to accept the award.

Client Z commented:

I would just like to say a massive thank you for all your help over the last 5 years. Farleys has been phenomenal, I will be ever grateful for the support and fight. I honestly am so thankful.

This is going to change my life for the better. Without you guys this wouldn’t be possible. From the deepest part of my heart again thank you.

Contact an Abuse Claims Solicitor

If you have had similar experiences to Client Z and would like to discuss the possibility of making a claim to the CICA, you can speak to our experts at Farleys in confidence. Get in touch on 0845 287 0939, by email, or using the online chat below.