Suing your assailant for compensation
You can sue the person or people who assaulted you for compensation through the civil courts, and the specialist personal injury solicitors at Bolt Burdon Kemp can help you through that process if you were assaulted in England or Wales.
Remember that it will only be worthwhile suing your assailant if he/she can be traced, and can be proved to have sufficient assets (money or property for example) to meet any award of damages, and pay your legal fees, if your claim is successful.
If there has been a criminal investigation, we will obtain information from the police to help us assess your claim. If your assailant has been convicted, the assault will already have been ‘proved’ and so there will normally be good prospects of success in a compensation claim. However your assailant need not have been convicted to enable you to succeed in securing damages.
Cases should be brought within 3 years of the date of the assault(s) or your 18th birthday, if later. In some circumstances, the courts will allow claims to be brought ‘out of time’ if a fair trial is still possible. You should contact our specialist personal injury solicitors for specific advice on the circumstances of your individual compensation claim.
You can pursue an action directly against your assailant(s) and a claim for compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (“CICA”) at the same time. If you succeed in both, you would need to repay the money awarded by the CICA from the damages obtained through the court claim. Usually claimants get more money from a court compensation claim than from the CICA, so it is always worthwhile pursuing both avenues.
If you think you may have a claim, contact our specialist compensation claim solicitors and let us assess your claim online.
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