By Olivia Nichols. Last Updated 15th February 2021. Welcome to our assault claims guide. Thousands of criminal assaults occur in the UK every year, including assaults such as unprovoked attacks by a stranger, sexual assaults, domestic assaults, assaults that occur in prisons, assaults involving deadly weapons, aggravated assaults, and so on.
Ultimately, any kind of physical attack or threat of harm to someone else is classed as assault.
Obviously, the kind of assault and the severity of the assault will vary from one person to the next and all cases are unique. Some people who have been assaulted may not suffer any major trauma and recover quite quickly. However, others who have been assaulted may have been left with life-altering injuries, not just physically but mentally as well and may take years to recover if at all. Mental trauma can often be just as debilitating as physical trauma and can often outlast the physical side of the assault.
Often when someone has experienced a harrowing assault, they will just want to forget and put it all behind them and so don’t claim compensation for an assault that is rightfully theirs because they don’t want to have to re-live it all again by telling the details of the assault to someone they don’t know.
However, Legal Helpline is a Claims Management Company working with a team of professionals. We are here to help you get the compensation you so deserve and will gently help you through every step of the process. Just call us on 0161 696 9685 and we will do our best to help you.
In cases where the perpetrator has not been caught, or has been caught and charged but has no financial resources, assault compensation claims can still be made as the UK has a government-funded body that is called the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority. They have a duty of care to compensate victims of assault regardless of whether the perpetrator has been caught and charged.
Jump to a Section
- What types of assault claims do we handle?
- How to start a compensation claim for assault
- What am I able to claim for?
- Assault compensation payouts
- Claiming compensation for assault on a No Win No Fee basis
- Helpful resources and links
What types of assault claims do we handle?
The amount of compensation awarded to a victim will greatly depend upon the type of assault he/she has suffered and it’s severity. In most cases, the more severe the injuries and the higher level of intent to cause injury by the perpetrator, the higher the compensation award.
Assault claims
In Britain, there are three levels of assault dependant on the degree of harm intended or caused, plus sexual assault also:
- Common Assault – The Police and Courts often use this charge when someone has hit or slapped another person but without leaving any visible marks or injuries to the victim.
- ABH (Assault that causes Actual Bodily Harm) – Assaults that come into this category are more serious than a common assault and will usually leave the victim with some visual injury such as scratches or bruising.
- GBH (Assault that causes Grievous Bodily Harm) – These are the most serious cases and where the assaults are more violent in nature and the perpetrator has intended to cause serious harm to the victim. An example of GBH would be where someone has stabbed another person with a knife.
- Sexual Assault – Any type of sexual behaviour or contact without the victim’s consent is classed as sexual assault. Some examples are rape, groping, child sexual abuse, drugging a victim unknowingly to carry out sexual acts, and stalking.
Legal Helpline deal with all the types of assault cases and so will be able to help you to get the compensation you deserve.
How to start a compensation claim for assault
Starting your criminal injury compensation claim isn’t going to feel easy as, in order to make a successful claim, the solicitor dealing with your case will need to know everything that happened, and we understand that this may be very stressful for you to do. As a Claims Management Company, our panel of solicitors which we work with have years of experience in dealing with these types of cases and so will get you through this part as quickly and easily as they can with plenty of support.
Having a legal firm run your compensation claims case for you will give you the best chance of success. Legal Helpline has been dealing with assault compensation claims for many years and therefore have a very good understanding of the system and what’s involved.
When you contact Legal Helpline, we will offer you a free, no-obligation consultation where we can discuss the details of your case and gather all of the facts from you. You also have an opportunity to voice any worries or concerns you may have and we can help you with these. Some of the types of questions we may ask you in order to understand the key facts will be:
- Details on how the assault actually took place, where it took place and when.
- Any details you may have regarding the person who launched the attack, were they working at the time? Were they just passing by you when they attacked?
- Has the assault been reported to the Police? In most circumstances, unless the assault was reported and you have an incident number, it will be unlikely that we will be able to carry on with the claim.
- What were the resulting injuries from the assault?
- Have you received any medical treatment? If so, what kind?
- Will there be any long term or permanent health implications from the injuries sustained in the assault?
- Have you suffered or are you suffering from mental trauma as a result of the assault?
- Have there been any financial losses such as loss of earnings due to being assaulted?
Once we have gathered all the key facts from you, we can assess the legitimacy of your case and then advise you on the next step to take. We will usually offer to fight your case for you on a No Win No Fee basis. We may also offer you a free, local medical if we feel it could be beneficial to your claim. We will then work hard gathering more facts and evidence to support your claim and will strive to get you the highest possible amount of compensation for the injuries you have sustained and the impact the assault has had on your life.
To learn more about what goes into assault claims, please get in touch with our team.
What am I able to claim for?
How much compensation will I get for an assault claim? Well, before being able to come to a final figure, there are a number of items that should be considered and included in your claim, each will be unique to your own personal circumstances and cannot be compared to other people’s claims.
Things that can be included in criminal injuries assault claims are:
- General Damages – These are in relation to the actual injury itself and the pain and suffering you have endured as a result of being assaulted.
- Medical Expenses – Any medical care costs, prescription fees, counselling fees etc that you have incurred as a direct result of being assaulted must be included.
- Care Costs – If you are in need of daily assistance and care, you can claim for any costs.
- Loss of Income – Make sure to include in your claim any loss of income and potential future loss of income.
- Travel Expenses – If you have incurred travel costs due to being a victim of an assault then you can include these in your claim. Travel expenses will also include costs of adapting a vehicle if it was necessary due to your injury.
- Care Claim – If someone has had to care for you in their own time or needed to take time away from work to care for you then they too can make a claim.
Assault compensation payouts
Assault compensation payouts will differ from case to case as the individual circumstances will be different with each one.
In order for the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) to pay out compensation, your injuries must be severe enough to receive the minimum amount of £1000.00. For the most serious types of injuries, the maximum payout amount is £500,000.00.
For different types of injuries, CICA has a number of set tariffs which are then used as a guideline for awarding compensation amounts which will all depend on the individual circumstances and severity of the injury.
In the table below is a list of different injuries that may be sustained in an assault and the amount that may be paid out in compensation for them.
| Reason for Compensation | Average Amount Awarded | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Mental Anguish | £4,380 | Fear of impending death or reduction in expectation of life. |
| Minor PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) | £1,440 to £5,500 | The amount awarded will be decided on the severity of the trauma effects. |
| Moderate PTSD | £5,500 to £17,900 | Longer medical treatment required due to more severe PTSD symptoms. |
| Severe PTSD | £51,460 to £108,620 | Permanent severe PTSD symptoms leaving the victim unable to work and other negative impacts on all areas of their life. |
| Brain Damage - Minor | £2,070 to £11,980 | Minimal damage, recovery expected. |
| Brain Damage Less Severe | £14,380 to £40,410 | Good recovery made allowing the claimant to carry on with most things, but some normal functions may not be right still such as memory and concentration. |
| Brain Damage - Moderate | £140,870 to £205,580 | The ability to work is reduced due to persistent memory and concentration issues that are quite severe. |
| Brain Damage Moderately Severe | £205,580 to £264,650 | Brain damage that leaves the victim permanently disabled and possibly with some degree of paralysis. Life expectancy may be greatly reduced. |
| Brain Damage - Severe | £264,650 to £379,100 | Victim left in vegetative state, no meaningful response their environment, permanent care needed, life expectancy greatly reduced. |
| Neck Injuries - Severe | In the region of £139,210 | The severity of the injury and the impact on the victim's life will determine the awarded amount with the most severe warranting the higher amount. |
| Back Injuries - Severe | £85,470 to £151,070 | The severity of the injury and the impact on the victim's life will determine the awarded amount with the most severe warranting the higher amount. |
| Multiple Fractures of Facial Bones | £13,970 to £22,470 | Some facial deformity that may be permanent. |
| Fracture of nose or nasal complex - Severe | £9,990 to £21,700 | From simple fracture with full recovery to more complex fracture needing surgery and leaving permanent damage to the airways, and/or tear ducts, and/or facial deformity. |
| Fracture of cheekbones - Severe | £9,570 to £14,810 | From simple fractures with full recovery to more complex fractures requiring surgery and leaving victim with a form of paraesthesia and possible disfigurement. |
| Fracture to the Jaw - Severe | £28,610 to £42,730 | Simple fracture with full recovery to more complex fractures causing ongoing pain, paraesthesia, difficulty in eating and risk of arthritis in the joints. |
| Loss of or serious damage to teeth | Up to £35,790 | From tooth pain to loss of teeth. |
| Facial disfigurement - very severe scarring | £1,500 to £85,340 | Disfiguring scarring. |
| Arm Injuries - Minor - Severe | £6,190 to £102,180 | Simple fractures with full recovery to loss of use of one or both arms. |
| Wrist Injuries - Minor - Severe | £3,310 - £56,180 | Simple fractures with full recovery to loss of use of one or both wrists. |
| Hand Injuries Minor - Severe | £4,461 to £189,110 | Simple injuries with recovery within 6 months, to severe injuries causing the use of one or both hands to be lost. |
| Leg Injuries Minor Severe | £11,110 to £264,650 | Simple fracture with full recovery to injuries leaving extensive permanent damage and in need of surgery. |
It is important to remember that these amounts are just guides and the amount awarded will be dependent on the severity of the injury with the most severe attracting the higher award amounts. Also, these will not be the final settlement amount as all the other items mentioned earlier in the guide will also need to be taken into account when deciding on a final settlement amount.
To find out what else can be factored into assault claims, please get in touch with our team.
Claiming compensation for assault on a No Win No Fee basis
One of the great things about using an assault personal injury solicitor from the panel which Legal Helpline works with is that we offer a No Win No Fee service, which if you have a complex case that may potentially take a long time before it concludes, can be a major benefit.
No Win No Fee essentially means just that! If we do not win your assault compensation claims case for you, there are no fees for you to pay. Only when we win do we ask for payment which is taken as a small percentage (no more than 25%) of your final compensation award.
With our No Win No Fee service, there are no upfront costs to pay or none during, therefore there is no financial gamble for you to take and no financial limitations stopping you from getting the compensation that you deserve.
If you want to make a claim for compensation for assault by beating or make an assault at work compensation claim, or any other assault compensation claims, just call Legal Helpline today on 0161 696 9685.
Helpful resources and links
Bullying at work compensation claims
If you have suffered from bullying at work this guide will also come in handy.
This is the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) website where there is a lot of information and advice regarding domestic abuse for victims and witnesses.
The Victim Support website offers help and advice for any victims of crime including assault and feature ways to contact professionals that can help victims to cope with their suffering.
Thanks for reading our assault claims guide.