You can apply for compensation under the Jersey Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme (CICS) if you suffered a personal injury in Jersey (or on a Jersey ship), which is directly due to either a crime of violence, or an incident in one of these cases:
- when you were trying to stop someone from committing a crime
- when you were trying to stop a suspect after a crime
- when you were trying to help the police stop someone
As a general rule, accidental injury is not covered by the CICS.
The injury must have been sustained on, or after, 1 May 1991 and the application must be made to the secretary of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board (CICB) within three years of the incident which gave rise to the injury. There may be some exceptions, so you need to consult the guide to the scheme.
Compensation limits
Compensation is assessed on the basis of common law damages, but the scheme currently has a lower limit of £1,500 and a maximum limit of £100,000. The lower limit (below which no payment will be made) will usually apply when the injuries are of a minor nature eg cuts and bruises or sprains.
Refusal or reduction of compensation
The CICB feel that it is important that if you have been a victim of a crime of violence, you inform the police of all the circumstances without delay, and that you co-operate with their enquiries and any subsequent prosecution. You need to be able to convince the CICB that you were not in any way responsible for the incident in which you were injured, otherwise the CICB may decide to make a reduced award, or make no award at all.
The CICB can also refuse compensation, or reduce it, on account of previous criminal convictions. There is no limit to the sort of conduct (bad conduct or misconduct, including provocative behaviour) that the CICB can take into consideration. In particular, the CICB will look very carefully at the circumstances to ensure that your conduct “before, during or after the events giving rise to the claim” was not such that it would be inappropriate to make a payment from public funds.
Applying for compensation
If, after having looked at the guide to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme, you think that you may be eligible for compensation, complete and submit an application form and any supporting documentation (including proof of identity, receipts, estimates, etc). If you are not sure if you are eligible, or have a question about filling in the application form, contact the secretary for further advice / guidance.
The guide to the scheme and the application form contain further details.
Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme (size 89kb)
Guide to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme (size 446kb)
Apply for the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme
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