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Damages definition

What does Damages mean? In legal practice, damages are a money award ordered by a court to compensate a claimant (England & Wales, Northern Ireland) or pursuer (Scotland) for loss caused by breach of contract, tort/delict or a statutory wrong. The remedy is developed mainly by case law across the UK and Ireland, with some statutory modification. The aim is primarily compensatory: in tort/delict, to put the person in the position they would have been in but for the wrong; in contract, to protect the expectation interest (and sometimes the reliance interest). Heads of loss include general and special damages (common in personal injury),...

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CICA claims under the amended 2012 Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme: eligibility, qualifying incidents, time limits, injury categories and award reductions (Great Britain)

Practice notes
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This practice note reviews the amended 2012 Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme, which took effect on 13 June 2019.

The amended 2012 Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme

While a person harmed by crime may pursue a civil action for personal injury damages against the assailant, such proceedings are only truly practical if the intended defendant can satisfy any judgment. This is because enforcement depends on the defendant’s ability to meet any award in full, if at all. A civil route might also be viable where an employer could be vicariously liable, or a public authority might bear responsibility. A victim of a violent offence can, alternatively, seek an award through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme.

Various criminal injuries compensation schemes have been established to compensate those who have suffered injury. The latest and operative scheme is the amended 2012 scheme, implemented on 13 June 2019. Its predecessor, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012, governed applications made on or after 27 November 2012. The amended 2012 scheme abolished the pre-1979 ‘same roof’ rule. For more detail, see: Ineligibility and reductions to the award below...

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Neil Sugarman
Neil Sugarman

I have practised in the field of personal injury injury law since not long after qualification, almost exclusively on behalf of injured people.I have a long involvement with the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) , of which I am a Fellow and have served as its President. I have also been a member of the Law Society’s Personal Injury Panel, and of Headway.I chaired the Accreditation and Training Committee of APIL and have presented widely as a trainer for the organisation.I have a longstanding interest in the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme, and lecture and write widely on the subject, providing training and support to a number of organisations who themselves support victims of violent crime. I was an APIL delegate to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority’s Stakeholder and Authority Forum for a number of years.I was honoured to receive a UNICEF Child Rights Lawyer award for my...

Web page updated on 22/05/2026

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