Compensation awards restored to solicitors
The body that pays compensation to victims of violent crime has backed down in the face of a judicial review challenge and restored its policy of paying awards directly to solicitors.
In a related development, it is also to allow legal fees to be paid out of awards granted to children.
In October 2010, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) said that in future it would pay awards directly to the victims and no longer through their representing solicitors.
This raised fears that overseas or unhappy clients might default on legal fees.
London firm Levenes secured permission to subject CICA’s new policy to legal review. CICA has now backed down and agreed to resume paying awards directly to solicitors - but only where the client asked for this.
Levenes senior partner David Levene said: ‘Many applicants to CICA do not read or write English, and some live abroad. They cannot realistically pursue an application without representation. This decision will mean that they can get good quality legal representation to help with what is often a complicated claim.’
CICA also said that it would allow solicitors’ fees to be paid out of the awards invested on behalf of children.
Meanwhile, justice secretary Kenneth Clarke said that the government is to abolish compensation payments for minor injuries and disallow claims from convicted criminals. The victims’ surcharge scheme, where offenders pay towards a victim’s compensation, is to be extended, in part by increasing motoring fines.
Comments
Disallowed claims from convicted criminals.
The latest proposals from the coalition and Ken Clarke in particular are typically mean-spirited and ill-thought out Tory twaddle.
Under these proposals, it is conceivable that a person could be stabbed, raped, assaulted and be denied Criminal Injuries Compensation because they were once caught speeding.
An elderly person assaulted in their home, for example, could be denied compensation on the same grounds.
Clarke, et al should return to whatever planet they are from because they plainly are not from earth!
Quite right - I have a client
Quite right - I have a client who was shot at, who is being refused under the existing rules because when she had just turned 19 she admitted an offence of shoplifting a loaf of bread (penalty £20 fine). She is just on the cusp of it coming outwith the points system that already applies.
We are of course appealing, but under the new rules she would lose out simply because of a trivial irrelevancy from long ago, and because she would only be on the lowest band anywyay (which they are also going to abolish).
You ask what planet they are on - I would have thought that was obvious. It's called planet Big Business, where the interests of reducing Corporation Tax, and supporting the Government's business pals comes above all else.
Don't get me wrong, this Government is compassionate. In circumstances where somebody is really down, has been aggrieved or injured through no fault of their own, they are prepared to spend public money. Banks, for example - they had a terrible time due to the awful mess of unwashed proles borrowing money - so it's clear that the banks are deserving of compassion. Likewise, insurance companies are finding it tough - in a recession it's hard to screw as much money as you would usually out of policyholders.
Disallowed claims from convicted criminals (cont.)
Then perhaps, the first time one of their business pals (in the unlikely event they are ever convicted), is unable to claim compensation, the bleating from those people will prompt a rethink.
Was that a flying pig overhead?