When criminal acts take place, there is normally a victim of some type. Individuals that have suffered any type of injury both physical and mental due to a criminal act, have the ability to pursue a criminal injury claim. This claim that is filed can result in compensation for the injury that was imposed upon you. Even those families of people that have been killed as a result of criminal acts have the ability to pursue criminal injury claims. Before you file a claim, it is important to be aware of the steps that you should take that will increase the likelihood of compensation.
Time
One variable that you need to consider involving a criminal injury claim is the amount of time that you have to file. It is important to note that deadlines are not completely strict and do vary depending on the details of the criminal case in question. In most cases, it is best that you file a criminal injury claim within two years of the incident. However, there are exceptions that can be made. For example, if you were a child when abuse took place, it is possible to pursue this claim later on in adulthood. Even though there are no strict deadlines with criminal injury claims, the process is simpler if you file as soon as possible.
Police
It is essential that there be a police record of the incident that led to your injury. This means that the only way that you can pursue a criminal injury claim is if you cooperated with police investigators and gave your statement of the crime that was committed. All criminal injury claims that are filed are given a reference number that is connected to a criminal case. This means that there needs to be a case involving the crime that was committed against you. The amount of compensation that you receive can also be lessened if the crime was not reported to police in a timely manner. This means that getting the police active in your case early on is a huge benefit when you want to pursue a criminal injury claim.
Prosecution
It can also benefit your criminal injury claim case if you are involved in the prosecution of the criminal that injured you. This means that you need to cooperate with police officials and might even be called to testify in court against the person that committed the crime against you. You do have the choice to not be involved in the prosecution process, but it can negatively impact your criminal injury claim if you choose not to help prosecute the criminal.
Share22 January 2016
My dad died when I was still pretty young so it's been a big surprise all the stuff I've had to do to sort out his estate. I'm an only child and my folks divorced when I was a baby so most of the work fell to me. He was kind of disorganised and grumpy, but at least he'd spoken to his lawyer and got a proper will drawn up which saved on confusion at a tricky time. If you are a young person dealing with the estate of a deceased parent, this blog is designed to help you navigate the legal processes.