Cumbria's violent crime victims missing out on compensation

Last updated 12:58, Thursday, 20 November 2008

Victims of violent crime are missing out on compensation because of bungling by Cumbria’s police force, a committee of MPs warns today.

Its report ranks Cumbria Constabulary as the 10th worst in the country out of 42 police forces for failing to supply information to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) to enable payments to be made.

People injured in violent attacks are entitled to compensation ranging from £1,000 to £250,000. With loss of earnings and various expenses, total awards can reach £500,000.

But, according to today’s report by the Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC), less than 5 per cent of those eligible for payouts were even applying.

Those who did apply were hampered by a complex application form and suffered delays in receiving their money because of bureaucratic hold-ups.

Much of the blame was laid at the door of police forces who were failing to abide by Home Office instructions to respond to requests for information within 30 days. Only 15 forces replied to at least half of requests within 30 days, led by Derbyshire (70 per cent). Cumbria’s rate was recorded as 34 per cent.

Chief Inspector Norman Atkinson from the Criminal Justice Unit said: “We already recognised there was a need to improve our performance in the processing of CICA claims some months ago. We have reviewed our internal processes and adopted areas of best practice, which these figures unfortunately do not take into account.

“The treatment of victims of crime is important to the constabulary and we are continually making strides to improve the service we provide.”