Urgent calls are being made for a complete overhaul of the government's compensation scheme for victims of violent crime, amid claims its failings are compounding the trauma of those it is meant to help.
"Horrendously Complex" Process and Years of Delays
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) is facing severe criticism for skyrocketing waiting times. Its latest annual report reveals that nearly a fifth of claimants wait over two years for a decision on compensation, with some cases dragging on for more than five years.
Furthermore, the scheme's decision-making is under scrutiny, as more than a third of appealed decisions are successfully overturned. The number of complaints made against the authority has more than doubled in just one year.
The Ministry of Justice attributes these issues to a record number of applications. A spokesperson stated that CICA is hiring more staff and working to improve its communications with victims.
Personal Stories Highlight Systemic Failure
The human cost of these systemic problems is starkly illustrated by survivors like Natalie Queiroz, now the Victims' Commissioner for the West Midlands. In 2016, when eight months pregnant, she was stabbed 24 times by her partner in Sutton Coldfield in an attack that also targeted her unborn child.
Both she and her daughter, delivered urgently after the assault, survived. Ms Queiroz described the CICA application as a "horrendously complex process" that forces victims to rank their own injuries while still recovering.
"You have a time limit of how long it is you can apply, so you’re in this kind of horrible situation where you are recovering from physical and emotional trauma, you’ve got this complex form, and you’re thinking ‘I don’t know what the extent of these injuries will be,’" she explained.
Her initial claim for her daughter was rejected but won on appeal. She advocates for the scheme to be extended to cover unborn babies physically affected at birth due to a crime.
Political Pressure for a "Fundamental" Review
These mounting concerns have spurred political action. A dozen Labour MPs, led by Laurence Turner (Birmingham Northfield), are supporting a Private Member’s Bill demanding a "fundamental" review of the entire CICA scheme.
Mr Turner, who applied to CICA after a violent pre-pandemic assault requiring four operations, shared his own experience: "It was a typical experience that many victims report; impersonal contact, very long delays... and the outcome never felt like adequate recompense." He waited almost two years for resolution.
The late Victims’ Commissioner, Baroness Newlove, was a vocal critic before her death in November 2025. She had previously reported in 2019 that the system was adding to victims' distress. Despite a government consultation launched five years ago to simplify the scheme, Justice Minister Alex Davies-Jones recently declined to implement key recommendations, arguing changes could be detrimental to some victims.
Alex Mayes of Victim Support emphasised the need for a victim-first approach: "We definitely need to be in a place where CICA are processing claims at pace... victims need to be treated with sensitivity, compassion, respect."
Labour MP Alex Sobel (Leeds Central and Headingley) cited constituents waiting up to six years, with medical evidence lost by CICA. He criticised a "lack of oversight and rigour" in the organisation's governance.
Established in the 1960s, the CICA scheme now stands at a critical juncture, with victims, advocates, and politicians uniting in the demand for swift and compassionate reform.
