Criminal compensation
Hi so a few years ago I was a Victim in a violent crime (random attack) I have suffered over the last few years having to leave my job due to PTSD quit university and even move out of my house.. This includes countless doctor and Psyc appointments along with therapy and a heck load of tears.. My life has changed
I no longer feel happy I'm constantly scared for my safety and to make things worse this man is now out of jail.. I have been told I should apply for compensation, to help myself get on my feet and get something out of this horrible situation
My issue is reading the forms and speaking to the criminal injuries workers they say "copies of your claim may be given to the offender" this is because they want them to pay for the compensation. This man is violent - he knows my name he knows friends of mine and thanks to the media releasing my street address he knows where I live.. Yes it would be stupid if him to come back but I'm terrified if I apply it might anger him.
Money is nothing to me - but being of work for 2 years and my partner and I wanting to buy our own place eventually I feel it could be a great help.. I have been told to write a letter to the assessor stating due to my safety and fears I do not wish for him to be contacted - but I feel if this is the first thing they read they won't even look at my claim.. The media totally blew everything for me by posting my street address name and picture in the paper (I have all of this to put into my claim) but I'm just terrified.. I have no idea what I'm doing with this claim I look at it and just cry. I'm having to write statement after statement in detail about the incident and it's just bringing back so many bad memories and making me feel sick!
Has anyone had any experience or can offer some words of advice.. Ta x
2 Replies
Please talk to a lawyer honey, they handle this stuff all the time and they can give you the best, most qualified advice for your exact situation. Your local area should have a free over the phone legal service that can get you started and tell you if its worth the hassle or not. Write down your list of questions before you ring. Good luck
I agree with the other poster, seek legal advice, because when i was going to apply for victims of crime comp they werent going to show my abuser, but then we worked out that it had been 2 years and 1 month since the date of the last attack that he had been charged for - cut off being two years after the abuser was charged..
Also the money wasnt going to be much, only to cover psycologist fees - which i didnt pay for anyway, social interaction classes - which i didnt keep the receipt for, moving costs and upgraded securtity on my house which was 1500 bucks - without proof so no guarantee that i would get this.
The times where you hear of people getting paid out 10s or 100s of thousands of dollars in compensation is when they have injured from horrendous acts of violence or endured prolonged periods of physical and sexual abuse.
I dont want to put a damper on you about this, because of course you do deserve to be compensated for what you have been through, but dont get your hopes up that it will be over 10,000.