Personal accidents are difficult enough to recover from if the incident was truly accidental. However, they can be even more devastating for the injured person or persons if the injuries they receive were the result of the illegal actions of another.

In the United Kingdom, a personal claim for someone who was injured due to a crime can actually come from a claimant who has suffered from two different possible types of criminal accident.

The first is if the claimer was actually injured directly by the assailant. For example, the victim was shot in a robbery or assaulted violently in some other way. But there are also accident claim cases in the U.K. from a person who claimed that they were accidentally injured during the attempted capture of a criminal. For instance, they were attempting to assist the police in apprehending a criminal and fell. Or perhaps during an automobile chase, they are claiming that they were injured by a police vehicle or another person who was in pursuit of the criminal.

In either case, depending on the details of an accidents claim, a crime victim may be able to receive compensation for their injury in two different ways. First, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority will receive notice from those who were the victim of an assault or were injured while trying to assist the police after a crime was committed. The victim must initiate this type of process by contacting the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority. Normally, the request must be made within two years of the incident. However, there could be exceptions to this time limit, such as if a person was the victim of child abuse but decides to take legal action as an adult. The Community Legal Services Direct recommends that anyone who plans to file for this type of damages to consult with a professional who can help to personalise the information provided in the most effective way. Although local personals sections may advertise free legal services, it is not a bad idea to check with the Citizen Advisory Bureau (CAB) nearest you before enlisting the services of a solicitor or advisor. CAB offices are located throughout Great Britain.

In the second type of process, the court actually orders the criminal to pay a certain amount of damages to their victim. The victim cannot request this type of compensation or initiate the inquiry. However, they can let the prosecuting attorney know the type and amounts of injury that they suffered so that can then let the judge know about your injuries. In that way, you may end up receiving as much as £5,000, but that is the maximum possible compensation that will be awarded.

For both of these types of compensation, if the victim was killed due to a criminal act, then the victim's spouse or family may also file for or receive any accident compensation. Also, when being considered for an award due to either type of situation, it is important that there are police records that can document and verify your story. The Community Legal Services Direct recommends that a crime victim report the incident to the police as soon as possible.