Acid Attack Compensation Claims

An acid attack is where someone intends to cause harm to another person by throwing acid or another corrosive substance on them. It’s a form of assault.

You may be wondering “can I sue someone for assault?”. The answer to this question is yes, you can. There are two ways that you can pursue this kind of claim.

If you know who your attacker is, you may be able to claim against them directly for the harm you were caused. However, in order to do this, they would need to have the funds available to award you compensation in the event of a successful claim.

However, if your attacker has not been identified or if they don’t have the money to pay you compensation, you can claim through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA). We will explain the role of the CICA in more detail later on in this guide.

For more information on the difference between these two channels of claiming, speak with an advisor from our team today. You could be connected with a No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel to work on your claim.

First Aid For Acid Burns

The NHS has first aid advice on what to do if you or someone else has been burned by acid or another corrosive substance. The first thing you should do is call 999 and request urgent assistance.

You should also:

Remove the chemical and any affected clothing. However, be careful not to touch or spread the chemical.
Cover your hands with gloves and cut away clothing like T-shirts instead of pulling them overhead.
Brush dry chemicals off the skin. Do not wipe the skin as this might move the chemical around.
Rinse with clean water. Ensure that the water can run off the area and doesn’t pool on the skin.

It’s important that you stay on the phone until the ambulance arrives. The 999 call handler may also give you additional information that we haven’t included here; if so, it’s important that you follow it.

For more information on the steps you can take to begin a compensation claim after an acid attack, speak to one of our advisors today. You could be connected with a No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel.

Acid Attack Statistics

In 2020-21 statistics released by the CICA, we can see that there were 6 claims for burns to the face for which compensation was awarded. This could include compensation for a scarred face as a result of the attack.

Some of these instances may have been related to acid attacks. However, it’s important to note that this figure does not show the number of incidents overall but just the number of claims made through the CICA.

According to a response by Essex Police to a Freedom of Information request, there were 53 recorded instances of acid attacks and corrosive fluid offences in 2020. The month with the highest numbers was May when 8 of these instances were recorded.

These statistics do not indicate how many of these instances were the grounds for successful compensation claims. However, if you’d like more information on claiming compensation for harm caused by an acid attack, speak with one of the advisors on our team today. They could offer you free legal advice.

Treatment And Living With Scarring

When you go to the hospital after an acid attack, this will usually entail medical professionals continuing to wash off the corrosive substance. They might also clean and cover the burn as well as offer pain relief.

For a minor burn, frequent dressing changes and good ongoing burn care should give you the best chance of sustaining only minimal scarring. You may still be able to make a minor personal injury claim for harm you’ve sustained.

However, for severe burns, you may need to stay at a specialist burns unit. You may need a skin graft, where skin is taken from other parts of the body to help the burn heal.

If you’re left with scarring, particularly facial scarring, this can have a psychological impact on you. For example, you might suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result. In addition to this, your scars may feel tight or painful, meaning that they restrict your movement.

For more information on how you could pursue compensation for the effects of an acid attack, speak to one of the advisors from our claims team today. They’ll be able to connect you with a solicitor from our panel if your claim is valid and you’d like to proceed.

What Is The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA)?

The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) are an executive agency. They’re sponsored by the Ministry of Justice and can award compensation to victims of violent crimes in England, Scotland and Wales.

In order to claim compensation from the CICA, the incident in which you were injured must have been reported to the police. However, there is no requirement for the person responsible to have been charged, arrested or even identified in order for you to claim.

You should report the incident to the police as soon as possible after the incident. Usually, this is right away; however, your claim may still be considered if you were unable to report it right away because your physical or mental health prevented you from doing so.

Similarly, there is a general 2-year time limit to pursuing a claim through the CICA. However, this can also be extended if you can prove that exceptional circumstances meant that you could not claim earlier. In order to claim outside this two-year limit, you’ll also need to provide enough evidence in support of your claim that the CICA won’t have to conduct extensive further enquiries themselves.

For more information on the role that the CICA plays in criminal injury claims, get in touch with our team today. One of our advisors will be happy to offer you free legal advice.

How Compensation For Acid Attack Victims Is Calculated

If you’ve been injured in an acid attack and choose to make a claim for compensation, then your compensation could be split into two different heads of claim. This is the case whether you claim through the CICA or pursue a claim against the perpetrator directly.

Part of your compensation will cover the injuries you have sustained. We’ve included a table below that includes figures from the CICA tariff of injuries as these are used to decide CICA payouts. However, if you pursue a claim directly, your claim will be valued with the help of a publication called the Judicial College Guidelines.

Edit
Injury	Severity	Compensation	Notes
Multiple Burns Around The Body	N/A	£33,000	Burns that cover various parts of the body with more than 25% of the skin affected
Facial Burn	Severe	£27,000	A burn to the face that causes disfigurement that is more than minor
Facial Burn	Moderate	£3,500	A burn to the face that causes disfigurement that is more than minor
Burn to the Head	Severe	£16,500	A burn to the head that causes disfigurement that is more than minor
Burn to the Head	Moderate	£2,400	A burn to the head that causes disfigurement that is more than minor
Burn to the Head	Severe	£16,500	A burn to the neck that causes disfigurement that is more than minor
Burn to the Head	Moderate	£2,400	A burn to the neck that causes disfigurement that is more than minor
Facial Scarring	Serious	£11,000	Where scarring on the face has resulted in severe disfigurement
Scarring on the Neck	Severe	£4,600	Where scarring on the neck has resulted in severe disfigurement
Scarring on the Head	Severe	£3,500	Where scarring on the head has resulted in severe disfigurement

Special damages and expenses

You could also be entitled to special damages when claiming against the perpetrator directly. This covers any financial loss you experience because of your injury. For example, you could claim:

Loss of earnings
Damage to property (for example, clothes or shoes that were also damaged in the attack)
Care costs
The cost of treatment that you could not get on the NHS

When you claim through the CICA, you may be entitled to special expenses. Special expenses must be necessary, reasonable and not available for free from another source. They can include:

The cost of care
Loss of earnings
Physical aids (like hearing aids or glasses) that you depend on and that were damaged in the attack

In order to claim special expenses, you must show that you lost out on earnings for a full 28 weeks after the incident. All of the costs and losses can be backdated to the day of the incident, except for the loss of earnings. You’ll only be compensated for the loss of earnings from the 29th week, and this will be paid at the rate of Statutory Sick Pay (SSP).

For more information on what could be included in your claim and how this might differ depending on the route you take, speak with a member of our team today. You could be connected with a No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel; read on to find out what this means.

Start A No Win No Fee Acid Attack Compensation Claim Now

If you’re interested in pursuing a claim with legal representation, but are worried about the costs that this could incur, then you may find a No Win No Fee agreement useful. This is a kind of agreement that states your solicitor will only request payment when certain conditions are met.

It means that:

You won’t be asked to pay them upfront or while your claim is ongoing.
If the claim is unsuccessful, there’ll be nothing to pay your solicitor at all.
A successful claim will result in a success fee being deducted. This is legally capped to prevent you from being overcharged.

With this in mind, you could take the first step towards making a No Win No Fee claim today. Public Interest Lawyers provide a free consultation for anyone wishing to take legal action. Note that this doesn’t mean that there’s an obligation for you to proceed. To get in touch, you can:

Call us up on 0800 408 7825;
Complete our online form;
Or simply use the 24/7 Live Chat function.

Victim Support

We hope you now have greater knowledge about how to file a successful acid attack compensation claim. Nevertheless, we fully appreciate that you may want more information about this topic. To that end, we have these additional research links that you may wish to take a look at.

Burn injuries– This guide looks at the process of claiming for a burn injury caused by negligence.

Chemical scalp burns– Visit this page for guidance on claiming for a chemical burn affecting the scalp.

Chemical burns at work– You could also experience a chemical burn as a result of employer negligence.

Red Cross Acid Burns– advice from the red cross about acid burn first aid.

Acid Survivors Trust International- This is a charity offering support to those who have survived acid attacks.

Thank you very much for reading our acid attack compensation claim guide.

Article by AR

Publisher ET

Acid Attack Personal Injury Guide

100% No Win No Fee Claims Guide

Acid Attack Compensation Claims

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