Victim compensation: what is it?

[ad_1]

Victim’s compensation is a type of monetary restitution provided by some government agencies to people injured by violent personal crimes. The money used typically comes from the collection of fines and taxes assessed in court cases rather than a tax allocation on the general population. These types of compensation funds have eligibility guidelines, application procedures, and a minimum and maximum premium allowed that are broadly similar across jurisdictions.

Many democratized countries provide support to victims of violent crime as a matter of law and order. The courts of these countries levy all sorts of fees and fines for legal infractions that generate millions of dollars every year. Instead of funneling all that money elsewhere, some of it is set aside in a victims’ compensation fund to provide money to people who have sustained personal injuries from certain types of crimes. Countries like Canada, Australia, the UK and the US all have compensation funds with similar policies and procedures.

To be eligible for compensation, a person must have been a victim of certain types of violent crimes, typically including assault, rape, robbery, domestic abuse, child abuse, or drunk driving. A person may also be eligible if he is a surviving family member of a murder victim. Once a person qualifies as a victim of a crime covered by the fund, he must prove that he suffered a personal injury or emotional distress. Victims’ compensation funds rarely cover any type of property damage.

The funds will normally cover some type of personal injury and emotional distress-related expense, such as the cost of medical treatment and mental health counseling, compensation for loss of wages and support, and funeral expenses. To access these funds, a victim must submit an application to the government agency that administers the fund. In the UK, for example, there is a regional entity called the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) which administers the country’s victims’ compensation fund. The US allows each state to manage its own fund and an application would have to be made to the state where the crime occurred.

The offender who committed the crime does not need to be arrested or convicted for the victim to be able to collect through the fund. The application process generally requires only that the victim has reported the crime in a timely manner, has cooperated with the police in the investigation, has not been guilty of any wrongdoing in the matter, and has filed the application within the time limit prescribed by the jurisdiction for filing the crime. eligibility . If the victim is eligible and submits a timely application, their award can be as high as $25,000 US Dollars (USD) or more, depending on the jurisdiction.

[ad_2]