By Olivia Edinburgh. Last updated 18th March 2021. Welcome to our rape claims guide. If you’re asking yourself ‘could I make a rape claim if no one has been convicted?’ then you’ve come to the right place.
If you have been raped, whether it is by someone in a position of trust, a stranger or even someone close to you, you may be wondering can you still claim for rape injuries without a conviction having been made. While you may have assumed that the rape victim compensation scheme would only pay out if the rapist had been convicted, you could still launch a claim for compensation even if the rapist had not been caught.
This guide offers useful information to those that have been the victim of a rape where the rapist has not been caught or has not been convicted. We will offer guidance on making civil claims against the rapist or their employer, as well as insight into claiming compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority. If you are ready to begin a claim and would like our support, or would like us to connect you with an injury lawyer that could help with your claim, please do not hesitate to call us on 0333 000 0729.
Jump To A Section
- A Guide On Rape Victim Claims When No One Has Been Caught
- What Are Rape Victim Compensation Claims?
- Eligibility Rape Victims Must Meet To Claim Compensation
- Evidence Supporting Rape Victim Compensation Claims
- Emotional Or Physical Injuries Sustained By Rape Victims
- Exceptions To Criminal Injury Claims, When People Could Not Claim
- Reporting Rape Or Other Sex-Based Violence
- CICA Rape Victim Compensation Claims
- Rape Victim Compensation Calculator
- Special Expenses Or Damages Which Could Be Claimed
- Steps To Make A Rape Victim Compensation Claim
- How Legal Helpline Could Help Victims Of Rape Claim Compensation
- No Win No Fee Rape Victim Claims When No One Has Been Caught
- Contacting Legal Helpline
- Rape And Sexual Assault Support Services
A Guide On Rape Victim Claims When No One Has Been Caught
Could I make a rape claim if no one has been convicted?
Compensation for a rape victim is not limited to those that have seen the perpetrator of the rape convicted for their crimes. While in an ideal world every rapist would face justice for what they have done, in the real world, sometimes a rapist may not be caught or convicted.
This guide aims to answer in detail the question ‘could I make a rape claim if no one has been convicted?’, giving information on the different ways to claim compensation as a rape victim for the injuries sustained from such an attack. Included below is a definition of rape, along with details of the injuries that rape victims may suffer. We also offer an alternative to a rape victim compensation calculator, to give you some idea of how much compensation a rape claim could bring you, as well as looking at the claims process for civil claims and claims through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.
What Are Rape Victim Compensation Claims?
According to the Sexual Offences Act 2003, rape is the non-consensual and intentional penetration of one person’s anus, mouth or vagina, with the perpetrator’s penis. This is a horrific crime and could cause injuries to the victim that are not just physical. Such a violation of a person could cause psychological trauma, and it could take a long time for a victim to come to terms with what has happened to them.
The heinous nature of the incident may mean there is some delay between the time a victim is raped and the time they speak out about the crime, whether they haven’t yet come to terms with what happened to them or doubt whether they’ll get justice for it. No matter how long it has been since a rape victim was attacked, they should, if they are able to, report the crime so that the perpetrator could be brought to justice. Not only this but by reporting the rape to the police, a rape victim could then be in a position to claim compensation for their injuries.
If you’re wondering ‘could I make a rape claim if no one has been convicted?’, the next section will take a look at the different types of people claims could be made against.
Who Could My Claim Be Against?
In some cases, compensation for a rape victim could come from the attacker themselves, or their employer. These types of personal injury claims could be made less stressful by engaging a personal injury lawyer to help fight for compensation on your behalf.
However, if no other route for compensation exists, a personal injury solicitor could help you make a claim to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA), a Ministry of Justice backed authority that administers the criminal injuries compensation scheme, in order to compensate victims of violent crime for injuries they have suffered.
Eligibility Rape Victims Must Meet To Claim Compensation
If you’re wondering ‘could I make a rape claim if no one has been convicted?’, there are certain criteria that exist for eligibility. Whether the claim is made through the CICA scheme or against the perpetrator directly, we’ll take a look at how eligibility can be established in the next few sub-sections.
CICA Claim Eligibility
To simply answer the question of ‘could I make a rape claim if no one has been convicted?’, you would need to do the following:
- Be able to prove that the rape resulted in your suffering
- Ensure that the incident is reported to the police
- Cooperate with the police as best as you can to help bring your perpetrator to justice
It is worth mentioning that you should launch any claim against the CICA during the relevant limitation period. For most criminal injuries claims, the time limit would be 2 years from the incident date. However, if you have not reported the rape to the police, you could still do so. If you did not report the rape earlier but had a good reason for not doing so, you may be granted 2 years from the date the rape was reported to make your claim.
Personal Injury Claim Eligibility
You would still have to prove that the rape caused you to suffer injuries and report it to the police. You would also have to claim within the relevant personal injury claims time limit for your case. If some time has passed and you have not spoken out about the rape for good reason (perhaps if you had not processed what had happened to you before) your claim may still be considered valid, even after the usual limitation period of 3 years from the date of the incident had passed.
If you’re still wondering ‘could I make a rape claim if no one has been convicted?’, please speak to one of our specialist advisors today. You can call our team anytime to discuss your case in confidence and we will endeavour to keep any advice concise and necessary in terms of how you can get the compensation that you deserve.
Evidence Supporting Rape Victim Compensation Claims
If the rapist that attacked you had been convicted of your crime, then this would obviously serve as evidence of the crime that took place. However, the answer to the question ‘could I make a rape claim if no one has been convicted?’ could be yes if you can provide evidence of the rape and your subsequent suffering.
There could be several reasons why the perpetrator of your rape has not been caught or convicted. These could range from situations where the rapist has fled the scene and was not known to you, or they might have passed away during an investigation into them, for example.
Evidence that could be useful when claiming compensation for a rape victim could include:
- A witness statement – A detailed witness statement could be useful in providing evidence of the attack and the effects that an attack has had on you. It could also be useful for anyone who may have witnessed the attack to also give a statement.
- Medical evidence – Medical evidence from an independent medical expert could help verify your injuries and your prognosis for recovery. If you are a rape victim with emotional trauma, it may be appropriate for you to also see a psychologist or psychiatrist so that the rape victim trauma symptoms you’re suffering could also be evidenced.
Emotional Or Physical Injuries Sustained By Rape Victims
As we mentioned in the section above, a rape victim may suffer both physical and psychological injuries as a consequence of being raped.
The physical injuries that could be sustained as a result of rape could include:
- Genital injuries such as bruising, lacerations, etc.
- Internal injuries
- Sexually transmitted infections (STIs)
- Pregnancy
- Loss of foetus (if you were violently raped while pregnant, for example)
Emotional trauma could also be sustained by victims of rape. Symptoms of psychological trauma caused by rape could include:
- Flashbacks
- Nightmares
- Feelings of degradation
- Anxiety
- Depression
If you suffer post-traumatic stress disorder as a rape victim, you may need psychological therapy, such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), group therapy, or even Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR). In addition, you may need medication to help you to function. In some cases of PTSD in rape victims, however, these may not lead to a person being able to function in the way that they did before the attack.
Exceptions To Criminal Injury Claims, When People Could Not Claim
Though the answer to ‘could I make a rape claim if no one has been convicted?’ can be yes in some cases, there are some circumstances in which a claim may be declined by CICA. Some examples of these circumstances include:
- Taking too long to report the incident or not reporting it at all (although exceptions to this could be heard for cases of historic sexual violence)
- Having a prior criminal record yourself
- Not effectively cooperating with the CICA or with the police
If you are worried that one of these exceptions might apply to you, you can get free advice from our team on whether you could be eligible to claim.
Reporting Rape Or Other Sex-Based Violence
As we mentioned previously in this guide, some rape victims may find it difficult to speak about what has happened to them.
According to statistics from 2019 issued by the Crime Survey for England and Wales, around 7.5% of people between ages 18 and 74 have experienced sexual abuse before they turned 16, which is the legal age of consent in the UK. To help illustrate the extent of this percentage, it equated to over 3.1 million victims.
Although it’s impossible to know the extent of unreported sexual assaults that go on, a 2012 survey gave a unique insight into unreported incidents, finding that:
- Most women did not report their sexual assault to the police (80%)
- Many women did not tell anyone about their sexual assault (29%)
To get an idea of why so many sexual assaults aren’t reported, the following information was also collected from victims:
- ‘Embarrassment’ was the most common reason (58%)
- Many doubted that their story would be believed (45%)
- Others imagined the experience of reporting to be humiliating (28%)
- The rest didn’t believe that anyone would act upon their allegations (22%)
Some organisations could help you come to terms with what has happened to you, and this may give you the confidence to report the rape. Organisations that could help you could include:
When you are in a position to report the incident to the police, we would urge you to do so by calling 999 (if you have just been raped) or 111, by going to a police station or reporting the rape online.
When you report a rape, the police would arrange a medical examination for you, which could include treatment of your injuries, and they will also offer support and advice to you. They will also explain the next steps that they will take regarding your case.
Once again, we’d like to reiterate that if you’re wondering ‘could I make a rape claim if no one has been convicted?’, it’s imperative that you report the rape to the police in order to be able to claim. However, if you’re worried about reporting the rape to the police, they do have specialist teams that have been trained to help victims of rape and other types of sexual assault. You will be able to request a staff member who is the same sex as you if this makes you feel more comfortable.
CICA Rape Victim Compensation Claims
The most common types of rape compensation claims would be through the CICA. How CICA claims work is as follows:
- You/your solicitor launches your claim by filling in the relevant information on a claims form and submits it to the CICA
- Your claim would be given a reference number which should be quoted on any correspondence regarding your claim
- Your claim would be assessed based on the information you’ve supplied, police information, medical evidence and your criminal record if you have one
- You may be asked to provide more information to the CICA
- You may be asked to have a medical/psychological assessment so that your injuries could be verified
- The CICA will provide you with a decision on whether your claim is accepted
It could be worth mentioning that even if the CICA rejects a claim, you could appeal this decision and your case could be reviewed by a senior officer.
Rape Victim Compensation Calculator
You may be looking for a rape victim compensation calculator to give you more information on how much compensation could be appropriate for your injuries. Unfortunately, a criminal injury or personal injury claims calculator would not be able to give you an accurate sum. All claims are assessed on their own merits, and the amount of compensation you would receive would be based on an assessment of the facts surrounding your case. The compensation for a rape victim would also depend on whether you were pursuing a civil case or claiming through the CICA. We have provided some information about compensation amounts for rape-related injuries in the tables below.
If the idea of how much compensation you could get is making you wonder ‘could I make a rape claim if no one has been convicted?’, the next section will provide you with some example payouts.
How Much Do CICA Pay Out For Rape Injuries?
We should mention that when claiming compensation for more than one injury through the CICA, the amount you would receive would be lower than the tariff amount on a sliding scale. For example, for the most serious injury, you would likely receive 100% of the tariff amount, but further injuries would be awarded at 30% and 15% respectively.
Injury Remarks Tariff amount
Penile penetration of mouth, vagina or anus. 1 assailant £11,000
Penile penetration of mouth, vagina or anus. More than one assailant £13,500
Penile penetration of mouth, vagina or anus. Resulting in internal serious injuries £22,000
Penile penetration of mouth, vagina or anus. Resulting in permanently disabling mental illness (moderate) £22,000
Penile penetration of mouth, vagina or anus. Resulting in permanently disabling mental illness (severe) £27,000
Penile penetration of mouth, vagina or anus. Resulting in internal serious injuries and permanently disabling mental illness (moderate) £33,000
Penile penetration of mouth, vagina or anus. Resulting in internal serious injuries and permanently disabling mental illness (severee) £44,000
Additional payment for a Pregnancy N/A £5,500
Additional payment for transmission of STI Excluding Hepatitis B/C or HIV where there is a good recovery £5,500
Additional payment for transmission of STI Excluding Hepatitis B/C or HIV where there is a permanent disability £11,000
Transmission of Hepatitis B/C, or HIV One or more of these conditions £22,000
Loss of victim’s foetus N/A £5,500
Compensation For A Rape Victim in Other Personal Injury Claims
If you’re wondering ‘could I make a rape claim if no one has been convicted?’, you may wish to consider who the claim would be against if made. For example, if you are claiming against the perpetrator directly or their employer, the amount you could receive for your injuries may differ from what you would receive from CICA.
The figures below are guideline amounts which we have taken from the Judicial College Guidelines, a publication that could be used by lawyers and courts to decide on a compensation value for personal injury claims.
Injury Remarks Guideline Compensation Bracket
Severe psychological injuries Severe effects on the ability of the victim to cope with work, life and relationships. V poor prognosis. £51,460 - £108,620
Moderately severe psychological injuries Significant effects on the ability of the victim to cope with work, life and relationships. More optimistic prognosis. £17,900 - £51,460
Moderate psychological injuries Moderate effects on the ability of the victim to cope with work, life and relationships. Good prognosis. £5,000 - £17,900
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) – Severe Permanent effects on the victim that would mean they would not return to the level of functioning they had prior to the trauma. £56,180 - £94,470
Special Expenses Or Damages Which Could Be Claimed
Compensation for a rape victim could include awards for financial expenses that have been incurred as a direct result of their injuries. The expenses you could claim for may be more restricted when it comes to CICA claims than it may be for personal injury claims.
For CICA claims, you’d have to prove that the expenses are reasonable and arose as a direct result of your injuries. You could only claim for expenses that could not be recovered in another way, such as through the NHS, the local authority or the benefits office, for example. They could include:
- Income loss – Income loss compensation could only be claimed by those who were away from work for over 28 weeks. It would be paid at the Statutory Sick Pay rate at the time of claiming.
- Physical aids – If your injuries meant that you needed physical aid, and it could not be provided by the NHS, you could include this within your claim.
- Care costs – If care couldn’t be provided for free from the local authority, for example, and you needed assistance with toileting, continence, meal preparation, you may be able to claim care costs.
These are just a few examples. If you would like more detail on the financial expenses you could claim for through the CICA, please get in touch with our team.
For civil claims, you could receive special damages for costs associated with your injuries that could include:
- Care costs
- Medical expenses
- Income losses – compensated at your usual pay rate
- Travel expenses
For you to claim for expenses you’ve sustained as a result of your rape injuries, you would have to be able to provide evidence of them. Keeping bank statements, receipts and payslips could be vital in ensuring you claim the monies you deserve.
We’ve listed some helpful steps you could take below if you’re wondering ‘could I make a rape claim if no one has been convicted?’.
Steps To Make A Rape Victim Compensation Claim
While claims can be made in several different ways, certain steps could be taken by claimants to ensure they build the strongest case possible. These could include:
- Reporting the incident to the police – while the answer to the question ‘can you still claim compensation for rape injuries without a conviction?’ is, in some cases, yes, you would have to have reported it to make a claim.
- Seeing a medical expert/psychologist – to provide evidence of your injuries, you would need to see a medical expert or psychologist, or perhaps both.
- Writing down what has happened – this could help when you are making your witness statement.
- Seeking legal advice – while you could make a claim on your own, you might find it quite stressful. A personal injury lawyer could help fight for compensation on your behalf, which could leave you more time to focus on your recovery.
How Legal Helpline Could Help Victims Of Rape Claim Compensation
Whether you’re wondering ‘could I make a rape claim if no one has been convicted?’ or you’re looking for legal advice and assistance, we are here to help.
We could offer a free, no-obligation assessment of your case to see if you could be entitled to claim from the perpetrator of rape, from their employer or through the rape victim compensation scheme. Not only that, but if we do think you could be eligible for compensation, we could connect you with a lawyer who could take your case on, and fight for the compensation you deserve for your injuries.
We have years of experience helping victims claim compensation for criminal injury, and we will ensure you have all the information you need to take your claim forward. We will explain any legal terms without jargon to help you understand your position, and we’ll treat your claim with the sensitivity it deserves. Our advisors are specially trained to offer guidance and support to claimants who may have been in stressful and traumatic situations, and we’ll ensure you remain in control of the decisions regarding your claim.
We believe every rape victim should be entitled to receive compensation for injuries caused through rape. Why not allow us to help you get the compensation you deserve?
No Win No Fee Rape Victim Claims When No One Has Been Caught
If you’re wondering ‘could I make a rape claim if no one has been convicted?’, you may be confused about how to go about it. Often, the issue of money arises when searching for the help of a personal injury lawyer, as the figures they charge for their services can be extortionate.
You may be under the assumption that you would have to pay a lawyer upfront to access this assistance, but with a No Win No Fee agreement, you would not be required to pay your personal injury solicitor until they had secured a compensation payout for you.
Instead, at the beginning of your claim, you would be asked to sign a Conditional Fee Agreement. This is a document that would effectively promise your solicitor a small, legally capped success fee, but this would only be payable if they secured you some compensation. If they did not manage to get you any compensation, you wouldn’t have to pay the success fee, nor would you have to pay the costs that the lawyer had incurred while pursuing the claim.
We understand that you may have some questions about claiming on a No Win No Fee basis. We would be glad to answer these, and we could also connect you with a lawyer who could take your claim on under such an agreement. This may give you the financial confidence to pursue your claim.
Contacting Legal Helpline
Are you still wondering ‘could I make a rape claim if no one has been convicted?’ If so, you can reach our team, quickly and easily, in several ways.
- By phone on 0333 000 0729
- Through the live chat feature on this page
- By filling in our contact form
- Or, by emailing us at [email protected]
We’re ready to help whenever you’re ready to talk.
Rape And Sexual Assault Support Services
Here are some further resources, including our alternative guides:
- Paedophile Claims – If you are claiming for injuries perpetrated by a paedophile, you could find some guidance here.
- Prosecution Of Rapists – Here you can find out more from the Crown Prosecution Service about prosecuting rape.
- Cognitive Behaviour Therapy – The NHS have produced this page to provide information on CBT. You may find this useful if you are suffering from trauma.
- Sexual Abuse Claimants – If you have been the victim of sexual abuse, this guide to compensation could be useful.
- Historical Claims – If you are considering claiming for a rape that occurred some time ago, this guidance could be useful.
Thanks for reading our claims guide for those wondering ‘could I make a rape claim if no one has been convicted?’.
Guide by JS
Edited by REG
