Complaints procedure
Source: gov.uk (2025-04-17)

How to complain about customer service at the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.

Making a complaint

Our complaints process is here to help you if you have concerns about our service or our management of your claim. We are committed to providing an efficient service which is sensitive in the way we support victims while being fair and accurate with the rules of the compensation schemes we are responsible for.

We want to work with you to resolve your concerns. If you complain we will work with you to resolve your concerns within an agreed amount of time.

What is a complaint?

We consider a complaint as an expression of dissatisfaction about our service.

For example, you can complain if:
- you feel we have made a mistake that has led to an unreasonable delay in your application
- you feel the level of service you have received from us is not to the standards in our Customer Charter (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/criminal-injuries-compensation-authority/about/about-our-services)
- you feel we have mishandled your personal information
There are some concerns that we cannot resolve through our complaints process. These include:
- if you disagree with a decision we send you - the schemes we administer give you a statutory process to challenge our decisions.
- concerns about the rules of the schemes we administer - these rules are set by the Justice Secretary and approved by the UK Parliament.
- a concern about another public organisation (such as the police) - these concerns should be raised to that organisation instead.
- if we have been unable to provide an update about your application.
- if evidence on your claim has been awaiting assessment for less than 6 months.
If you are unsure if your concerns can be considered as a complaint, please let us know.

How to complain

We want to make it as easy as possible for you to let us know if you are dissatisfied. An applicant or their representative can complain by using our online complaint form (https://complain-to-the-cica.form.service.justice.gov.uk/).

If you cannot use the online form (https://complain-to-the-cica.form.service.justice.gov.uk), you can complain by:
- calling xx-xxxx-xxxx (8.30am-3pm Monday to Friday)
- writing to us at: CICA 10 Clyde Place Buchanan Wharf Glasgow G5 8AQ
What should you expect once you make a complaint?

Complaint registered

Your complaint will be automatically registered if you use the online form.

If you phone us we will try and resolve your concerns during the call. However, if you still want to complain we can complete the form during the call. Your complaint will then be passed to our Customer Resolution team, who will register it as soon as possible.

If you complain by letter it will be passed to the Customer Resolution team, who will register the complaint as soon as possible.

You should tell us what you are complaining about and what we can do to resolve the problem. We may not be able to progress your complaint without your support, so please help us as much as you can.

Acknowledgement

We aim to acknowledge your complaint or escalated complaint within five working days of receiving it. Our working days are Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays.

We will communicate with you by email by default but will respect your preferred method of contact if you let us know. Please be aware that some of our communication, such as the outcome of your complaint, must be in writing. Our acknowledgement email will confirm your complaint has been registered, introduce you to your complaint handler and explain the next steps.

Investigation

We will then investigate the issue thoroughly. We may need to contact you during our investigation. This will often be to gather more information in support of your claim or your complaint.

We may also contact you to better understand what you would like us to do to resolve your complaint. We appreciate you may not have been happy with our service to this point, but your support at this stage of a complaint is important and we appreciate your help.

Resolution

We will write to you once we finish our investigation to resolve your complaint. We aim to send this to you within 20 working days (Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays) of your complaint being registered. If we cannot resolve your complaint within our agreed time we will let you know and explain why.

If we can resolve your concerns quickly, we may send our acknowledgement and resolution at the same time and explain this to you.

If we cannot resolve your complaint the way you want us to we will explain why not.

Your complaint will be closed after we write to you with our response.

If you still have concerns, we are happy to discuss these and make clear anything that you are unsure about.

Escalation

We understand that despite our best efforts you may still be unhappy with the outcome of your complaint. If so, you have the option to escalate your complaint.

We operate a three-stage process:
- stage 1 – managed by a complaint handler
- stage 2 – escalated to a manager
- stage 3 – escalated to a senior manager
We will acknowledge, investigate then resolve your concerns at all three stages of our process. This includes acknowledging your escalated complaint within five working days and aim to resolve it within 20 working days.

If you are still unhappy after stage 3 is finished, you can contact the ombudsman:
- if you live in England or Wales, you can contact the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO).
- if you live in Scotland, you can contact the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO).
You are expected to have exhausted our complaints process and for your complaint to be unresolved before contacting the ombudsman.

Time limits

We expect you to raise your complaint as soon as possible. This gives us the best chance to resolve your concerns.

Complaints should be made within one year of the problem being identified, in line with the guidelines of the PHSO and the SPSO. If you are unhappy with the outcome of your complaint you should ask us to escalate it as soon as possible.

We may still consider a late complaint or escalation request if there were good reasons for the delay. If you submit a late complaint please tell us why and give any supporting information to explain the delay.