Abuse Claims

Abuse can happen in any relationship. An abuser could be a:

• Family member
• Friend
• Carer
• Staff member
• Professional worker (such as a nurse, paramedic, police officer)
• Stranger
• Volunteer.

Abuse could happen anywhere. Examples of where abuse can happen include:

• A person’s own home, whether living alone, with relatives, or others
• Day or residential centres
• Hospitals
• Supported housing
• Work settings
• Schools and other educational establishments
• Care homes
• Clinics
• Prisons
• Other places in the community.

As technology has developed, the ways to abuse someone have also changed. You could be abused on:

• A mobile phone
• An internet chat room
• A social network.

The abuse may also be committed using Artificial Intelligence.

Tragically, there are many circumstances in which physical and sexual abuse can occur, with abusers and paedophiles often using a position of trust or authority to take advantage of or cause harm to vulnerable people.

We have experience helping survivors claim compensation in a wide range of physical and sexual abuse claims, including cases against:

• Individual abusers, including health professionals and family members
• Schools
• The Scouts Association
• Religious organisations
• Charitable organisations
• Youth clubs
• Sports teams
• Hospitals
• Care and nursing homes
• Children's homes.

However, making a claim isn't limited to these examples—if you've experienced physical or sexual abuse of any kind, you may still be able to claim. It's not always a case of claiming against the person who committed the abuse, or the organisation they worked for—it could be that we can prove another organisation, such as social services, failed in their duty to protect you from someone else.

Yes, you can make an abuse claim on a no win no fee basis. This means, should your claim be unsuccessful, you won’t have to pay anything. You will have to sign up for an insurance policy, at no added cost, to protect you if your claim is unsuccessful.

Abuse can be inflicted in several ways. Forms of abuse include:

• Sexual abuse: A person makes sexual contact with you without your consent
• Physical abuse: A person inflicts physical pain on you by kicking, hitting, punching or biting
• Emotional abuse: A person inflicts psychological pain on you through harassment, threats of violence, image-based abuse or something else.

Incidents of abuse can be one-off or multiple and can affect individuals or groups of people.

The patterns of abuse vary and include:

• Serial abuse: An individual seeks out and grooms an individual or individuals (often known as sexual abuse)
• Long-term abuse: This is ongoing abuse, such as abuse of a family member or those someone cares for.
  
   

When you first contact us, we’ll set up a free initial consultation in a comfortable and confidential environment where you can discuss what’s happened to you. We will advise you whether you can make a claim, and we will also discuss funding options with you. 

Next, we will start gathering evidence. The evidence we gather will depend on what’s happened to you, but it could include medical records or witness statements related to your abuse. We can also use independent medical experts to assess how the abuse will affect your life.

We will take your claim to the individual or organisation responsible. If they accept fault, we’ll try to get you interim payments that can help pay for specialist support. Any interim payments will be taken from your final compensation amount.

The normal time limit is three years from the date of abuse to make a claim. However, if the victim is under 18, the three-year time limit will start when they’re 18.

It is possible to waive the time limit for an abuse claim as the difficulties of abuse survivors are fully understood by the courts. Such decisions are made on a case-by-case basis, and the court will consider:

• The reasons for not bringing a claim within the time limit
• The fairness to both the claimant and defendant if the time limit is waived
• Whether it’s possible to still have a fair trial.

We’re able to help with overcoming this time limit hurdle as part of your abuse claim.

Every abuse claim is unique. This means we can’t estimate how much compensation you could get without knowing more about what happened.

The amount of compensation you could claim is based on:

• The types of injuries you’ve sustained
• Care and specialist treatment you might need now and in the future
• Loss of earnings in the past, now and in the future
• Court of Protection fees (if you lack the mental capacity to deal with your financial affairs).
  
   

With every abuse claim being different, there’s no set timeframe.

When you contact us and tell our experts about your situation, we’ll be able to offer more guidance on how long your claim will take.