Claim against your attacker’s employers

In certain instances you may be in a position to bring a claim against your attacker’s employers.

There are advantages to bringing a claim against an employer rather than against an individual or to the CICA.

• The employer is likely to have insurance and so there will be little or no problem in enforcing any judgement or award made
• An employer is more likely to deal with a claim in a professional and unemotional manner so reducing any aggravation and upset you may have in making a claim
• You are more likely to recover all or the majority of your legal costs leaving you with a larger level of damages
• You can claim lost income from day one whereas the CICA disregard the first 28 weeks of lost income.

To bring a claim against your attacker’s employer you need to show that there is a link between the attack and the employment. The most common example is a teacher who abuses their position with a pupil or a doctor who abuses a patient during an examination. It is not simply a case of the attacker being in a certain job or position, for example if a doctor were to sexually assault a person in a nightclub the claim would need to be brought against the doctor as an individual and not as part of his practice.

If you do chose to proceed with a civil claim against your attacker’s employers you will need to show, on the balance of probabilities that the incident occurred. This is a lower burden of proof than required for a criminal conviction so you may still be successful with a civil claim even if the criminal prosecution failed, or if no charges were brought.

Like any civil claim you will be entitled to compensation for any injury you sustained as a result of the assault; this includes psychological damage such as stress, depression or PTSD.

As part of the evidence in support of your claim we will obtain a medical report setting out the impact the incident has had on you as well as any treatment required and prognosis for your recovery.

We will also look to recover your financial losses such as lost past and future income, as well as any treatment costs, gratuitous care and any other losses arising from the incident.

To see how we can help you claim the compensation that you deserve, get in touch with us today. All calls and emails are in complete confidence and there is no obligation; you don’t even have to give your name.

We offer sympathetic but practical advice: