Survivors of terror attacks including those at the Manchester Arena have given a damning verdict on the UK’s terror compensation system in a new report by Survivors Against Terror (SAT) – leading to calls for the system to be replaced.
More than 130 survivors from 11 different terror attacks responded to a SAT survey (conducted by research company Kantar) on the Government’s Criminal Injuries and Compensation Authority (CICA).
A staggeringly low 7% of survivors felt that CICA was sympathetic to their needs, whereas 72% said that they were not.
68% felt that the process was unfair and unreasonable, only 9% felt the opposite. More than half said they were unable to speak to someone from CICA for help
One Manchester Arena attack survivor said: “After five years I am still waiting for CICA to settle my claim, they lost all my notes.”
“CICA is broken. There can be no other conclusion from the data and the testimonies we have gathered. An organisation that is supposed to be helping survivors recover and rebuild is instead consistently doing them harm. If the organisation had poor processes and procedures but scored well on other areas, there would be hope for reform. There is not.” said Brendan Cox, co author
The report includes evidence from multiple survivors of CICA’s failure to help and compensate them and, drawing on their testimony, makes detailed recommendations for a new compensation authority supported by and overseen by the Home Office.
