Foilsiú
51984 (17 April 2023)
Ó Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme
Foilsithe
An t-eolas is déanaí
Teanga: Níl leagan Gaeilge den mhír seo ar fáil.
Ó Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme
Foilsithe
An t-eolas is déanaí
Teanga: Níl leagan Gaeilge den mhír seo ar fáil.
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal
In the matter of an application under the Scheme of Compensation for Personal Injuries Criminally Inflicted
Decision of a Single Member
Name of applicant: [ ]
Application number: 51984
Date of incident: [ ]
Date of application: [ ]
Decision outcome: Application refused under Paragraph 11 of the Scheme.
1. [ ] (‘the Applicant’) has made a claim for compensation under the Scheme of Compensation for Personal Injuries Criminally Inflicted (‘the Scheme’). The Applicant submitted a completed application form in respect of his claim which was received by the Tribunal on [ ].
2. The Applicant is a taxi driver. The Applicant was involved in a serious incident on [ ] when he picked up a male on [ ] and drove him to [ ]. It is alleged that whilst at [ ] the male subjected the Applicant to a number of threats that he would be stabbed and/or injured by the male [ ].
3. An Garda Síochána have confirmed that the male was arrested and charged and as of the date of the last correspondence on file was currently before the criminal courts.
4. The Applicant now brings a claim in respect of out-of-pocket expenses arising from the incident, namely a claim for loss of earnings, the cost of obtaining a medical report in respect of the Applicant’s psychological injuries, the cost of the differential between the Applicant’s insurance premium prior to the incident and renewal post the incident and a payment made by the Applicant in respect of hire-purchase agreement in place in respect of his vehicle.
5. The Tribunal accepts that the Applicant was the victim of a crime of violence in accordance with Paragraph 1 of the Scheme.
6. The Tribunal accepts that the Applicant satisfies Paragraph 23 of the Scheme (notification to Gardaí and/or the subject matter of criminal proceedings).
7. The Tribunal accepts that the Applicant’s application satisfies Paragraph 21 of the Scheme, namely that it was made within the three-month time limit.
8. Paragraph 11 of the Scheme provides:
‘No compensation will be payable to an applicant who has not, in the opinion of the Tribunal, given the Tribunal all reasonable assistance, in relation to any medical report that it may require, and otherwise. (Emphasis added).
9. The application form, signed by the Applicant, confirmed his acceptance, under Part 10, that he would provide all reasonable assistance to the Tribunal. In the Tribunal’s view, such an acceptance must clearly include an obligation to set out his claim in a clear and unambiguous manner so that the Tribunal can fairly assess what claims an applicant should be compensated for. It is never the case that the Tribunal, whether the Secretariat or the Tribunal itself, should have to embark on an exercise whereby it must repeatedly question or ‘prompt’ an applicant in respect of what an applicant should submit for assessment (other than situations where the Tribunal merely seeks clarifications in respect of an applicant’s claim). This is particularly so where an application chooses to retain the services of a solicitor to assist with his or her claim.
10. In the instant case the bulk of the out-of-pocket expenses that the Applicant claims relates to loss of earnings as a taxi driver following the incident. In summary, the Applicant claims that he suffered psychological injuries as a result of the incident and was thereafter not in a position to work, or to work full-time as a taxi driver for a period following the incident. To this end the Applicant has submitted some documentation in support of his claim including a Notice of Assessment for [ ] and [ ] and rudimentary accounts for [ ].
11. By correspondence dated [ ] from the ‘[ ]’ the Applicant claims losses arising from the incident of approximately €21,000. No detail is provided as to how this figure was calculated.
12. The Tribunal wrote to the Applicant’s solicitor on [ ] and again on [ ] requesting the Applicant’s End of Year Balancing Statements for [ ] and [ ]. This documentation had previously been sought by the Tribunal on [ ].
13. The Applicant’s End of Year Balancing Statements were eventually furnished to the Tribunal but the Tribunal was required to query why they showed minimal income from taxiing for [ ] and none at all for [ ]. The Tribunal was subsequently furnished with correspondence dated [ ] from the ‘[ ]’ baldly stating that the Applicant did not work as a taxi driver for a period of one month post-accident and subsequently worked, albeit on a reduced basis up to [ ] with an associated reduction in income from approximately €400 to €250 per week. Again, no vouching documentation was provided in support of this statement nor any further information as to how these figures were calculated.
14. Correspondence continued in this vein between the Tribunal Secretariat and the Applicant’s solicitor until the matter was eventually sent for a decision by a Tribunal member in [ ].
15. As stated at Paragraph 9 above, in any application for compensation it is for the Applicant to set out what precisely he/she is claiming and the basis upon which the Applicant says such claims are founded. It is for the Applicant to make his/her case and it is never the case that the Tribunal should have to engage in lengthy and repetitive correspondence seeking documentation to bolster or prove an applicant’s claim. This is particularly so in the case of loss of earnings claim where, at a minimum, accounts or payslips (or indeed Revenue records) should be furnished detailing an applicant’s income prior to being a victim of a crime of violence and the income received (if any) thereafter. In an application such as this where it is asserted that an applicant was unable to work at all for a period and on a reduced basis thereafter it is for an applicant to set out clearly and unambiguously the basis of their claim. This should include, but not be limited to, setting out clearly the medical reasons for and temporal limits of an inability to work/need to work on a reduced basis. This was not done in this application despite repeated requests by the Tribunal.
16. Accordingly, the Tribunal is satisfied on the basis of the above that the Applicant has failed to comply with the duty imposed upon him pursuant to Paragraph 11 of the Scheme and that, as a result, no compensation should be paid in respect of this application.
17. N/A.
18. N/A.
19. Nil.
Marc Murphy
Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal
17 April 2023