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What we tell survivors about the law: a summary for solicitors

For solicitors and law firms. The checked facts our guides give survivors about limitation periods, criminal injuries compensation, redress schemes and the criminal process, so you can see what someone who contacts you may already have read.

Looking for support for yourself? Our Support Directory lists helplines and organisations you can contact directly.

Every fact on this page comes from the law itself (legislation.gov.uk), GOV.UK, mygov.scot, nidirect, the prosecution services and each scheme’s own website. We last checked it on 6 October 2026. It covers England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. This is general information, not legal advice.

About this page

Why does this page exist?

So that a firm can see what a survivor who contacts it may already have read on this site. The answers below are the same sentences our guides use. They are written for survivors, so they speak to ‘you’. Where an answer rests on a law or scheme, we name it.

Is this a statement of the law for practitioners?

No. We give information, not legal or medical advice. These sentences are written for survivors, in plain English, and they are general information.

Where do the facts come from?

Every fact on this site is checked at its source, and we show when we last checked it. The sources for this page are listed at the end. Read how we check facts.

Something looks wrong. What should we do?

Please email us at info@abusesupportnetwork.org.uk. We’ll check it again at its source and correct it. See if something on this site is wrong.

Limitation periods for personal injury claims

What do you tell survivors about the normal time limit in England and Wales?

In England and Wales, a claim for a personal injury normally has to be started within 3 years of the injury, or within 3 years of your ‘date of knowledge’ if that is later. That is broadly when you first knew the injury was significant, that it was caused by what happened, and who was responsible.

If you were under 18 when you were harmed, the 3 years normally start on your 18th birthday.

A court can allow a claim to go ahead after the time limit if it considers it fair to do so, looking at all the circumstances, including how long the delay was and the reasons for it.

The law: Limitation Act 1980, sections 11, 14, 28, 33 and 38(2).

What do you tell survivors who were sexually abused as children?

Since 29 June 2026, in England and Wales there is no time limit for a personal injury claim about sexual abuse that happened when you were under 18. This applies however long ago the abuse happened, but not to claims that were settled or decided by a court before that date.

Where a claim like this would otherwise have been out of time, the court must dismiss it if the person or organisation being sued shows that a fair hearing is not possible.

The law: Limitation Act 1980, sections 11ZA and 11ZB, inserted by section 96 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 and in force since 29 June 2026.

What do you say about other abuse in childhood?

We say: “If you experienced other kinds of abuse as a child, a solicitor can explain how the time limits apply to you.”

What do you say about Scotland?

In Scotland, since 4 October 2017, there is no time limit for a personal injury claim about abuse that happened when you were under 18. ‘Abuse’ includes sexual, physical and emotional abuse, and neglect.

A Scottish court must not let such a claim go ahead if the person or organisation being sued shows that a fair hearing is not possible. For abuse before 4 October 2017, the court can also stop a claim if they show they would be ‘substantially prejudiced’ (seriously disadvantaged) and, after weighing your interest in the claim going ahead, the court decides it should not proceed.

If you brought a claim before 4 October 2017 that was dismissed because it was out of time, you may be able to bring it again. This can also apply if you settled it for no more than your legal expenses because you reasonably believed it would be dismissed for that reason.

Other personal injury claims in Scotland, including claims about abuse you experienced as an adult, normally have to be raised within 3 years of the injury, or of when you became aware of certain facts about it, if that is later. A court can allow a later claim if it considers it fair.

The law: Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973, sections 17, 17A to 17D and 19A.

What do you say about Northern Ireland?

Northern Ireland has no special time limit rule for abuse in childhood. A personal injury claim normally has to be started within 3 years of the injury, or within 3 years of your date of knowledge if that is later. If you were under 18 when you were harmed, the 3 years normally start on your 18th birthday. A court can allow a claim after the time limit if it considers it fair. A solicitor in Northern Ireland can explain how these rules apply to you.

The law: Limitation (Northern Ireland) Order 1989, articles 7, 47, 48 and 50.

What do you say about paying for a claim?

In England and Wales, legal aid can cover civil claims about abuse that happened when you were a child or a vulnerable adult. It can also cover civil claims about a sexual offence, whatever your age at the time, and whether or not anyone was prosecuted. Whether you get it also depends on your circumstances, including your finances.

Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own legal aid rules. In Scotland, the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) decides; in Northern Ireland, for most civil court cases, the Legal Services Agency Northern Ireland decides. In all three, legal aid may not cover every cost.

We also say that a solicitor can explain other ways a claim could be paid for.

The law: Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, Schedule 1, Part 1, paragraphs 3 and 39.

Read our guide to civil claims and the civil claims questions.

Criminal injuries compensation

Which scheme do your pages describe?

The Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012 (amended), which applies from 13 June 2019. It covers crimes in England, Wales or Scotland. Northern Ireland has its own scheme, which we describe below.

What do you say about time limits?

Most people must apply as soon as reasonably practicable, and within 2 years of the crime. You may be able to apply later if you are claiming because of childhood sexual or physical abuse, or if you could not claim earlier, for example because your mental or physical health stopped you.

If you were under 18 at the time, your application must be received by your 20th birthday if the crime was reported to the police before you turned 18, or within 2 years of the first report to the police if it was reported on or after your 18th birthday. You can ask CICA to extend these time limits, with evidence of why you could not apply earlier.

If you apply late, CICA must also be able to decide your claim from the evidence you send, without extensive further enquiries.

What do you say about the police, and about convictions?

The crime must be reported to the police before you apply, and as soon as reasonably practicable. If you delayed reporting it, CICA will ask you why. It will consider the full circumstances, including your age at the time and how the crime affected you.

The person who harmed you does not have to be identified or convicted. You do not need to wait for a police investigation or a court case to finish before you apply. You are expected to co-operate, as far as reasonably practicable, in bringing them to justice.

What do you say about using a legal adviser?

It does not cost anything to apply. You do not have to use a legal adviser; if you choose to use one, you cannot claim the cost back. If someone represents you on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis, they will usually keep a share of your payment, so CICA suggests checking how much before you agree.

What do you say about amounts, timing and reviews?

An injury payment can be between £1,000 and £250,000. You can apply for more than one injury and for other payments, such as loss of earnings. The most anyone can be awarded in total is £500,000.

You will usually get a decision within 12 months, but it can take longer.

You can ask CICA in writing to review a decision. It must receive your request within 56 days of the decision. If you need more time, you can ask for an extension of up to 56 more days, but the time limit can only be extended once. If you disagree with the review, you can appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Criminal Injuries Compensation), which must receive your appeal within 90 days of the review decision.

What do you say about Northern Ireland?

Northern Ireland has its own criminal injuries compensation scheme, run by Compensation Services. You should apply within 2 years of the incident. An application may still be accepted later if it wasn’t reasonable to expect you to apply within that time. The offender does not have to have been convicted, or even charged.

Compensation Services’ service is free. You can pay a solicitor, but you cannot claim the cost back. If you disagree with a decision, you can ask for a review within 3 months. If you disagree with the review, you can appeal to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Appeals Panel for Northern Ireland within 3 months of the review decision.

Read our CICA guide and the CICA questions.

Redress schemes

What do you say about Scotland’s Redress Scheme?

Scotland’s Redress Scheme is open for applications. It is for people who were abused as children (under 18) while in care in Scotland before 1 December 2004, and for some next of kin. The abuse can be physical, sexual or emotional abuse, or neglect.

If you apply, you may be offered a payment, an apology if you would like one (and help to get an apology from others), and emotional support. Redress Scotland, an independent body, makes the decisions on applications.

  • A fixed rate payment of £10,000. You must show you were living in a care setting when you were abused, but you don’t need documents as evidence of the abuse.
  • An individually assessed payment of up to £100,000. You’ll also need to provide supporting documents as evidence of the abuse.
  • A next of kin payment of £10,000. You may be able to apply if your partner or parent was abused as a child in care in Scotland before 1 December 2004, and died on or after 1 December 2004.

To accept a payment from Scotland’s Redress Scheme, you must sign a waiver giving up the right to bring, or to continue, certain civil claims about the abuse. The waiver covers the Scottish Government and the organisations on the scheme’s contributor list when your application is decided. The scheme pays the fees for a solicitor to help you, and you have 6 months to decide whether to accept an offer.

The period for applying ends on whichever is later: 5 years from 7 December 2021, or 2 years after the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry publishes its final report. When we checked on 6 October 2026, the Inquiry had not published its final report, so the closing date is not yet known.

The law: Redress for Survivors (Historical Child Abuse in Care) (Scotland) Act 2021, sections 24, 31 and 46.

What do you say about the Church of England’s scheme?

The Church of England’s national redress scheme is not open yet. The Church expects it to open in the latter part of 2026. Its rules have been laid before Parliament for approval.

The scheme administrator decides who is eligible once it has assessed an application. If you’re not sure whether your circumstances are covered, the Church says you can still apply. It will be free to apply, and you won’t need a lawyer. The scheme will pay up to £5,000, plus VAT, for independent legal advice, and this is not taken from any award.

What do you say about Northern Ireland?

The Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) Redress Board was for people who were abused as children while living in an institution in Northern Ireland between 1922 and 1995. It is closed to new applications: the last date to apply was 2 April 2025.

A redress scheme for people affected by Northern Ireland’s mother and baby institutions, Magdalene laundries and workhouses is not open yet. When we checked on 6 October 2026, the law to set it up was waiting for Royal Assent, and the Executive Office was consulting on the scheme’s rules.

What do you say about a national scheme for England and Wales?

There isn’t one. The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse proposed a national redress scheme for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse connected to institutions. In April 2025, the UK government said it was not currently taking any further steps on that proposal.

We also say that the Lambeth Children’s Homes Redress Scheme closed to new applications on 1 January 2022.

Read our guide to redress schemes and the redress questions.

The police and court

What do you say about reporting to the police?

You don’t have to report a sexual assault to the police if you don’t want to. You can still get medical care and support.

We also say that a crime can still be reported if it happened a long time ago. In England and Wales, the Crown Prosecution Service says there is no time limit on how long after the offence you can report a crime. Police Scotland says there is no time limit for reporting a rape or sexual crime. In Northern Ireland, the Public Prosecution Service says anyone who has been a victim of sexual abuse can come forward and report it to the police, no matter when it happened.

What do you say about decisions not to prosecute?

England and Wales. If the police or the Crown Prosecution Service decide not to prosecute, or to stop a case, you can ask for that decision to be reviewed under the Victims’ Right to Review Scheme. Some conditions apply.

Scotland. You can ask the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) to review a decision, made on or after 1 July 2015, to take no action or to stop a case after it has gone to court. COPFS asks you to get in touch within one month of learning of its decision.

Northern Ireland. You can ask the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) to review a decision not to prosecute. The request should be made in writing, normally within one month of being told of the decision.

What do you say about anonymity?

England and Wales, and Northern Ireland. If you are the victim of an alleged sexual offence, the law says that nothing likely to identify you as the victim can be published during your lifetime. In Northern Ireland, this protection also lasts for 25 years after the victim’s death.

Scotland. There is not yet an automatic legal right to anonymity for complainers (the word used in Scotland for the person the crime was committed against) in sexual offence cases. In practice, the media follow a long-standing convention of not naming them, and a court can make an order in an individual case. A new law, the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Act 2025, gives complainers an automatic lifelong right to anonymity, but that part is not in force yet.

What do you say about special measures?

If you’re a victim of a sexual offence, or of another serious crime such as domestic abuse, you may be able to give evidence with ‘special measures’, such as a screen so the defendant can’t see you, a video link from somewhere else, or recording your evidence before the trial.

Our guide then explains who qualifies, and which measures are available, in each of the three legal systems.

Read our guide to the criminal process and the police and court questions.

The reporting duty

What do you say about the mandatory reporting duty?

Our pages for survivors don’t describe it, and we never describe the duty as in force.

When we checked on 6 October 2026, legislation.gov.uk showed both the duty to report suspected child sex offences (Crime and Policing Act 2026, section 85) and the offence of preventing or deterring someone from complying with it (section 92) as prospective: neither is in force yet. We check this every month.

Medical experts

What do you say about medical experts?

An expert’s job is to help the court, not to take a side. In civil claims in England and Wales, the Civil Procedure Rules say: “It is the duty of experts to help the court on matters within their expertise. This duty overrides any obligation to the person from whom experts have received instructions or by whom they are paid.” (Part 35, rule 35.3)

Our page for survivors also sets out the equivalent duties in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Read our questions about medical experts and expert evidence.

More questions

Where this information comes from

Checked on 6 October 2026. The law can change, so always check the official sources before you rely on them. This page gives information, not legal or medical advice.

Each answer comes from one of our guides for survivors, with the sources for every fact.

Read our guides for survivors