Our Address and Telephone Numbers
Criminal Injuries Dept
RAM Legal Services
78 Hallfields Road
Warrington
Cheshire
WA2 8DN
Phone: 01925 635 666
Free Phone: 0800 587 4478
Email: claims@ramlegalservices.co.uk



Complaints Procedure
Complaints Procedure
In the unlikely event that you have a complaint regarding any aspect of our service, please feel free to contact us by telephone, post, e-mail or in person to express your dissatisfaction and draw our attention to the issues that you would like us to address. We will ensure that you receive an initial letter acknowledging your complaint setting out the details that you would like investigating and the details of the senior member of staff nominated to deal with any issues that you have raised. This letter will be sent to you within 5 working days of you raising your complaint.
Your complaint will be investigated fully and upon completion of the investigations a written response will be sent advising you of the outcome of our investigations and where appropriate any offer of redress. We aim that this response will be sent within eight weeks of your initial enquiry.  Should we not be in a position to provide you with a final response at this time we will write and advise you of the reasons why we are unable to complete our investigation. We will also confirm date that we expect to be in a position to provide you with a full written response.
Should you be unhappy with the outcome of our investigations into your complaint you have the right to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service who will decide upon the appropriate course of action that should be taken if any.
All complaints referred to the Financial Ombudsman Service must be sent within six months of receipt of our final written response to your complaint.
The Financial Ombudsman Service can be contacted at:


Financial Ombudsman Service, Exchange Tower, London, E14 9SR.
0300 555 0333
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Confidentiality All of your personal and claim information will be processed and stored confidentially as per the Data Protection Act 1998. We do not share any of your information with third parties other than those responsible for processing your claim (the CICA). All documents containing your personal and claim information will be stored and disposed of securely using a confidential waste management solution operated by Ecoshred. For more information visit http://www.ecoshreduk.com


Cancellation Policy 
Once you have signed and returned our initial paperwork you have a cooling off period of 14 days in which you can cancel our services without charge.  If you cancel outside of the cooling off period you may incur fees that are also detailed below.

If you end the agreement before the Authority makes a decision with regard to whether or not to award you compensation, you are liable to pay our basic costs of £118.00 per hour completed. Part hours will be charged at 11.80 for each six minutes of work. This figure will attract VAT at the standard rate, currently 20%, which will apply when the work is done.
                                               
We reserve the right to charge our fees in full should you wish to withdraw once the decision process has started.
  
If you wish to cancel our services you can complete and return the cancellation form that is included in the key facts bundle of our initial paperwork. Alternatively you can complete the cancellation form below. Once your cancellation is received we will contact you to confirm receipt.
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Text Message Enquiry

​Text 'RAM' to 60066 and we will call you back 

Frequently Asked Questions

​Do I have to use a legal representative?

​You do not have to use a legal representative and you can apply to CICA direct. By doing this you will be responsible for the conduct of your own application including any reviews or tribunal hearings should your application be rejected.

​Can I do this myself?

You can make the application yourself, without legal representation. Many applicants encounter difficulties and have their claims rejected due to the strict rules of the scheme. You may be interested to know that: there were a total of 33,688 applications made to the authority between 2013-2014. There were a total of 28,307 applications rejected without an award being offered between 2013-2014.(source of information Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority annual report 2013-2014) We regularly overturn rejected cases and our tribunal success rate currently stands at over 90%.

How do RAM get paid for dealing with my case

​We will deal with your criminal injury claim on a 'No Win No Fee' basis. We only get paid once you receive your compensation. We take a standard fee of 25% of your award for acting as your representative in a criminal injury matter . There are no hidden charges or VAT that are added to this amount. For example if you are awarded £1000 you will receive £750 after our fee has been deducted from your award.

What if my claim is rejected?

​If the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority decide that you are not eligible for an award we will look at appealing their decision. Where relevant we will form an appeal paper to challenge the CICA's decision using our wealth of experience in winning these cases. If the CICA still decide not to award you compensation for your injuries we can take your case to a tribunal and form further appeals and arguments in your favour.

How long does it take ?

The length of time it takes to settle a criminal injury case depends on the complexity of the incident in question and the availability of the evidence. Part of each claim involves obtaining; GP Records, Police Reports, Court Records and CRB checks, all of which takes time. Therefore the average settlement time of a criminal injury case is around 12 months however some cases settle much quicker than this where as some take longer.

what if the offender is not convicted?

​As long as you assisted the police in their investigations you may still be eligible for compensation if the offender was not convicted.

can I claim if I have a criminal record ?

Under the new Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012 you are not eligible for an award if you have any unspent convictions. The CICA will perform a Criminal Records Bureau check on each applicant before making an offer of compensation.