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  • Home
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Abuse Claims

Trustpilot

Services in: Abuse Claims

    • Care & Nursing Home Abuse Claims
    • Elder Abuse Claims
    • Child Abuse Claims
    • Mohamed Al Fayed & Harrods Abuse Claims
    • Physical & Sexual Abuse Claims
    • Redress Scotland
    • Medical And Hospital Abuse Claims

Talking about being abused is difficult, even if it happened a long time ago. We understand the trauma it can bring back up for you and will be here to support your abuse claim journey.

Many people are left feeling isolated and unsure of what to do next, but we can help.

If you or a loved one has been left with physical injuries or psychological trauma after abuse, our expert solicitors will be able to get you the right support and help you claim compensation. Contact our team to start your claim.

Even if the abuse happened many years ago, you may still be able to claim for historical abuse cases. We've helped a number of our clients claim for non-recent abuse that happened decades ago.

What types of abuse can Irwin Mitchell help with?

Our experience has seen us help people in a wide range of circumstances, including:

  • Physical and sexual abuse
  • Sexual assault
  • Child abuse
  • Care and nursing home abuse
  • Elder abuse
  • Emergency services abuse.

This list isn’t exhaustive, and we can help if you’ve experienced abuse in other circumstances. When you contact our team, we’ll learn more about what’s happened to you, and we’ll explain whether you can make a claim.

Why choose Irwin Mitchell to handle my abuse claim?

We understand the personal and sensitive nature of abuse claims. Our solicitors will manage your claim with care and make sure you’re fully supported and informed throughout your claim.

Our personal injury team is the largest of any law firm in the UK. Their expertise in abuse claims will be used to make sure you get the best support and the correct amount of compensation. We’ve secured over £1.5 billion in compensation for personal injury claims in recent years.

We've been extremely active in developing laws around abuse over the last two decades. This includes being the first firm to recover over £1 million for a family subjected to severe abuse and neglect during childhood.

When you make a claim with us, we put your wellbeing at the heart of everything we do. Providing you with the care and support you need to deal with the traumatic experience of abuse is as important to us as making sure you receive financial compensation.

Alongside our team of legal experts, you’ll be given a dedicated Support and Rehabilitation Coordinator. They’re a trained clinical expert and will be able to help you access the right support, whether it’s physical, emotional, or financial support.

We’ve a team of financial experts who can help you when it comes to receiving your compensation. Our Asset Management team will be there to help you manage and invest the money.

We’ve offices around the UK, which means you can visit your local office to meet your team of experts. We can also arrange to meet at an appropriate location or speak via phone or video call.

Legal aid available in some cases
Experienced criminal injury and abuse lawyers
Members of the Association of Child Abuse Lawyers
Offices across the UK

Call us for a free initial consultation

0800 056 4110

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Tom Fletcher
Tom Fletcher Partner Meet The Team

Physical & Sexual Abuse Claims - More Information

We do take abuse claims on a no win no fee basis. This means, should your claim be unsuccessful, you won’t have to pay anything. You’ll have to sign up for an insurance policy, at no added cost, to protect you if your claim is unsuccessful.

Abuse can be inflicted in several ways. Forms of abuse include:

  • Sexual abuse – a person makes sexual contact with you without your consent
  • Physical abuse – a person inflicts physical pain on you (kicking, hitting, punching, or biting)
  • Emotional abuse – a person inflicts psychological pain on you (harassment, threats of violence, image-based abuse.)

Incidents of abuse could be one-off or multiple. It could affect one person, or it could affect multiple people.

The patterns of abuse vary and include:

  • Serial abuse – an individual seeks out and grooms an individual or individuals. This is often sexual abuse.
  • Long-term abuse – this is ongoing abuse, such as abuse of a family member or those someone cares for.

If you're a survivor of physical or sexual abuse, then you could claim compensation from those responsible.

If you're the parent or guardian of a child who has been abused, then you could make a claim on their behalf. 

You could also make a claim on behalf of a parent or older relative in cases of elder abuse.

You can also claim on behalf of a loved one who has died because of abuse, or who lacks the mental capacity to make their own legal decisions. 

As technology has developed, the type of abuse claims we've handled has grown to include the use or online messaging services, explicit pornographic imagery, and Artificial Intelligence. We take these cases just as seriously as any other. 

It doesn't matter who the abuser was – if someone has taken advantage of their position of trust or authority, or if an organisation responsible for your safety has failed to adequately provide protection, then a claim could be made.

For example, it might not seem like it's possible to claim when abuse was from a family member, but we may be able to prove that a local authority or social services failed to recognise that abuse was being committed and didn't do enough to protect you.

When you first contact us, we’ll set up a free initial consultation in a comfortable and confidential environment where you can discuss what’s happened to you. We’ll advise you whether you can make a claim, and we’ll also discuss funding options with you.

Next, we’ll start gathering evidence. The evidence we gather will depend on what’s happened to you, but it could include medical records or witness statements. We can also use independent medical experts to assess how the abuse will affect your life.

We’ll take your claim to the individual or organisation responsible. If they accept fault, we’ll try to get you interim payments that can help pay for specialist support. Any interim payments will be taken from your final compensation amount.

The normal time limit is three years from the date of abuse to make a claim. However, if you or your loved one were under 18, the three-year time limit will start when they’re 18.

However, the difficulties of abuse survivors are fully understood by the courts. This means it’s possible to waive the time limit for an abuse claim. The decision is made on a case-by-case basis, and the court will consider:

  • The reasons for not bringing a claim within the time limit
  • The fairness to both the claimant and defendant if the time limit is waived
  • Whether it’s possible to still have a fair trial.

We’re able to help with overcoming this time limit hurdle as part of your abuse claim.

Every abuse claim is unique. This means we can’t give you an estimation of how much compensation you could get without knowing more about what happened.

The amount of compensation you could claim is based on:

  • The types of injuries you’ve sustained
  • Care and specialist treatment you might need now and in the future
  • Loss of earnings in the past, now and in the future
  • Court of Protection fees (if you lack the mental capacity to deal with your financial affairs).

With every abuse claim being different, there’s no set timeframe.

When you contact us and tell our experts about your situation, we’ll be able to offer more guidance on how long your claim will take.

Peter

Seeing him suffer because of everything that happened was heartbreaking. He was a decent man that was damaged beyond repair due to what happened to him as a child. We all remain devastated that he is no longer here and if he was he could now receive the care he needed to try and come to terms with what happened.”

Client's sister

Client Story - Lambeth Council Child Abuse Scandal Survivor


One of the country’s worst cases of systemic child abuse took place at various children’s homes under Lambeth Council from the 1950s until 1983. Lambeth Council admitted it had failed to protect the children under their care and set up the ‘Redress scheme’. This scheme helps survivors to claim compensation for what happened to them.

Some of the survivors instructed our specialist abuse lawyers to submit their cases under the Redress Scheme to help them overcome their trauma as best they can.

One of the male survivors we worked with lived under the care of Lambeth Council for years. He was sexually abused over a four year period while at the Shirley Oaks in the 1970s.

After leaving school he joined the military and had a successful career which helped him manage his trauma, giving him structure and purpose to his life.

Unfortunately, after many years of service, he was medically discharged. He struggled without a routine and sadly died several years ago.

After contacting Irwin Mitchell, we got the man’s family a settlement of £125,000 to cope with their loss.

 “It’s vital that survivors of abuse don’t suffer in silence. We hope survivors will be comforted by the knowledge that the local authority will treat their complaints with the utmost sensitivity and seriousness.” – Peter Lorence, Associate Solicitor

“An endless thank you to the team at Irwin Mitchell. You brought us justice. You went above and beyond for Paul and I. Thank you for taking our story to heart and fighting for us ceaselessly.” - Deborah

Peter Lorence

“The prolonged level of physical, sexual and emotional abuse which Paul and Deborah suffered was truly shocking... As a legal team, we were pleased to secure the maximum award under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority’s scheme.” – Peter Lorence, Associate Solicitor

Read More Client Stories

Frequently Asked Questions

Who might abuse someone?

Abuse can happen in any relationship. An abuser could be a:

  • Family member
  • Friend
  • Carer
  • Staff member
  • Professional worker (such as a nurse, paramedic, police officer)
  • Stranger
  • Volunteer.

Where could abuse happen?

Abuse could happen anywhere. Examples of where abuse can happen include:

  • A person’s own home, whether living alone, with relatives, or others
  • Day or residential centres
  • Hospitals
  • Supported housing
  • Work settings
  • Schools and other educational establishments
  • Care homes
  • Clinics
  • Prisons
  • Other places in the community.

Can I be abused online?

As technology has developed, the ways to abuse someone have also changed. You could be abused on:

  • A mobile phone
  • An internet chat room
  • A social network

The abuse may also be committed using Artificial Intelligence.

Where does physical and sexual abuse occur?

Tragically, there are many circumstances in which physical and sexual abuse can occur, with abusers and paedophiles often using a position of trust or authority to take advantage of or cause harm to vulnerable people.

We’ve experience helping survivors claim compensation in a wide range of physical and sexual abuse claims, including cases against:

  • Individual abusers, including health professionals and family members
  • Schools
  • The Scouts Association
  • Religious organisations
  • Charitable organisations
  • Youth clubs
  • Sports teams
  • Hospitals
  • Care and nursing homes
  • Children's homes.

However, making a claim isn't limited to just these examples, and if you've experienced physical or sexual abuse of any kind then you still may be able to claim. It's not always a case of claiming against the person who committed the abuse, or the organisation they worked for – it could be that we can prove another organisation, such as social services, failed in their duty to protect you from someone else.

Read More FAQs

Related Information - Physical & Sexual Abuse Claims

Protecting Your Rights - How our Public Law & Human Rights solicitors can help you
Child Abuse Claims FAQ - our lawyers answer the common questions people have before making a claim
Criminal Injury Compensation Authority - Find out about how CICA can help you
Support and Rehabilitation Coordinators - Our dedicated team can help you access specialist support

Scottish Flag All Scottish cases will be handled by the Scottish law firm with which we are associated, Irwin Mitchell Scotland LLP. The law relating to funding is different in Scotland and you will receive separate advice about what that means as well as a separate funding agreement.

 

About Irwin Mitchell

Founded in Sheffield in 1912, Irwin Mitchell has always been a bit different. Our advisers really get to know the people and business that we help.

We have offices around the UK so wherever you are, our experts can help.

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