Compensation is only available if an offence can be proved beyond reasonable doubt. If the offender was successfully prosecuted, there will be no difficulty in proving the offence.

It can happen that no offender is caught, or that someone is charged but the prosecution does not go ahead, or it goes ahead but fails. In those cases, a claim can still succeed if there is enough evidence that the victim’s injuries resulted from a crime. Independent evidence corroborating the crime may be needed. This can take many forms and is not limited to eyewitness evidence.

For some cases where the offence cannot be proved, a grace payment may be available, see later.