CICA unspent convictions checker: will a criminal record affect your claim?
Last updated · By Mustafa Bilgic · Rules from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012, Annex D, and the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974
This page explains the Annex D rules, the rehabilitation periods that decide whether a conviction is spent in England and Wales and in Scotland, and how CICA treats convictions you receive after applying. The checker works out when one conviction becomes spent and what that means for your application.
What Annex D says
Paragraph 26 of the Scheme says Annex D sets out when an award will be withheld or reduced because the applicant has unspent convictions. Annex D uses the meaning of conviction and sentence in the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, and whether a conviction is spent is decided under that Act.
| Your conviction | Effect on a CICA award | Annex D |
|---|---|---|
| Spent on the date you apply | Ignored | Paragraph 2 |
| Unspent, with a custodial sentence (including a suspended sentence), a community order, a youth rehabilitation order, service detention, removal from His Majesty's service, a sentence excluded from rehabilitation, or an equivalent sentence from Northern Ireland or abroad | No award can be made | Paragraph 3 |
| Unspent, with any other sentence, such as a fine, a conditional discharge or a compensation order | The award is withheld or reduced unless there are exceptional reasons | Paragraph 4 |
| A road traffic conviction dealt with only by an endorsement, penalty points or a fine under Schedule 2 to the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 | Ignored | Paragraph 5 |
| A conviction after you apply but before the final decision that is not immediately spent | Treated in the same way | Paragraph 7 |
CICA's guidance for claims officers adds that custodial sentences include suspended sentences even where no time has been spent in prison, but not a sentence of detention in a courthouse for one day, and that claims officers have no discretion over the sentences in paragraph 3.
CICA unspent convictions checker
One conviction at a time, England and Wales or Scotland
CICA uses the rules of the place where the incident you are claiming for happened.
Which rules decide if a conviction is spent
CICA's guide says the time it takes for a conviction to become spent differs between Scotland and the rest of Great Britain, and that CICA applies the legislation for the place where the incident relating to the claim took place. If you were injured in England or Wales, the guide says CICA applies the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 as amended by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012; if you were injured in Scotland, the same Act as amended by the Management of Offenders (Scotland) Act 2019.
For England and Wales, the periods were changed again by the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 from 28 October 2023, and the new periods also apply to convictions from before that date. The table and the checker use these current periods. Once a conviction is spent, it stays spent.
| Sentence | Aged 18 or over when convicted | Under 18 when convicted |
|---|---|---|
| Custodial sentence of 1 year or less (including suspended) | 12 months after the sentence, including licence, ends | 6 months after it ends |
| Custodial sentence of more than 1 year and up to 4 years | 4 years after it ends | 2 years after it ends |
| Custodial sentence of more than 4 years, not for a Schedule 18 offence | 7 years after it ends | 42 months after it ends |
| Life, public protection and extended sentences, or over 4 years for a serious violent, sexual or terrorist offence | Never spent | Never spent |
| Community order or youth rehabilitation order | The last day of the order (24 months from conviction if no end date) | The same |
| Fine | 12 months from conviction | 6 months from conviction |
| Compensation order | When paid in full | When paid in full |
| Conditional discharge, bind over, referral order, hospital order and other relevant orders | The last day of the order (24 months if no end date is given) | The same |
| Absolute discharge | Spent straight away | Spent straight away |
| Road traffic endorsement | 5 years from conviction | 2 years 6 months from conviction |
The Disclosure and Barring Service guidance says a suspended sentence is treated the same as a custodial sentence, and that it is the length of the sentence imposed, not the period it is suspended for, that decides when it becomes spent. In its examples, a 3 month suspended sentence given on 1 February 2016 became spent on 1 May 2017, and a fine given on 1 February 2017 became spent on 1 February 2018. The checker reproduces these examples.
If you are convicted again before an earlier conviction is spent, neither conviction becomes spent until both rehabilitation periods are over, except that relevant orders are not used to extend other convictions. The checker looks at one conviction at a time, so check each one and use the latest date.
Disclosure periods in Scotland
In Scotland the Act uses disclosure periods, counted from the date of conviction. Since 1 April 2025 there is no disclosure period for a sentence imposed for an offence committed when the person was under 18, unless it is an excluded sentence or a custodial sentence of more than 12 months for one of the sexual offences listed in the Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020.
| Sentence | Aged 18 or over | Offence committed under 18 |
|---|---|---|
| Custodial sentence of 12 months or less | The term plus 2 years | None |
| Custodial sentence over 12 months and up to 30 months | The term plus 4 years | None, or the term plus 2 years for a listed sexual offence |
| Custodial sentence over 30 months and up to 48 months | The term plus 6 years | None, or the term plus 3 years for a listed sexual offence |
| Custodial sentence over 48 months, life and other excluded sentences | Never spent | Never spent |
| Fine or compensation order | 12 months | None |
| Community payback order, drug treatment and testing order or restriction of liberty order | The longer of 1 year or until the order ends | None |
| Road traffic endorsement | 5 years | None |
| Absolute discharge or admonition | None | None |
| Any other sentence without its own rule | 12 months | None |
How CICA reduces an award
For convictions under paragraph 4, CICA's guide says it considers all the circumstances and uses a points system for consistency: the more recent the conviction and the more serious the sentence, the more points it attracts. It is not bound by the points and may make a greater or lesser reduction. The points system is not published, so the checker tells you whether a reduction applies but not its size.
CICA's guidance for claims officers lists issues to consider when deciding whether there are exceptional reasons not to reduce or withhold an award, including whether you were injured trying to uphold the law or protect another person, whether you helped the police with a serious crime, whether the offending formed part of the abuse, whether the convictions are directly attributable to childhood abuse or to a brain injury, and whether the offending was linked to having been trafficked.
Convictions after you apply
Annex D also applies to a conviction you receive after the date of your application but before CICA's final decision, unless it is spent straight away. CICA's guide asks you to tell it immediately if you are convicted while your claim is being considered.
Character and fatal claims
Apart from unspent convictions, paragraph 27 lets CICA withhold or reduce an award because of your character, and the guide mentions evidence of involvement in illegal drugs, crime, tax evasion and benefit fraud. In a claim after a death, paragraph 28 allows a reduction for the character of the person who died only for exceptional reasons.
Waiting until a conviction is spent
If a conviction will soon be spent, applying after that date means Annex D will not apply to it. But paragraph 87 of the Scheme says an application must be received as soon as reasonably practicable and in any event within two years of the incident, with different rules for people who were under 18 at the time, and a claims officer can extend the limit only in limited cases. See our guide to claim time limits and the CICA tariff of injuries for the amounts.
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland has a separate scheme, run by Compensation Services, and nidirect says Compensation Services can reduce or completely refuse compensation because of your criminal record. See our page on the Northern Ireland criminal injuries compensation tariff.
Sources and methodology
The checker applies section 5 of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 for England and Wales, including the Disclosure and Barring Service's reading that a custodial sentence ends at the conviction date plus the length imposed unless you enter a different end date, and sections 5, 5A, 5D and 5J for Scotland. A period of months beginning with a day ends the day before the same date in the later month, so the conviction is spent on that date. It then applies Annex D paragraphs 2 to 5 and 7 on the application date you enter.
- Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012 (amended), paragraphs 26 to 28 and 87 and Annex D, on GOV.UK.
- Criminal injuries compensation: a guide and CICA scheme guidance, Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority, on GOV.UK.
- Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, section 5 (England and Wales) and sections 5 to 5J (Scotland), on legislation.gov.uk; Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, section 193.
- Rehabilitation Periods, Disclosure and Barring Service, and Guidance on the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, Ministry of Justice, on GOV.UK.
Frequently asked questions
Can I claim criminal injuries compensation with a criminal record?
Yes, if your convictions are spent on the date you apply: spent convictions are ignored. An unspent conviction with a custodial sentence, a community order or a youth rehabilitation order means no award can be made, and other unspent convictions lead to a reduced or withheld award unless there are exceptional reasons.
Does a suspended sentence stop a CICA claim?
While it is unspent, yes. CICA treats a suspended sentence as a custodial sentence, so paragraph 3 of Annex D applies. In England and Wales a suspended sentence of 1 year or less is spent 12 months after the end of the sentence length imposed.
When is a conviction spent for CICA?
CICA uses the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 for the place where the incident happened. In England and Wales, for example, an adult's fine is spent 12 months after conviction; in Scotland, a custodial sentence of 12 months or less is spent after the term plus 2 years.
Does a speeding fine affect a CICA claim?
No. Annex D paragraph 5 says a road traffic conviction dealt with only by an endorsement, penalty points or a fine under Schedule 2 to the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 does not reduce an award.
How much will CICA reduce my award for a conviction?
CICA uses an internal points system based on how recent and how serious the conviction is, and it is not bound by it. The points are not published, so only CICA can say how large a reduction will be.
What if I am convicted after applying to CICA?
Annex D applies to a conviction received after the application but before the final decision, unless it is spent straight away. CICA asks you to tell it immediately.