The Danish state awards compensation for personal injury inflicted by violation of the Criminal Code (straffeloven) or The Act on Restraining, Exclusion Orders and Expulsion (lov om tilhold, opholdsforbud og bortvisning).
The Danish state does not pay compensation for any injury inflicted by violation of the Road Traffic Act (færdselsloven), police regulations or other special acts.
Some of the conditions for being eligible for compensation are:
- that the crime was reported to the police within 72 hours,
- that you have claimed compensation from the offender if the case has been to court, and
- that an application for compensation was sent to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board within two years of the offence (the time limit is counted from the date the sentence becamefinal or the date of the decision by the police to discontinue the investigation)
You may get compensation, inter alia, for:
- treatment expenses
- pain and suffering (days of sickness)
- loss of earnings
- permanent injury
- loss of earning capacity
- clothing, other personal belongings and small amounts of cash that you were carrying whenthe injury was inflicted
- compensation for loss of dependency and similar loss
- compensation for injury to feelings or reputation (usually only for sexual offences)
- infringement compensation (usually requires, inter alia, that the offence carries a sentence ofone year or more)
No compensation is awarded where the injury or damage is compensated by the offender or coveredby insurance benefits or other benefits in the nature of genuine damages.
Compensation for pain and suffering
May be awarded for each day of sickness suffered bythe victim as a result of the injury. Thus, you may also be awarded compensation for pain andsuffering even if you are, for example, unemployed, a pensioner or a student.
Compensation for loss of earnings
Is the difference between your normal pay and sick pay/sickness benefits. You can ease the processing of your application by enclosing the following withyour application form:
- a statement from your employer, confirming the amount claimed andthe calculation of your claim;
- copies of your payslips the last three months prior to the injury;
- provide information on the date of your employment; and
- provide documentation of the amounts received in sick pay/sickness benefits from your employer and/or your local authority.
If you are not eligible for sickness benefits from your local authority, please enclose the rejection ofyour claim for sickness benefits from your local authority. Please note that self-employed personsare also eligible for sickness benefits from their local authority.