Crime Victim Compensation Program

Application for Crime
Victim Compensation

Release of Information& Repayment Agreements

CRIME VICTIM COMPENSATION QUICK FAQS

1. You do not need a lawyer to apply for the Crime Victim Compensation Program.
2. The program pays certain out-of-pocket expenses related to an eligible victim's injury from crime in Iowa.
3. Funds for the program come entirely from fines and penalties paid by convicted criminals, not tax dollars.
4. The program is the payer-of-last-resort after insurance, other government programs, and other sources.
5. Eligibility determination may take eight weeks.
6. For eligible crime victims, the program will pay benefits after all required verification is received.
7. The program does not cover property crime, property loss, legal fees, phone bills, meals, or pain and suffering.
8. Restitution from the offender is collected by the program only after any restitution owed to the victim is paid.
9. Restitution is not collected from an offender if the collection might cause danger or hardship to the victim.

WHO CAN RECEIVE CRIME VICTIM COMPENSATION?

• A victim who has been physically or emotionally injured by a violent crime committed in Iowa.
• The survivor(s) of a homicide victim.
• A victim injured in the following car or boat crimes:
  1. Driving intoxicated (OWI),
  2. Hit and run driving,
  3. Reckless driving,
  4. Vehicular homicide, or
  5. Use of a vehicle as a weapon.
• Secondary victims, which include a victim's spouse, child, parent, sibling, and a person who lived in the victim's household at the time of the crime.
• Iowans injured by violent crime in a state or a nation that does not have a crime victim compensation program.
• A person, regardless of income or resources, injured by a compensable crime in Iowa, who has certain out-of-pocket expenses related to the crime.

TO APPLY FOR CRIME VICTIM COMPENSATION...

1. Complete the Application attached to this brochure;
2. Sign the Repayment and Subrogation Agreement;
3. Sign the Medical & Mental Health Information Releases;
4. Send the forms to the Program.
    

WHAT ARE THE PROGRAM ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS?

• A report to law enforcement must be made within 72-hours of crime or the discovery of the crime. This requirement may be waived for good cause.
• An application must be filed within two years of the crime date or the date the crime was discovered. This requirement may be waived for good cause.
• The victim must cooperate with the reasonable requests of law enforcement officers and prosecutors in the investigation and prosecution of the crime.
• A victim must not have been committing or attempting to commit a crime that caused their injuries.
• A victim must not have consented to, provoked, or incited the crime that caused their injuries.

CRIME VICTIM COMPENSATION BENEFITS

Benefits may be compensated to crime victims up to the following maximum amounts:

LOST WAGES:
Lost wages due to a victim's crime related injury* $6,000
Lost wages of a homicide victim's survivor * $6,000
Lost wages for medical or counseling appointments $1,000
Lost wages to attend justice system proceedings $1,000

COUNSELING:
Counseling for a victim or homicide victim survivor $5,000
Counseling for a secondary crime victim $2,000

MEDICAL:
Medical care for a crime victim $25,000
Medical care for a homicide victim's survivor $3,000

OTHER:
Funeral and Burial of a homicide victim $7,500
Victim's residential crime scene clean up $1,000
Crime related child or dependent adult care $1,000
Crime related travel $1,000
Replace cloths or bedding held as evidence $200
Replace home security items $500

Compensation paid for more than two weeks of a crime victim's lost wages requires a disability statement.

The disability statement must be completed and signed by a physician or licensed mental health practitioner who provided continued care for the victim.