Stormont compensation: Car crash victim 'helpless' over delay

The car crash in 2015 left Anastassiya Kravtsova paralysed

A car crash victim has said she feels helpless because of a Stormont delay over compensation claims.

Anastassiya Kravtsova was left paralysed by the crash in 2015 but is yet to receive compensation.

Stormont has failed to set a new compensation rate since 2017, causing delays to claims.

Justice Minister Naomi Long, who is responsible for setting the rate, has delegated responsibility for changes to a civil servant.

Mrs Long had declared a conflict of interest in relation to the legislation because of her husband's membership of a medical defence union.

Lawyers have warned victims may not receive any compensation until autumn 2022.

Cash

Anastassiya Kravtsova was paralysed after a car crash when she was 16.

The vehicle was being driven by her then-boyfriend Beres Szabolcs, who was found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm by careless driving and given an eight-month prison sentence, as well as a five-year driving ban.

She told the Nolan Show the delay in compensation has affected her ability to get on with her life.

"It makes me angry and it makes me so helpless and depressed because I could be doing so much in my life.

"My life is on hold. I cannot live a normal life. I struggle every day in the situation that I am living in at the moment. All I can hope and pray for is a quick decision on the rate."

Anastassiya said the compensation would help with medical treatment and equipment.

'Well-established legal principle'

Compensation rates in Northern Ireland are currently lower than in the rest of the UK. The Department of Justice has proposed a bill to change the payments made to claimants.

The department said the minister is hopeful that new legislation would be in place by no later than summer 2021 and that it would require a rate to be set within three months.

Justice Minister Naomi Long's declared conflict of interest means she has delegated key policy decisions to the justice department's permanent secretary.

The Department of Justice said it was not aware of any precedent for a minister delegating a bill to a civil servant but added it was a "well-established legal principle that 'no one should be a judge in their own cause', which was the position the minister could have found herself in, given her husband's financial interest in the issue".

'A cruel decision'

The chairman of the Bar Council in NI, Bernard Brady QC, has written to Stormont's Justice Committee asking for an interim rate to be set before the law is changed.

"The situation has been having a negative impact on access to justice in serious personal injury cases for over three years," he said.

He also raised concerns that the bill may not receive Royal Assent until autumn 2021, with possibly another year before a rate is set.

However, the Department of Justice said if it were to set a rate under the existing law, "we do not believe that this would end the uncertainty, but rather settlements would continue to be deferred until a more permanent rate was set under the new legislation".

DUP MLA Paul Givan, who chairs Stormont's Justice Committee, said Anastassiya and her family have faced life-changing circumstances with "tremendous courage and dignity".

"When government authorities should have been doing everything possible to help they have been let down.

"The actions of the Department of Justice in addressing the personal injury duty rate is a cruel decision that has caused further distress.

"The delegation of authority by the minister to set policy in this area to the permanent secretary also raises serious questions for democratic accountability and oversight."