Man sues victims’ charity over failure to inform him of remedy

Victim D’s mother was jailed for five years in 2011 for subjecting her son to abuse in the 1970s and 1980s.

But Victim D is now suing Victim Support Scotland (VSS) , the charity that helped him obtain £17,500 in compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA), for failing to tell him he could also claim for loss of earnings.

Victim D realised he had missed the opportunity to claim for loss of earnings after one his brothers, who was also abused by their mother, was awarded a significantly higher amount, in recognition of his loss of earnings.

As a result, Victim D, lodged a claim in negligence for £100,000 against VSS.

In a written judgment earlier this month, Sheriff Braid at Edinburgh Sheriff Court said: “I therefore find that in the exercise of their general duty of skill and care, the defender had specific duties to tell the pursuer that he may be entitled to a sum for loss of earnings; to assess whether he was eligible to claim a sum for past or future loss of earnings, by exploring the issue of wage loss further with him; and to explore with him whether in June 2013 he should apply to CICA for a review of the award. To that extent, I have found the pursuer’s averments of duty to be proved.”

Victim D said: “Victim Support Scotland has a good reputation for helping victims but it really let me down with something I thought it was capable of doing.

“I also found it shocking to hear the charity argue it had no duty of care to victims when it took on their CICA cases.

“I applaud the charity for what it gets right for the thousands of people it helps every year, but it doesn’t change the fact its mistake with my case has prevented me from being able to secure the entitled means to get my life back on track.”

A spokesman from Digby Brown, Victim D’s lawyers, added: “Victim Support Scotland is a support group that offers lots of services for lots of people. However we believed if it accepted instructions to represent the client then it did owe him a duty of care to get it right.”

Kate Wallace, chief executive of Victim Support Scotland, said: “As the court process is ongoing it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.

“As a national charity our remit is to provide emotional and practical support to people who have been affected by crime across Scotland. We have been doing this successfully for the last 30 years and it is our priority to provide the highest possible quality of service.”