London bomb victim compensation branded ‘a pittance’

Victims’ groups have branded the £11,000 compensation offer to the families of those killed in the London bombings a “pittance”.

The families of the 52 people killed in the July 7 suicide bomb attacks will be eligible for basic compensation of £11,000 from the government-funded Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.

If more than one family member applies for compensation, they will receive only £5,500 each, as well as “reasonable” extra payments to cover funeral costs.

Dependent children are entitled to £2,000 per year until the age of 18, under the scheme.

Survivors who have been left severely debilitated by the attacks are eligible for a maximum payout of £500,000, as well as claims for loss of earnings and care costs.

However, the strict guidelines of the scheme mean that the families of the deceased will receive payments that are only a fraction of the maximum payouts.

The compensation figures have been unfavourably compared to the amount received by the families of the September 11 attacks – around $2 million (£1.13 million) each.

The Home Office said that the compensation scheme, which pays out more than £200 million a year to victims of crime, is one of the most generous in the world. The CICA also said that the bereavement payments should be regarded as a “token of public sympathy”.

A spokesperson for the Victims of Crime Trust said: “Families should be given probably 100 times as much because, let’s face it, they have to live with this tragedy for the entirety of their lives. It has to be more than £11,000.

“This is only supposed to be a token, but it should be more than a token. Murder destroys far more than just the victim’s life, it destroys the lives of families and communities and it’s about time the government raised its level of payments to victims’ families.”

(KMcA/GB)