July 7 victims ‘forgotten by unwieldy system’

MORE than 120 victims injured in the July 7 bombings are still waiting for full compensation two years on from the attacks, it emerged last night.

The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) has not yet resolved a fifth of claims made in relation to the attacks in London in 2005 which killed 52 and injured thousands.

A spokesman conceded 126 of 614 cases are still outstanding, amid claims survivors had been forgotten and were struggling to deal with an unwieldy compensation system.

On the eve of the bombings’ second anniversary lawyer Thelma Stober, who lost her leg in the explosion on the Circle Line train at Aldgate, said: “We are the forgotten people.”

The 35-year-old has received £33,000 (€48,000) — the maximum value for the loss of a limb below the knee — but is still trying to get compensation for the rest of her injuries.

She said: “I have got to the stage where even though I am a lawyer and I am used to dealing with large documentation and complicated forms I am so fed up with it.”

CICA dismissed the idea it had been waiting on cases for two years as “very misleading” and said applications were even now still coming in.

A spokesman said: “There are 126 out of 614 outstanding according to the latest figures we have but we are still receiving applications.

“To give the impression that the CICA has been waiting on cases for two years is very misleading.”

He added that the outstanding cases were the most serious ones which involved complicated loss of earnings calculations and working out how much future care will be necessary.

He conceded there was a “certain inevitability” about some of the delays but said the authority was always looking how to make the process as easy as possible.

It has given out £4.2 million in total since July 7 and £1.2m in the past year alone which has seen it resolve 91 cases, he added.

July 7 campaigner Rachel North, who survived the Russell Square Piccadilly Line bombing, wants the system improved for all victims seeking compensation.

She said: ““I hope that by raising this issue, people who have the power to make things easier for victims of crime might look at how they can make it more supportive.”

People struck by disaster were being asked to fill out complex application forms at a hugely challenging time for them and needed more support, she argued.

She said: “It is a very weighty and difficult way of working because people have to prove that they are a victim repeatedly and endlessly. It is very upsetting for them because people want to get closure.”