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This content was last updated on 11/17/2023

What is the Kentucky Crime Victims Compensation Fund?

The Kentucky Crime Victims Compensation Fund helps victims of crime who suffer physical or mental injury or death because of the crime. NOTE: injuries from an automobile accident are not eligible unless it can be shown that the driver who caused the accident did it on purpose or broke DUI laws.

What are the conditions needed to be able to apply to the Kentucky Crime Victims Compensation Fund?

1. The person applying is called the claimant. If you are the claimant, you have to be:

  • an innocent victim of some type of action that could be charged as a crime. There doesn’t have to be a conviction;
  • a surviving spouse, parent or child of an innocent victim who died as a direct result of the crime; OR
  • a third party who has to pay for the victim’s crime-related bills and doesn’t have any other way to pay.

2. The incident has to be reported to law enforcement within 48 hours. If it’s not, you have to give a good reason why that deadline was missed.

3. You have to cooperate with law enforcement and the prosecution. You have to tell the truth and agree to testify. Note: you don’t have to agree to testify in cases of domestic violence and sexual assault.

4. You have to be able to show them a valid U.S. social security number. It doesn’t have to be a social security card, but it has to be an ID issued by a U.S.government agency.

What kinds of costs are covered by the Kentucky Crime Victims Compensation Fund?
  • Medical
  • Dental
  • Funeral or burial
  • Mental health counseling (up to 2 years)
  • Eyeglasses or corrective lenses
  • Lost wages (up to $150 per week) NOTE: you have to show you had a job when the incident happened and prove that you lost wages because of it.
  • Loss of financial support resulting from the crime (up to $150 per week)
What type of costs are NOT covered by the fund?
  • Property damage or loss
  • Costs that have to do with court proceedings, like gas, parking, mileage, lodging, etc.
  • Household living costs, like rent or mortgage payments, car payments, utility bills, etc.
  • Relocation or moving costs
  • Pain and suffering or emotional distress
What if I already got payment for some of the covered costs. Can I get compensated again?
  • No. The Kentucky Crime Victims Compensation Board lowers the amount of the award by amounts you already got or are going to get from other sources, like insurance, settlement of a lawsuit, Medicaid/Medicare, Worker’s Comp, Social Security, and/or restitution.
What information do I need to file a claim?
  • A completed Crime Victim Compensation Form. Make sure you include all the information it asks for.
  • A police report from the incident.
  • A bill for each thing you want covered. The bills have to list all details of the service, who it was for, and who supplied it. Make sure you have itemized invoices for:
    • medical/dental costs
    • funeral/burial costs: also, a copy of the life insurance policy in effect at the time of the victim’s death (if they had life insurance)
    • mental health counseling costs: also, a treatment plan from the mental health professional who is treating you, and a completed Mental Health Counselor Report. This form comes with the claim form.
    • glasses or corrective lenses
    • lost wages: if you lost wages because of a physical injury, you have to fill out and have notarized an Employment Verification Form and Physician’s Statement. Both these forms come with the claim form. If you lost wages because of psychological trauma from the crime, you need a treatment plan from the mental health professional who is treating you, and a completed Mental Health Counselor Report. This form comes with the claim form.
    • loss of financial support: fill out and have notarized an Employment Verification Form. This form comes with the claim form. Note: If you were self-employed, you need to show them 2 years’ worth of state and federal tax returns.
How does the claim process work?
  • Download the Crime Victim Compensation Form or contact the Kentucky Crime Victims Compensation Board Office at 502-782-8255.
  • Fill out the form completely and send it to the address on the form.
  • After you send your form in, the Board will review it to make sure the information they need is all there. Note: if they feel your claim is not complete, they ask you to send them what’s missing, like more information or copies of documents.
  • Your claim is assigned to staff for review, information gathering and fact checking.
  • After the staff review, the claim is then sent to a Board member to look into. The Board member tells the full board if they think you should be given help or denied.
  • The Board tells you its final decision and mails you a copy of the final order.
  • If you don’t agree with the final order, you have 15 days from the date the order was mailed to you to appeal. You do this by filing a petition asking for a court review. You need to file in the county where the claim happened or in Franklin Circuit Court.
If I am awarded payment, how does the payment process work?

If your claim is awarded by the Board, the Clerk gets payment information from you and sends it to the Kentucky Finance Cabinet. They issue checks and send them to the Clerk. The Clerk enters the payments into the database and mails the check to you.

Is there a limit to how much compensation I can receive?

Yes. The maximum award per victim can’t be more than $25,000.

The maximum amount to be considered for funeral/burial costs can’t be more than $5,000. That amount is part of the $25,000 limit. The Kentucky Crime Victims Compensation Board can decide about other bills after the first claim is filed. This includes emergency payments of up to $500. Emergency awards are subtracted from the $25,000 limit

 

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