Victims' Compensation Program
The New Hampshire Victims' Compensation Program provides financial assistance to crime victims. Help is available for victims and their families who are injured or threatened with injury as a result of an eligible misdemeanor or felony crime.
The Office of the Attorney General is designated to administer the victim assistance fund, which consists of monies collected through penalty assessment on criminal fines, restitution and by the federal Victims of Crime grant and the federal Violence Against Women Act.
The Victims' Compensation Commission consists of five dedicated individuals who are nominated by the Attorney General and confirmed by the Governor and Council. The Commission members volunteer their time and meet once a month to review and award eligible claims. Currently, the Commission consists of an attorney, a sexual assault nurse examiner who is also an ER nurse, a licensed mental health professional, a crime survivor, and a chief of police. Together, with three staff members from the Attorney General's Office, applications are processed and reviewed, claims are awarded or denied, and payments are made to victims.
The New Hampshire Victims' Compensation Program can provide reimbursement assistance to victims and their families for crime-related expenses; and, while no amount of money can erase the trauma and grief victims suffer, this aid can be crucial in the aftermath of crime. By paying for care that helps restore victims' physical and mental health, and by replacing lost income for victims who were employed at the time of the crime and missed work due to the crime, the compensation program is helping victims and their families in a direct way.
Related Resources
How Long Will It Take?
Once the program receives your application, you will be contacted by mail or email within 2 weeks. Program staff will contact the law enforcement agency where you reported the crime, and request the police reports. Once law enforcement or prosecution provides this office with the requested reports, we will submit your claim to the Commission for review and decision.
It may take several months or longer to determine if you can be helped by the program. You can help speed up the process by responding as soon as possible to requests for additional information/documentation.
What Costs May Be Paid?
The program can help with the following types of crime-related losses, which are not covered by insurance or other resources, in an amount not to exceed a total of $40,000.00 per primary victim:
- Medical and dental care;
- Mental health counseling (up to $4,000 or 40 visits, whichever comes first);
- Lost wages;
- Loss of support for the dependents of homicide victims;
- Funeral, burial and grave marker costs for homicide victims (up to the cap of $7,000 for funeral and grave marker and $3,000 for burial costs);
- Relocation expenses (Need to meet with Crisis Center Advocate)
- 10 days of temporary emergency funds (Need to meet with Crisis Center Advocate)
- Replacement of window and door locks;
- Installation and one-year of monitoring for security systems (up to the cap of $3,000);
The program does not have authority to award money for property loss or pain and suffering.
It is important to note that hospitals and medical providers may not bill a victim or their family for a forensic sexual assault examination. The cost for this type of exam should be direct billed to the Victims' Compensation Program by the health care provider, IF the victim does not have insurance or opts not to use their insurance.
How To Contact Our Office
New Hampshire Victims' Compensation Program
Department of Justice
1 Granite Place South
Concord, NH 03301
Telephone: (603) 271-1284
Fax: (603)-271-1255
Toll Free: 1-800-300-4500 (in NH only)
TDD Access Relay NH 1-800-735-2964
Email: victimcomp@doj.nh.gov
Who May Be Eligible?
- Any person who sustains physical and/or mental injuries in a felony or misdemeanor crime, which occurred in New Hampshire.
- Any person who sustains personal injury in New Hampshire because of another person’s driving under the influence of alcohol or controlled substances, so long as the injured party was unaware that the driver was impaired
- Immediate family members of a misdemeanor or felony crime victim.
- Any New Hampshire resident who sustains physical and/or mental injuries in a felony or misdemeanor crime which occurred outside of the United States in a country that does not have a compensation program may also be eligible.
What Must I Do To Get Help?
- You must report the crime to local law enforcement, unless there is a reasonable explanation why you did not.
- You must file an application with the commission within 2 years from the date of the crime, unless there is a reasonable explanation why you could not.
- You must cooperate with the reasonable requests of law enforcement officers and prosecutors in their investigation or prosecution of the crime, unless there is a reasonable explanation why you could not.
- You must incur at least $100.00 in out-of-pocket loss or liability as a direct result of the crime.
- You must not have in any substantial way contributed to the injury or death.
- You must not have been assisting in or committing a criminal act causing your injuries.