You should provide one of the following documents based on your circumstances:

When a claimant who has filed a personal injury claim dies, the VCF will stop processing the claim and/or payment of that claim until a Personal Representative of the deceased claimant (“decedent”) is appointed and validated by the VCF.  This protects the decedent’s personal information and ensures details about the claim are shared only with those who are authorized to access the information. 

There are many different types of documents that can be used to demonstrate presence at an eligible location.  Review our How to Prove Presence  page for details about proving your presence. From this page, you can access our Interactive Presence Guide which will ask you questions to determine the types of documents that will best support your presence based on your specific circumstances.

No, you do not need an attorney to file a VCF claim, and there is no priority given to claims submitted by an attorney over those without an attorney.  We evaluate all claims following the same guidelines and calculate all awards using the same methodology, regardless of whether an attorney is assisting with the claim.

To add, change, or remove the attorney on your claim, follow the instructions on the Change of Attorney Form and upload the completed and signed form to your claim.  Once the VCF receives the completed form and any required documents, we will make the appropriate updates to your claim, including who receives correspondence and who is able to access the claim online.

Yes. In cases involving terminal illness or significant financial hardship, you can request that the VCF expedite the processing of your claim. The VCF considers “significant financial hardship” to include an imminent or pending foreclosure or eviction proceeding, utility cut off, or other similar circumstances, as demonstrated by appropriate documentation.

As a general rule, claims are reviewed in “first in, first out” order based on the date the complete Claim Form was submitted with all required information. This means the VCF prioritizes claims that have been waiting longer before beginning review of newer submissions. Claims are prioritized for review only after all required information has been submitted.

Once you file your claim, the first step the VCF takes is to do a preliminary review to confirm that all of the “minimally required” documents have been submitted. In addition to a complete Claim Form, we require the following documents before your claim can move forward for a more substantive review:

Como regla general, los reclamos se revisan por orden de llegada, siguiendo el orden de la fecha en que el formulario de reclamo completado fue presentado con toda la información requerida. Esto significa que el VCF prioriza los reclamos que han estado en espera por más tiempo antes de comenzar a revisar los reclamos más recientes. Los reclamos se priorizan para revisión sólo cuando toda la información requerida ha sido presentada.

Una vez presentado el reclamo, el primer paso que el Fondo de Compensación para Víctimas (Victim Compensation Fund, VCF) toma es hacer una revisión preliminar para confirmar que todos los documentos "mínimos requeridos" se hayan entregado. En adición al requisito de completar el Formulario de Reclamo, también le requerimos los siguientes documentos para que su reclamo pueda progresar a una revisión más sustancial: