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Compensation Recovery Unit
The Compensation Recovery Unit recovers social security benefits in certain compensation cases and NHS costs in certain injury cases.
The Compensation Recovery Unit (CRU) works with insurance companies, solicitors and DWP customers, to recover:
- amounts of social security benefits paid as a result of an accident, injury or disease, if a compensation payment has been made (the Compensation Recovery Scheme)
- costs incurred by NHS hospitals and Ambulance Trusts for treatment from injuries from road traffic accidents and personal injury claims (Recovery of NHS Charges)
On this page
- Registering a compensation claim
- CRU e-service
- Contact CRU
- How to make a CRU payment
- Guidance and forms
- Bulletins
- Performance
- If you’ve claimed compensation
Registering a compensation claim
Compensators who receive a claim for compensation must send form CRU1 to the Compensation Recovery Unit (CRU) within 14 days to register the claim. Registering the claim does not mean that you have accepted liability for the accident, injury or disease.
Please include a National Insurance number on form CRU1 to help us:
- decide if there are any recoverable benefits
- deal with urgent certificate requests
Go to CRU forms.
Acknowledgement of your registration
We will send you an acknowledgement form when you register a claim. You will need to return this acknowledgement form to us when you apply for a certificate.
Transfer of responsibility
If you are a solicitor who has taken over responsibility for a case that has already been registered, please send us form CRU1 (Sol). If you subsequently return responsibility to the insurer, please send us form CRU1 (Rep).
CRU e-service
You can use the CRU e-service if your company cannot use any of the following services:
- CRIF (Cache PI)
- Experian (Claims Underwriting Exchange (CUE))
- Insurance Services Office (ISO – Claims Outcome Adviser)
- Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
Please do not use the CRU e-service if your company already has another electronic link with CRU.
Go to the Compensation Recovery Unit e-service
How it works
Compensators and their representatives can use the CRU e-service to:
- request a certificate for a claim that has already been registered
- notify the result of a claim that has already been registered
- check a previous e-service transaction
We will issue a certificate by post to the address we hold for the compensator within 28 days of receiving the request.
Contact the CRU e-service
If you have any questions about the CRU e-service please phone 0191 22 52021. If you have a hearing or speech impairment, our Text Relay number is 18001 0191 225 52021.
How to make a CRU payment
You’ll be asked to make payments to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Compensation Recovery Unit (CRU) once the claim is settled.
DWP CRU bank account to be used for payments
| Account name | Sort code | Account number |
|---|---|---|
| DWP CRU | 403418 | 62201720 |
Email addresses for remittances
Please provide the CRU reference when you email a remittance slip to the CRU to tell us a payment is being made. Or you can provide the CRU reference with the payment.
Email addresses to be used to send remittances to are:
CRU.Bankingreconciliation@dwp.gsi.gov.uk
Contact CRU
We take calls from 8am to 5pm Monday to Friday. Our phone number will be at the top of any letter we send you.
If you have a speech or hearing impairment our office has the Text Relay facility. The Text Relay number will be at the top of any letter we send you. The Text Relay number will be 18001 followed by the phone number.
Contacts for claims that have been registered
| Subject | Phone | Fax | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Request certificate | 0191 22 52359 | High volume certificate team | |
| Notify settlement | Settlements team | ||
| National recoupment team | 0191 22 47720 | National recoupment team | |
| Personal injury claims | 0191 22 52383 | 0191 22 52366 | CRU assessments |
| Disease claims | 0191 22 52435 | 0191 22 52955 | CRU specialist operations |
| Clinical negligence claims | 0191 22 52960 | 0191 22 52446 | CRU specialist operations |
| NHS cases | 0191 22 52588 | 0191 22 52309 | CRU NHS enquiries |
| Reviews | 0191 22 52352 | 0191 22 52343 | CRU reviews |
| Dispute resolution team and reviews | 0191 22 52333 | 0191 22 52102 | Dispute Resolution team |
Customer Service Managers
If you have spoken to one of the contacts above but were not happy with the level of service you received, you can speak to one of our Customer Service Managers.
| Subject | Contact | Phone |
|---|---|---|
| Compensation and personal injury cases | Ian Merrie | 0191 224 7615 |
| John Oxenham | 0191 225 2200 | |
| NHS and Clinical Negligence | Joanne Hughes | 0191 224 7639 |
| Disease | Lisa Blevins Clarke | 0191 225 2059 |
| Dispute resolution team and reviews | Kevin Connolly | 0191 224 7827 |
| Customer feedback team manager | Lynda Lyall | 0191 224 7819 |
Customer feedback team
| Subject | Phone | |
|---|---|---|
| Feedback on guidance and legislation | 0191 225 2347 | CRU customer feedback |
Data protection and Freedom of Information
Request for personal information (subject access requests) and Freedom of Information (FOI) requests.
| Phone | Fax | |
|---|---|---|
| 0191 224 7819 | 0191 225 2189 | CRU data protection and FOI |
Our address
Compensation Recovery Unit
Post Handling Site B
Wolverhampton
WV99 2FR
Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme
See the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.
Compensation Recovery in Northern Ireland
See the Department for Social Development in Northern Ireland.
Guidance and forms
Guidance and forms for compensators and their representatives.
Bulletins
Information for Compensation Recovery Unit customers including compensators, their representatives and personal injury claims managers.
-
Compensation Recovery Unit bulletins
- Guidance
Performance
CRU publishes data on its performance and on recoveries under the 2008 Diffuse Mesothelioma Scheme.
-
Compensation Recovery Unit customer satisfaction survey 2014
- Research and analysis
-
Compensation Recovery Unit performance data
- Transparency data
-
Recovery data for the 2008 Diffuse Mesothelioma Scheme
- Transparency data
-
Compensation Recovery Unit customer satisfaction survey 2011
- Research and analysis
If you've claimed compensation
These guides are for people who have claimed compensation:
-
Compensation, social security benefits and lump sum payments – how social security benefits and lump sum payments can affect your award of compensation
-
Repaying compensation to DWP: what to do if you think our decision is wrong – how to ask for a decision to be reconsidered and how to appeal