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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 Department for Work and Pensions (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 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 email us at – cru.udt@dwp.gsi.gov.uk
How to make a CRU payment
You’ll be asked to make payments to the DWP CRU once the claim is settled.
DWP CRU bank account to be used for payments
| Account name | Sort code | Account number |
|---|---|---|
| DWP CRU | 60-70-80 | 10027432 |
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 52645 | CRU clinical negligence |
| 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 | Lee Leadbitter | 0191 225 2706 |
| John Oxenham | 0191 225 2200 | |
| NHS and Clinical Negligence | Joanne Hughes | 0191 224 7639 |
| Disease | Merryl Hall | 0191 225 2220 |
| Dispute resolution team and reviews | Judith Stoker | 0191 225 2925 |
| Customer feedback manager | Cheryl Low | 0191 224 7612 |
| Universal Credit | Merryl Hall | 0191 225 2220 |
Customer feedback team
| Subject | Phone | |
|---|---|---|
| Feedback on guidance and legislation | 0191 225 2347 | CRU customer feedback |
Data protection
Request for personal information (subject access requests).
| Phone | Fax | |
|---|---|---|
| 0191 225 2511 | 0191 225 2150 | CRU data protection |
Freedom of Information
If you have a request under the Freedom of Information Act that is specific to CRU, email cru.foi@dwp.gsi.gov.uk.
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
Guidance and forms
Guidance and forms for compensators and their representatives.
Bulletins
Information for CRU 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.
Published 1 September 2013
Last updated 6 March 2018 + show all updates
Last updated 6 March 2018 + show all updates
- Changed fax number for CRU Clinical negligence claims to 0191 225 2645.
- Revised CRU contact information for Customer Service Managers (Disease, Universal Credit and Customer feedback team manager).
- Revised CRU contact information for 'Dispute resolution team and reviews'.
- Revised CRU contact information for Data Protection and Freedom of Information.
- Changed 'DWP CRU bank account to be used for payments' details.
- Updated Customer Service Manager for diseases and added contact for Universal Credit.
- Revised Data Protection phone number to: 0191 225 2547.
- Added new CRU email address for Clinical Negligence.
- Added a note stating the CRU e-service will be unavailable from 8pm on Friday 9 December to 3:05am on Saturday 10 December.
- Updated Customer Service Manager (compensation and personal injury cases and customer feedback team manager) and data protection contact details.
- Added new CRU email address for Freedom of Information requests.
- Changed 'Data protection and Freedom of Information' phone number to: 0191 224 7819.
- CRU customer feedback team telephone number changed to: 019 225 2347.
- Updated Contact CRU 'Customer Service Managers' - NHS and Clinical Negligence and Disease.
- Updated 'Contacts for claims that have been registered' - NHS cases and 'Customer Service Manager' - NHS cases.
- Added new CRU postal address.
- Changes to Customer Service Managers.
- Added section: How to make a CRU payment.
- Added contact email address for notifying CRU settlements.
- Published a report of findings from the 2014 customer satisfaction survey.
- First published.