Collection

Compensation Recovery Unit

The Compensation Recovery Unit recovers social security benefits in certain compensation cases and NHS costs in certain injury cases.

Contents

  1. Guidance and forms
  2. Bulletins
  3. Performance
  4. If you've claimed compensation

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

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.

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 Email
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 52590 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 Janet Hobson 0191 22 52064
John Oxenham 0191 22 52200
Disease and clinical negligence Lynsey Coxon 0191 22 47978
NHS cases Ann Smith 0191 22 47823
Dispute resolution team and reviews Kevin Connolly 0191 22 47827
Customer feedback team manager Lynda Lyall 0191 22 47819

Customer feedback team

Subject Phone Email
Feedback on guidance and legislation 0191 22 52485 CRU customer feedback

Data protection and Freedom of Information

Request for personal information (subject access requests) and Freedom of Information (FOI) requests.

Phone Fax Email
0191 22 52237 0191 22 52189 CRU data protection and FOI

Our address

Compensation Recovery Unit
Durham House
Washington
Tyne and Wear
NE38 7SF

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.

  1. Compensation Recovery Unit forms

    • 1 July 2013
    • Form

  2. Recovery of benefits, lump sum payments and NHS charges: technical guidance

    • 9 July 2014
    • Guidance

  3. 2008 Diffuse Mesothelioma Scheme: information for personal injury claims managers

    • 1 May 2013
    • Guidance

Bulletins

Information for Compensation Recovery Unit customers including compensators, their representatives and personal injury claims managers.

  1. Compensation Recovery Unit bulletins

    • 11 March 2014
    • Guidance

Performance

CRU publishes data on its performance and on recoveries under the 2008 Diffuse Mesothelioma Scheme.

  1. Compensation Recovery Unit customer satisfaction survey 2014

    • 18 June 2014
    • Corporate report

  2. Compensation Recovery Unit performance data

    • 24 April 2014
    • Transparency data

  3. Recovery data for the 2008 Diffuse Mesothelioma Scheme

    • 21 January 2015
    • Transparency data

  4. Compensation Recovery Unit customer satisfaction survey 2011

    • 1 September 2011
    • Corporate report

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

  1. Compensation, social security benefits and lump sum payments

    • 22 September 2014
    • Guidance

  2. Repaying compensation to DWP: what to do if you think our decision is wrong

    • 30 October 2013
    • Guidance
Published:
1 September 2013
Updated:
16 December 2014

+ full page history

16 December 2014 8:03am
Added contact email address for notifying CRU settlements.
18 June 2014 1:17pm
Published a report of findings from the 2014 customer satisfaction survey.
1 September 2013 12:00am
First published.
From:
Department for Work and Pensions