West Virginia Code 14-2A-14 – Grounds for denial of claim or reduction of awards; maximum award
(a) Except as provided in §14-2A-10(b) of this code, the commissioner may not approve an award of compensation to a claimant who did not file his or her application for an award of compensation within two years after the date of the occurrence of the criminally injurious conduct that caused the injury or death for which he or she is seeking an award of compensation.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 14-2A-14
- Claimant: means any of the following persons, whether residents or nonresidents of this state, who claim an award of compensation under this article:
(1) A victim, except the term "victim" does not include a nonresident of this state where the criminally injurious act did not occur in this state. See West Virginia Code 14-2A-3
- Collateral source: means a source of benefits or advantages for economic loss otherwise compensable that the victim or claimant has received or that is readily available to him or her from any of the following sources:
(1) The offender, including restitution received from the offender pursuant to an order by a court sentencing the offender or placing him or her on probation following a conviction in a criminal case arising from the criminally injurious act for which a claim for compensation is made. See West Virginia Code 14-2A-3
- Contributory misconduct: means any conduct of the claimant or of the victim through whom the claimant claims an award that is unlawful or intentionally tortious and that, without regard to the conduct's proximity in time or space to the criminally injurious conduct, has a causal relationship to the criminally injurious conduct that is the basis of the claim and includes the voluntary intoxication of the claimant, either by the consumption of alcohol or the use of any controlled substance, when the intoxication has a causal connection or relationship to the injury sustained. See West Virginia Code 14-2A-3
- Criminally injurious conduct: means conduct that occurs or is attempted in this state, or in any state not having a victim compensation program, which poses a substantial threat of personal injury or death and is punishable by fine or imprisonment. See West Virginia Code 14-2A-3
- Economic loss: means economic detriment consisting only of allowable expense, work loss, and replacement services loss. See West Virginia Code 14-2A-3
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- Offense: includes every act or omission for which a fine, forfeiture, or punishment is imposed by law. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
- State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
- Victim: means the following:
A person who suffers personal injury or death as a result of any one of the following:
(A) Criminally injurious conduct. See West Virginia Code 14-2A-3
(b) The commissioner may not approve an award of compensation if the criminally injurious conduct upon which the claim is based was not reported to a law-enforcement officer or agency or, in the case of sexual offense, the victim did not undergo a forensic medical examination, within 96 hours after the occurrence of the conduct, unless it is determined that good cause existed for the failure to report the conduct or undergo a forensic medical examination within the 96-hour period: Provided, That reporting to a law-enforcement officer or agency or a forensic medical examination is not required if the victim is a juvenile in order for a commissioner to approve an award of compensation: Provided, however, That the filing of a civil abuse and neglect petition in a circuit court satisfies the reporting requirement, thereby allowing the minor child who is the subject of the petition to file an application for benefits, with the claims process to proceed in accordance with this code.
(c) The commissioner may not approve an award of compensation to a claimant who is the offender or an accomplice of the offender who committed the criminally injurious conduct, nor to any claimant if the award would unjustly benefit the offender or his or her accomplice.
(d) A commissioner, upon a finding that the claimant or victim has not fully cooperated with appropriate law-enforcement agencies or the claim investigator, may deny a claim, reduce an award of compensation, or reconsider a claim already approved.
(e) A commissioner may not approve an award of compensation if the injury occurred while the victim was confined in any state, county, or regional jail, prison, private prison, or correctional facility.
(f) After reaching a decision to approve an award of compensation, but prior to announcing the approval, the commissioner shall require the claimant to submit current information as to collateral sources on forms prescribed by the Clerk of the West Virginia Legislative Claims Commission. The commissioner shall reduce an award of compensation or deny a claim for an award of compensation that is otherwise payable to a claimant to the extent that the economic loss upon which the claim is based is or will be recouped from other persons, including collateral sources, or if the reduction or denial is determined to be reasonable because of the contributory misconduct of the claimant or of a victim through whom he or she claims. If an award is reduced or a claim is denied because of the expected recoupment of all or part of the economic loss of the claimant from a collateral source, the amount of the award or the denial of the claim shall be conditioned upon the claimant’s economic loss being recouped by the collateral source: Provided, That if it is thereafter determined that the claimant will not receive all or part of the expected recoupment, the claim shall be reopened and an award shall be approved in an amount equal to the amount of expected recoupment that it is determined the claimant will not receive from the collateral source, subject to the limitation set forth in subsection (g) of this section.
(g)(1) Except in the case of death, or as provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection, compensation payable to a victim and to all other claimants sustaining economic loss because of injury to that victim may not exceed $35,000 in the aggregate. Compensation payable to all claimants because of the death of the victim may not exceed $50,000 in the aggregate.
(2) In the event the victim’s personal injuries are so severe as to leave the victim with a disability, as defined in Section 223 of the Social Security Act, as amended, as codified in 42 U. S. C. § 423, the commission may award an additional amount, not to exceed $100,000, for special needs attributable to the injury.
(h) If an award of compensation of $5,000 or more is made to a minor, a guardian shall be appointed pursuant to the provisions of § 44-10-1 et seq. of this code to manage the minor’s estate.