Their death does not affect your eligibility. The scheme looks at what happened to you and the Church’s responsibility for it, not at whether the person who carried out the abuse is alive to answer for it.

You can still apply, and your application for redress is separate from any question about their current position. If you are worried that someone may be at risk now, Safe Spaces on 0300 303 1056 can help you think through the options for reporting, and if anyone is in immediate danger, call 999.

It makes no difference to eligibility. The scheme looks at what happened and the Church’s responsibility for it, not at whether the person who carried out the abuse is alive to answer for it. Even where both the person you lost and the person who abused them have died, the routes on this page stay open.

You can still apply. The scheme looks at what happened to you and the Church’s responsibility for it, not at whether the person who carried out the abuse is alive to answer for it. The death of the abuser does not affect your eligibility under Section 3 of the Measure.

That does not prevent you from applying.

Applications are assessed using the civil standard of proof, which asks whether something is more likely than not to have happened.

It is the non-financial side of an award. Section 9(1)(b) of the Abuse Redress Measure allows the redress body to make an award consisting of “some other remedy” alongside or instead of a payment. Rule 15 confirms this can be provided on a one-off basis, on more than one occasion, or in stages, and the Archbishops’ Council issues guidance under Section 18(3) on the form it takes. In practice it can include an acknowledgement, an apology from the authority responsible for the perpetrator, and action to address the institutional failure. For some survivors, this is a big part of why the scheme is the right route.

The Church of England Redress Scheme is a Scheme for survivors of Church-related abuse. The Scheme is intended as a demonstration of regret and a practical way in which the Church can acknowledge it past failings relating to safeguarding.

Once the scheme opens, you have a window of around five years to apply, and the cut-off for new applications falls at the start of the final nine months. The General Synod can extend it. Getting your case ready early is the safe route. The full detail lives at time limits.

Support that is independent of any claim

Reading this page may bring up difficult memories, especially if you have carried what happened for many years. If you would like to talk to someone right now, independently of any claim, the following organisations are there for you:
Samaritans. Free, 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Call 116 123 from any phone in the UK, or email jo@samaritans.org.
NAPAC, the National Association for People Abused in Childhood. Free support line for adult survivors of any form of childhood abuse. Call 0808 801 0331 or visit napac.org.uk.
Safe Spaces. The Church of England and Catholic Church’s joint support service for survivors of church-related abuse. Confidential, independent of the Church’s own processes. Call 0300 303 1056 or visit safespacesenglandandwales.org.uk.

These services are independent of Winston Solicitors and of the Church of England Redress Scheme. You do not need to be considering a claim to use them.

Once the scheme opens, you have a window of around five years to apply, and the cut-off for new applications falls at the start of the final nine months. The General Synod can extend it. Getting your case ready early is the safe route. The full detail lives at time limits.

Support that is independent of any claim

Reading this page may bring up difficult memories, especially if you have carried what happened for many years. If you would like to talk to someone right now, independently of any claim, the following organisations are there for you:
Samaritans. Free, 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Call 116 123 from any phone in the UK, or email jo@samaritans.org.
NAPAC, the National Association for People Abused in Childhood. Free support line for adult survivors of any form of childhood abuse. Call 0808 801 0331 or visit napac.org.uk.
Safe Spaces. The Church of England and Catholic Church’s joint support service for survivors of church-related abuse. Confidential, independent of the Church’s own processes. Call 0300 303 1056 or visit safespacesenglandandwales.org.uk.

These services are independent of Winston Solicitors and of the Church of England Redress Scheme. You do not need to be considering a claim to use them.

Under Rule 4 of the Abuse Redress Rules 2025, the last date for a new application is the first day of the final nine months of the five-year window. In practice, that means new applications need to be in around four years and three months after the scheme opens, not at the very end.

Civil claims for personal injury and abuse are governed by the Limitation Act 1980, which sets a standard three-year limit from the date of injury or knowledge, with the court able to lift that limit in some cases under section 33. Winston Solicitors does not advise on civil claims. If you want a view on the time limit in your situation, get independent advice from a specialist civil claims solicitor with experience in clergy abuse cases.

The Scheme will consider sexual abuse, physical abuse, spiritual abuse, psychological abuse, financial abuse and neglect or maltreatment.

A new survivor support fund, launching when the interim scheme closes, with the same focus on immediate, short-term help. Aspects of it are being co-produced with victims and survivors, and the Church has said publicly, in its scheme update of 19 March 2026, that there will be no gaps in the support offered. Beyond that, details had not been published when this page was last reviewed.

In practice, when you accept the scheme award. Under Rule 11 of the Abuse Redress Rules 2025, the redress body invites you to accept or not accept within six months of the written notification. If you accept, the Section 11 waiver applies and the civil route closes for the same abuse. If you do not reply within six months, the award lapses. Before you accept, the choice is still yours.

It starts on the day Section 7 of the Measure comes into force. As of June 2026, that date has not been confirmed yet. Winston Solicitors keeps the current position on its scheme updates page.

There is no confirmed opening date yet. The Church has said it expects the scheme to open later this year, but that is an expectation, not a fixed date. Winston Solicitors will post the confirmed date at the top of this page’s update log as soon as it is announced.

There is currently no fixed start date for the scheme. The framework for the Scheme has been approved through Parliament, as of December 2025. The Rules for the Scheme have not yet been published and still need to go through parliamentary process.

Section 23 of the Abuse Redress Measure is in the public legislation, quoted above. The Abuse Redress Rules 2025 set out how the funding works in practice. If you want to satisfy yourself before instructing Winston Solicitors, ask for a copy of the client care letter that confirms in writing that no fee will come out of your compensation in any circumstance. The firm will explain how it is appointed under the scheme, how it is paid, and what your letter will say about fees. Nothing about it is hidden from you.

Anyone who has suffered Church-related abuse can apply. The specific rules of the Scheme are yet to be published, however anyone who has experienced abuse related immediately to the Church, or as a result of the Church failing to act when they could have done to prevent abuse should consider applying.

We do the gathering with you, not the other way round. That means identifying which records are likely to exist, framing what the redress body should be asked to obtain under its Section 26 powers, preparing your account with you, and handling every exchange with the scheme. If your application succeeds, your solicitor’s costs are met through the scheme and not deducted from your award; the detail lives on our legal costs page. Winston Solicitors supports survivors across England and Wales.

The scheme treats what you share as confidential, with two exceptions it states openly: safeguarding concerns are shared with diocesan safeguarding teams in line with national practice guidance, and information may be shared with statutory agencies if the scheme believes you are at risk of harm. The scheme publishes an applicants’ privacy notice on the Church’s website with the full detail.