The Federal Social Compensation Office

German Assisting Authority

Persons residing in Germany who become victims of a crime in another EU Member State are entitled to compensation from the EU Member State in which the crime took place ("country of offence").

In order to facilitate access to foreign compensation for affected persons, a system of cooperation between authorities of Member States has been established. The German Assisting Authority assists victims of crimes in cross-border cases with the practical and linguistic aspects of the compensation process.

What the German Assisting Authority does:

  • It provides information on potential state compensation claims in the country of offence
  • It receives application forms and supporting documents and forwards them
  • It has necessary documents translated into the respective national language free of charge

The German Assisting Authority does not carry out any legal assessment of the application for compensation.

The complete procedure and a detailed description can be found here (PDF / 95,33 KB).