Thinking About Making a Church of England Redress Claim? Start Preparing Now!

Start Your Church of England Redress Scheme Case Now

If you have experienced abuse connected to the Church of England, you may already know that a national redress scheme is being put in place. Although applications are not yet open, you do not have to wait before taking the first step.

You can start your Church of England Redress Scheme enquiries now by speaking to a specialist solicitor and beginning to prepare an application in readiness for the Scheme’s opening; we anticipate that this will be towards the latter end of 2026.

The Abuse Redress Rules 2026 have been approved by the General Synod and are awaiting final parliamentary approval before the scheme opens. Until then, a formal application cannot be submitted. However, preparing your case now gives you time to understand the scheme, talk about what happened and gather any information that may help support your application.

There is also likely to be significant interest when the scheme opens. Getting prepared now means you will not have to start everything from scratch when applications can be submitted.

Why Start Preparing Now?

For many survivors, talking about abuse is difficult. You may have spent years trying not to think about what happened. You may never have told anyone before. That means you should not feel pressured to do everything at once.

Starting your case now gives you time to understand the process and decide what you want to do. You can speak to a solicitor, ask questions and begin preparing your account without the pressure of an application deadline. It can also give you more time to find information that may support your case.

Preparing A Case Takes Time

A redress application is more than simply filling in a form.

Your solicitor will need to understand your circumstances, what happened and whether your situation is likely to meet the scheme's eligibility requirements. They can also help you prepare your written account and identify information that may be useful.

Depending on your circumstances, this could include Church records, school or children's home records, medical records, letters or other documents.

Not every survivor will have records or other evidence. You do not need to have a particular document before you can begin preparing your case.

However, where records are available, finding them can take time. Starting now means there is an opportunity to deal with this before applications open.

You Stay in Control

Starting your Church of England Redress Scheme case now does not mean you have committed yourself to making an application.

You remain in control

You can take time to understand the scheme and decide whether applying for redress is right for you. If you later decide that you do not want to proceed, that decision remains yours.

If you do decide to apply when the scheme opens, however, you will already have taken some of the important steps.

Know Where You Stand

The Church of England Redress Scheme covers different forms of abuse, including sexual abuse, physical abuse, psychological or emotional abuse, spiritual abuse, financial abuse, and neglect and maltreatment.

There are also specific requirements about the role of the person responsible and the connection between that role and the Church of England. Speaking to a specialist solicitor now can help you understand whether the scheme may apply to your circumstances.

You may have questions that you have been carrying for years. Can I claim if I never reported the abuse? What if there are no records? What if the person responsible has died? Does what happened to me meet the scheme's definition of abuse?

Getting answers now can give you greater confidence about what to do next.

Why Choose a Church of England Redress Specialist?

We support survivors across England and Wales and help them to understand the scheme and prepare their cases. We know that discussing abuse can be difficult, which is why we take the time to explain things clearly and work at your pace.

Our team is also following developments as the scheme moves towards opening, so we are ready to help survivors when applications can be made.

Don’t Wait to Start Your Application!

You do not have to wait for the scheme to open before you start preparing.

Starting your Church of England Redress Scheme case now gives you time to understand the process, talk through what happened and consider what information may help your application.

There is no need to decide everything today. If you are thinking about coming forward, speaking to a specialist solicitor can simply be your first step. You can ask questions, find out more about the scheme and decide what you want to do from there.

You remain in control, and you can take things at your own pace.