Live chat

Our live chat service is an online messaging exchange with one of our trained supporters if you need support after crime or a traumatic incident. We can listen to you, explain your rights and options, and talk to you about further support. But it’s not designed to be an ongoing support option.

Live chat is a free service available for people affected by crime in England and Wales, 24 hours a day and seven days a week. To start a live chat, select the ‘Chat now’ button below. You can access live chat in Welsh here.

Here’s what some people who’ve used our live chat service had to say about it:

“I felt really listened to and validated.”
“Thank you for your help. I feel much more calm now.”
“The type of support offered was really helpful.”
“Really needed the support, very grateful for the service.”

Find out what happens when you start a live chat by watching our short animation (opens YouTube).

Our live chat service is available for people affected by crime across England and Wales. It gives you the chance to talk to our trained supporters online and in confidence. We want you to have the best possible experience, so we’ve come up with a few ‘house rules’ to let you know what you can expect, and how we can help.

What you can expect from us

  • You’ll have the opportunity to talk online safely and in confidence, and to choose what you tell us.
  • You’ll be able to get support regardless of the type of crime you have experienced, when it happened or whether or not it has been reported to the police.
  • You’ll speak to one of our trained supporters, who will listen to you respectfully and sensitively.
  • Anything you say to us will be kept in confidence, and all your information will be safe and secure. Read our confidentiality and consent policy to find out more about this.
  • We’ll ask you if you have received our help before, or are just receiving help now, so that we can ensure that you get the appropriate support.
  • We’ll help you find the right information and support. This might be through Victim Support, or with your consent, we can put you in touch with one of our partners to provide specialist support.

Some things we can’t do

  • We’re not a counselling service; however, we will always listen to you, and if you do want counselling, we will help you find a service near you.
  • Once you leave live chat, even if this is due to a loss of mobile signal or internet connection, any live chat session you start again will count as a new, separate conversation and may be with a different trained supporter.
  • All of our supporters have received special training to support people affected by crime. However, if we cannot provide the specialist help you need, with your consent we can refer you to a specialist partner agency to get the support you need.
  • We won’t discuss any of your previous chats with anyone else, to ensure anything shared is kept confidential. But we may be able to see any conversations you’ve had with us before and can discuss this with you so you don’t have to repeat yourself.
  • Our trained supporters will help you find the information you need. We can’t provide legal advice but will help you access legal support if you need it.
  • If you need to speak to your support worker, please contact your local Victim Support office. Our live chat supporters are here to help you, but if you need to get a message to your local Victim Support office or support worker, the quickest way to reach them is by calling their direct line.
  • It’s crucial that live chat is a safe experience for both our users and our trained supporters. We won’t tolerate abusive behaviour towards our supporters and will block users that are misusing live chat or being abusive.
  • When you join live chat, you’ll be allocated to the next available supporter. This could be a man or woman, and we cannot guarantee that you’ll be able to speak to someone of your preferred gender. However, if you would like to make a request to speak to a female or male supporter, you can call us on freephone 08 08 16 89 111.

Feedback and complaints

We want to give everyone using our live chat service the best possible experience. You can give us feedback to help us achieve this or make a complaint if you’re unhappy.

Victim Support works hard to ensure our live chat system is secure. We will do our best to protect the information that you give us. However, while we use encryption, there’s no way to guarantee that any data transmission over the internet is completely secure.

Find out more about privacy and data protection in our privacy policy.

If you’d like a copy of the live chat conversation, you’ll be prompted to enter your email at the end of the chat and it will be sent to you once the conversation has ended.

If you need further support you can:

Chat Now