The Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) or the Injures Board is a statutory body set up by the Government to assess personal injury claims in Ireland. Since 2004 all personal injury claims (apart from medical negligence claims discussed below) must go through the personal injuries assessment board process.
At Maurice Leahy Wade we have seen many people come to us when it is too late or when they have made a mistake with making their application to PIAB. For that reason we recommend that you use a personal injury solicitor to assist you with the application. This ensures that you make the application against the correct person(s) or entity with the correct time limit.
Make an appointment with your personal injury solicitor. Please bring the following information with you to that appointment:
We will need a medical report from the doctor/hospital that treated you after your accident. Your personal injury solicitor can request this reports from your doctor. Similarly, in cases of psychological injury, your solicitor can request reports from the psychologist that treated you.
Once your solicitor has gathered all information necessary, they will fill out the application form (Form A) and meet with you to confirm the details are correct and then go through the medical report to ensure it accurately reflects your injuries and then submit the application to PIAB or the Injuries Board on your behalf. Once submitted, PIAB will acknowledge receipt of this and will notify the person at fault of your claim. Once submitted, the 2-year time limit clock will stop while your claim is being assessed.
To assess your claim, the Injuries Board will look at the ‘Book of Quantum’.
The Book of Quantum is a record of historical personal injury cases, specific injuries and how much they were assessed for.
The injuries are in a range of three categories which are discussed further below.
Your claim will also include what is referred to as out of pocket expenses or special damages. These expenses include:
Having reviewed your application form together with the medical reports, the Injuries Board (PIAB) will make an assessment of damages (an amount of compensation). This will need to be considered whether to agree to accept this or not. It is important that all options are discussed with your personal injury solicitor who will be able to advise whether in their experience the assessment represents reasonable compensation taking everything into consideration. At Maurice Leahy Wade we ensure that we leave no stone unturned in assisting you with this. It is important that you seek advice regarding this as any offer that is accepted is in full and final settlement of the claim. If you decide to accept the offer and the Respondent is happy to pay this, an order to pay is issued by the Injuries Board (PIAB) and you receive this compensation.
If you or the Respondent does not accept the suggested settlement amount, an authorisation is issued by the injuries board (PIAB) allowing you to take your case to court.
The Claimant has 28 days to accept the assessment made by the Injuries Board (PIAB) and the Respondent has 21 days to accept or reject the assessment.
The court process is discussed further below.
The following may be taken into account when assessing how to adequately settle your case.
From the legal perspective it is easier for us to advise our client regarding a settlement proposal when our client has fully recovered and is back doing whatever they did before the accident. However, we are aware that this is not the case for many clients with long lasting pain and permanent injuries as a result of an accident. The categories of damages (compensation) are explained below:
General Damages are classed as non-monetary losses, like physical pain and suffering or mental/physiological pain and suffering. These may also go into the future where the person has not recovered or has a permanent injury.
Special Damages refer to monetary losses/expenses incurred by the injured party as a result of the accident. For example, loss of earnings, loss of future earnings, household expenses, medical care and future medical care.
Loss of Amenity refers to the effect on a person’s enjoyment or quality of life or to a person’s failure to carry out a task that they were once able to do. It illustrates the non-financial impact that a personal injury * has on a person’s work, family and social life. Loss of amenity takes into consideration all resulting restrictions that the injury has forced on a person through no fault of their own.
No two accidents are the same and likewise no two injuries are the same. How an injury impacts one person may have a very different impact on another person. That is why it is important to retain personal injury specialists who are experienced at valuing claims and ensure that you get the proper compensation.
Maurice Leahy Wade & Company draw on over 30 years of experience as personal injury solicitors * in Dublin and have the expertise and knowledge to help you navigate the legalities of making a claim without any of the legal jargon attached to it. Our promise is to make law accessible to all. For more information call 01 840 6505 or email reception@leahywade.ie and tell us about your case.
Tell our Personal Injury team about your case today. At Maurice Leahy Wade Solicitors we strive to make law accessible to all.
You can reach us by phone on 01 840 6505 or email reception@leahywade.ie . If you rather we call you, please do feel free to tell us about your case by leaving your details along with a message outlining your query on the form below and we can call you back. With 30 years’ experience as specialist medical negligence solicitors *, Maurice Leahy Wade Solicitors, ensure not to overwhelm you with legal jargon and can provide you with legal advice and guidance with your best interest at heart, in a language that you can understand.
To discuss your case, contact Hilary O’Connor who specialise in accident and personal injury claims today.
