The Injuries Board has published its Annual Review for 2012,
outlining key statistics relating to personal injury claims in
Ireland. The review reveals an on-going upward trend in
personal injury claims in this jurisdiction, which the Injuries
Board has attributed to an increase in promotion and advertising by
claims handling firms. The Injuries Board has expressed
concerns about this trend towards an emerging "claims
culture" which could affect insurance premiums for motorists
and employers, amongst others.
The Injuries Board, formerly known as the Personal Injuries
Assessment Board (PIAB), was set up under the Personal Injuries
Assessment Board Act 2003 to provide victims of workplace, motor
and public liability accidents with a means of obtaining
compensation without having to go down the costly and
time-consuming route of litigation.
28,962 new claims were made to the Injuries Board in 2012,
representing an increase of 4.6% from 2011 and 24% from 2007.
The increase was largely driven by an increase in motor claims,
which increased by 6.7% from 2011 and approximately 33% from
2007. Conversely, however, there has been a significant
downward trend in road accidents over the same time period.
Equally, work-related claims fell by 1% from 2011, a fall which has
been attributed to increased unemployment. Patricia Byron,
CEO of the Injuries Board, has commented that the trend coincides
with an increase in promotion and advertising by claims handling
firms, which is believed to be encouraging individuals to take
claims.
By law, it is forbidden for solicitors to advertise with regard to
personal injury claims, but this law does not apply to claims
handling firms, notwithstanding that they may offer legal
services. The Injuries Board believes that this regulatory
gap is leading to the emergence of a claims culture, which
threatens to drive up premiums and reduce competitiveness. Ms
Byron has suggested that the upcoming Legal Services Bill, which
will reform the legal sector, provides an opportunity to address
this anomaly and extend the prohibition on advertising personal
injury claims to include claims handling firms. She has
cautioned against following the UK market, where claims handling
firms are heavily promoted and as a result claims have increased
rapidly in recent years.
Also of note is that the statistics show that the number of awards
made has risen almost in proportion to the number of claims.
10,136 awards were made by the Injuries Board in 2012, representing
an increase of 3% from 2011 and 23.4% from 2007. The total
value of awards made in 2012 was €217.94 million, an increase
of 3.9% from 2011 and 20.4% from 2007.
Finally, in 2012 the Injuries Board reduced its fee to
respondents, who are typically insurance companies, from €850
to €600.
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