Editors Notes
11th October 2006
1. Impact on Court System
Large drop in writs to High Court and Circuit Court during PIAB's first full year of operation.
Figures for 2004 include a large number of cases lodged before the deadline for sending them to PIAB.
We expect to see some increase in 2006 in the number of cases referred to the Courts.
The personal injury process, from notification to settlement, has been transformed with the same level of awards being made more quickly and more efficiently.
* based on High Court writs from the Courts Service Annual Reports and estimates of Personal Injury cases within the Court system.
2. Value of Awards Maintained
The following graphs show the breakdown of awards made by PIAB and the figures available from the Courts in 2005. This demonstrates that PIAB's compensation awards match the awards given out through the litigation process.
93% of PIAB awards and 89% of Court awards were less than €38,000 in 2005.
Note 1. €38k is the limit on settlements in the Circuit Court
Note 2. Cases processed in the Courts include medical negligence claims which tend to be higher (and which PIAB does not handle). This explains the small difference in the settlement percentages.
3. Value Range of PIAB Awards
This is based on 3,339 awards at the end of July 2006.
73.6% of awards made to the end of July 2006 were less than €20,000.
PIAB will make 5,000 awards by December 2006 and 10,000 awards by December 2007 based on current volumes.
4. Redress Culture Change
Based on PIAB's experience to date and volumes now appearing in the Courts we find that many cases are being resolved directly between the claimant and the respondent. In many instances the claim will be notified to PIAB but then resolved following facilitation by PIAB but without the need for a formal assessment by PIAB.
5. Contacting PIAB if you have suffered a personal injury
PIAB can be contacted in the following ways:
By e-mail: enquiries@piab.ie
Through the website: www.piab.ie
Through our lo-call number: 1890 829 121
Our offices are open: Monday to Saturday 8am to 8pm
