FAQ's

Talk to your solicitor as soon as possible. Also, from the outset  keep a record of any expenses incurred by you and a  diary in which you can record details of how your injury affects you in any particular activities, or generally. Record also details of travel for medical appointments, etc. This will assist us in putting forward your case as fully and accurately as possible.

This will depend on whether it can be established that another party was either at  fault or partly at fault in causing the accident in which you suffered injury.

This does not mean that you are not entitled to claim against another party who is believed to be at fault also. For example, as a result of negotiation or court action it might be determined that each party is 50% responsible,  in which case you will only be entitled to half of the damages that you would have received had there been no fault on your part. We will try and advise a client as soon as possible as regards the prospects of establishing liability against another party, but sometimes the position is less clear and it may be necessary to engage other experts such as Engineers to advise on liability

Compensation claims are made up of two main types of damages.

1)  Compensation for pain and suffering which is also known as “General Damages”.

2) You can also claim in respect of expenses incurred as a result of the accident which can include, for example, hospital charges, treatment expenses, pharmacy charges, fees for examinations such as x-rays and scans, and travel expenses.  It is important that full records such as invoices and receipts are kept and provided to your Solicitor as the claim progresses.  Also if you can prove suffer a loss of income due to an injury this can be included within your claim.  Again documentary evidence of such losses needs to be kept or obtained. Claims for financial losses and expenses incurred as a result of an injury are known as “Special Damages”.

A person who has suffered an injury should give notice in writing to the party who is believed to be responsible for the accident within two months of the date the injury was sustained or as soon as practicable thereafter.  If a notice of an intended claim is delayed without good reason this could affect your rights regarding recovery of costs in a Court action.

A formal claim is required to be submitted (usually to the Injuries Board initially) within two years of the date of the injury.  If you fail to do this your claim may be lost.

Under the Personal Injuries Assessment Board Act 2004, most claims for personal injuries in Ireland are now required to be submitted initially to the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) (now re-branded as the Injuries Board) before any court proceedings can be issued.  There are some exceptions, e.g. medical negligence actions .

Unfortunately, no. If a claim is settled through the Injuries Board/PIAB then you will usually be entitled to recover the €45 Application fee together with whatever the Injuries Board considers to be the appropriate cost of one medical report .  Under the Injuries Board/PIAB system you will generally not be entitled to recover any contribution towards your Solicitor’s fees.

 If your claim is not resolved through the Injuries Board/PIAB and Court proceedings are issued then in that Court action you can claim for recovery of most of your legal costs and outlays in addition to your damages. Whether costs will be recoverable from the other party will depend on a successful outcome to your claim.

Injuries Board/PIAB notifies the party who you are claiming against.  That party then has 90 days to say whether that party consents to Injuries Board/PIAB assessing the claim.  If that party gives such consent (or if such party does not reply) the Injuries Board/PIAB will begin its assessment.

No.  If the claim goes through the Injuries Board/PIAB system but is not settled (see question below- “What does an assessment from the Injuries Board/PIAB mean?  What is its effect?”) then the other party can still deny responsibility in later Court proceedings.

The Injuries Board /PIAB will allow you to issue court proceedings

Yes, the Injuries Board/PIAB can decide for a number of reasons that certain claims are not appropriate for the PIAB procedure.  This might be the case in complex cases involving serious long term or multiple injuries, psychological injuries, etc.  If the Injuries Board/PIAB decides it cannot deal with a case,  it must authorize the issue of court proceedings.

The Injuries Board/PIAB will make its assessment based only on documents. There is no hearing at which your case can be put forward.  So, if documentation for your claim is not full and comprehensive, an award offered might not take proper account of all factors relevant to the claim.  We consider that it is imperative that a person making an application to PIAB should receive professional advice and guidance from solicitors experienced in the preparation of claims in order to ensure that this situation does not arise.  This is particularly important in relation to claims for loss of earnings, possible future losses, etc.

The  Injuries Board/PIAB can  request that you attend further medical examination(s) by doctors engaged by the Board and can seek information about a claimant from other persons and public bodies

The party you are claiming against has 90 days in which to consent to the Injuries Board/PIAB making an assessment.  The Injuries Board/PIAB has 9 months from this consent to make its assessment, unless during that period the Board/PIAB decides to give itself an extension, of up to a further 6 months.  So, if an Injuries Board/ PIAB assessment ran its full course, an assessment ought to be made within 1 year of the application, or 18 months if PIAB allows itself more time.  However, the process can be much quicker than this if all parties act promptly and the nature of the injury permits

An assessment by the Injuries Board/PIAB is only binding if it is accepted by:

      You,  the injured party     AND

       The party you are claiming against

This is a matter on which it is important that you have the benefit of legal advice to consider the adequacy of the compensation offered and the options available to you and what these may involve. If, after due consideration and advice, you decide to not accept the assessment, Injuries Board/PIAB will authorize you to take court proceedings.

No.  Even if you are prepared to accept the assessment the party you are claiming against can refuse to do so.  If so, PIAB will authorize issue of court proceedings.

Yes, in effect . Even if the party against whom the claim is made consented to the Injuries Board/PIAB assessing the claim, in any future court proceedings that party is entitled to contest the claim in its entirety and may dispute any liability.  This might be 2 years after the accident took place and obviously at that stage any investigations as to responsibility, e.g. by engineer’s attendance, may be prejudiced, due to lack of physical evidence, changes to locations and premises.  This is a factor which should be considered when a claim is first made and on which we consider that is it imperative that you have the benefit of legal advice.

Give as full and detailed as information as you can to your Solicitor and also give your Solicitor authority to obtain information from other parties relevant to your claim, e.g. employers.  In addition, it is essential that you provide full details of previous injuries/medical history and any previous claims.  We will review with you each and every aspect of your claim so that you may be satisfied that information given is accurate. This is essential as under the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004 every person making a claim is required to swear on oath that the allegations, statements, and claims made by him/her in proceedings are true and correct.

Under the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004 a Court can dismiss a claim if the Court is satisfied that a claimant has given evidence or has sworn an affidavit that is false or misleading with the intention of misleading the Court. The Act  also makes these criminal offences, which may result in conviction, with penalties of fines or imprisonment applying. Cases can be lost or thrown out, or severely prejudiced as a result of  non disclosure or inaccurate information being given, even where the party making the claim believed these matters to be of no relevance to the present injury/claim.