Do I need a Solicitor for Injuries Resolution Board Claims? (Formerly known as PIAB)

Under Section 8 of the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004 you are required to notify the respondent, in writing, of your claim and to set out the details of the wrong alleged. This must be done within 2 months from the date of the accident.

If you do not comply with Section 8, it may be brought to the attention of the Court and it may influence the decision of the court i.e., you could receive a smaller amount of compensation for your injuries or you could be penalised by the court in relation to your legal costs.

Most solicitors will provide a first free consultation for victims of accidents to advise claimants of their entitlement and options. At the very least claimants should avail of a free consultation.The Injuries Resolution Board will not tell you this. The reason is no doubt due to the fact that they are hoping to resolve your claim without you having to issue proceedings.

Not all cases will be resolved by the board. The respondent may refuse to allow The Injuries Resolution Board to make an assessment or you may not be happy with the assessment that is made. There are many reasons that your case will not be resolved by the board, necessitating the need to issue proceedings.

You have two years from the date of your accident to lodge an application with The Injuries Resolution Board. After the expiration of two years, you will become Statute Barred. This means that you are no longer entitled to bring a claim for compensation arising out of your accident – essentially, you have run out of time.

Although two years may seem like a long time, you must keep in mind that you will need to obtain a medical report from your treating doctor in order to make an application to The Injuries Resolution Board . If you are looking to get a report from a specialist such as an orthopaedic surgeon or neurologist, you should be cognisant of the fact that it may take many months to get hold of this report. This will delay making your application to the board.

Since Sept 2023, it is not possible to make an application to the board without the medical report, in order to stop the Statute of Limitations from running against you.

It is important to note that where the required information is not provided, an application cannot be deemed complete by The Injuries Resolution Board (Section 11 of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board Act 2003 (as amended)) and will not be deemed complete for the purposes of the statute of limitations (Section 50 of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board Act 2003 (as amended)). It is therefore important that the claimant and/or the claimant’s solicitor ensure they leave adequate time when submitting an application to The Injuries Resolution Board.

There are copious amounts of legislation governing personal injury claims. The Injuries Resolution Board will not provide a claimant with any information or advice in relation to the relevant legislation. If your claim is not resolved through the board, then not complying with the relevant legislation can have serious implications for a claimant.

Sections 25 & 26 deal with fraudulent and exaggerated claims.

Section 25 makes it an offense to knowingly give false or misleading material evidence in a personal injuries action and Section 26 states that if you knowingly give false or misleading evidence then the court can dismiss your claim. In these circumstances, an order for costs could be made against you.

So, why is this relevant when dealing with The Injuries Resolution Board ?

If your claim is not resolved by The Injuries Resolution Board it will be necessary for your solicitor to issue court proceedings on your behalf. All of the the boards documentation along with all correspondence between you and the board will be made available to the Respondent insurance company.

During the The Injuries Resolution Board application process, you will be asked whether or not you have suffered any previous accidents or injuries. If you have suffered a previous accident or injury, but you advise the board that you have not, then you could fall foul of the provisions of Section 25 & 26 of the Civil Liability and Courts Act.

You could also fall foul of these provisions if you are found to be in any way exaggerating your claim or your injuries. It is of vital importance that you seek legal advice before liaising with The Injuries Resolution Board .

Read More about – Section 25 & 26 of the Civil Liability and Courts Act.

If you are involved in a road traffic accident and the person responsible for this accident did not hold a valid policy of insurance, your injury claim will be brought against the MIBI (the Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland).

In order to bring a claim against the MIBI, you must comply with the “conditions precedent” as set out in the MIBI Agreement 2009. There are strict obligations set out in this agreement and should you fail to comply with these obligations, the MIBI can decline to provide cover for the uninsured driver.

A few of the most important obligations are as follows:

• Prior notice, in writing, must be given to the MIBI, before making an application to The Injuries Resolution Board. Such notice must be made by registered post.
• There is an obligation to try and establish if there is a valid policy of insurance in place. You may be asked to provide the MIBI with proof of all endeavour made in this regard.
• The accident must be reported to the Gardai within 2 days of the accident.

As stated above, the obligations, when bringing a case against the MIBI, are very strict and must be complied with in order to bring a successful claim. If you are involved in an accident involving an uninsured driver, it is best to seek legal advice as soon as possible.

Read more: – Compensation for Hit and Run Road Accidents in Ireland – Claiming against MIBI

If your case is not resolved through the The Injuries Resolution Board process, papers will be sent to a barrister, to draft the appropriate proceedings. Contained in these papers will be a copy of the Form A completed by the claimant, along with copy medical reports and statements already made by the claimant. The personal injury summons will be drafted based on this documentation and you will then be required to swear an Affidavit of Verification.

This means that you are swearing, under oath, to the truth of the Personal Injury Summons. It is a criminal offense to swear an Affidavit of Verification that is knowingly false or misleading.  Read more about – Section 14.5 Civil Liability and Courts Act.

If a respondent accepts an assessment and you reject the assessment, there are legal ramifications. The assessment, in these circumstances, acts as a Tender. So, what does this mean. We will provide an illustrative example below:

1. The Injuries Resolution Board makes an assessment in your case in the sum of €10,000.
2. You decide to reject the assessment and issue court proceedings.
3. The respondent has accepted the assessment.
4. If your case goes to court, you must beat the assessment of €10,000 i.e., the Judge must make an award higher than €10,000. If the court makes an award lower than €10,000 it can have significant costs implications i.e., you may not be awarded any legal costs by the court.
5. If you fail to beat the assessment and no Order for Costs is made, then you will be liable to pay all costs of your own solicitor.
6. If you fail to beat the assessment and an Order for Costs in made in favour of the respondent, then that means that you will have to pay all legal costs for the respondent.

In 2003, when the The Injuries Resolution Board (PIAB) Act was first enacted, it was said to be a “solicitor free process” giving claimants the chance to settle their claims quickly and efficiently. There were no penalties set out if a claimant decided to reject the assessment and issue court proceedings.

This all changed in 2007, some 3 years later, when Section 51B was enacted.

This is the provision that sets out, if a claimant rejects an assessment and a respondent accepts an assessment, then the claimant could be held liable for all costs if they receive an award of compensation from the courts that is less than the assessment made by The Injuries Resolution Board.

So, a claimant is now told that they MUST go through the The Injuries Resolution Board process in order to bring a personal injury action. They may only submit one medical report to the board (this is absurd in situations where a claimant is seeing multiple specialists). Even if you do submit more than one report, the board will only reimburse the claimant for one report (even at that they rarely reimburse the full cost of the medical report). The Injuries Resolution Board are permitted to arrange as many medical appointments as they wish and can take up to 19 months to make as assessment. The Injuries Resolution Board will then issue their assessment allowing 28 days to make a decision on acceptance and THEN tell the claimant if they do not accept the assessment and are awarded less by a Court, they will be liable for the legal costs!

All the while, the board will continue to tell claimants that they do not need the services of a solicitor! It is hard to fathom how a claimant with no experience of the court system in Ireland, can make an informed decision after weighing all of the risks involved without consulting a solicitor.