Road Traffic Accident Injury Claims.

Under the Statute of Limitations an injured party has two years from the date of the accident within which to make an injury claim. Road traffic accidents, like all personal injury claims, must first be processed through PIAB.

However, A person under the age of 18 has 2 years from his/her 18^th birthday to commence a claim, so for example a 12 year old child has 8 years to bring a claim. Read more on Child Injury Claims.

If you have been involved in a road traffic accident and require further information please give us a call and a member of our team will be more than happy to assist you.

Based on the severity of your injuries, there are a number of factors to consider. The figure you will be awarded as compensation will be based around the unique circumstances of your injury, financial losses and future care and the overall impact this accident has and will have on your life. There are 2 types of compensation damages for which you will be awarded – General Damages and Special Damages.

Claim awards are broken into 2 categories, General Damages are in place to compensate you for the impact the injury has and will have on your life and Special Damages will consist of any out of pocket expenses. We deal with all types of motor accident claims for drivers and passengers in Ireland and overseas. We seek to achieve the best possible outcome, not only in terms of financials, but also to address medical and other needs resulting from the accident. Read more about General and Special Damages >

Were you the victim of a hit and run accident? hit by an uninsured driver? Or were you a cyclist hit by uninsured driver? The Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland (MIBI) was established to compensate victims of uninsured motorists. MIBI have agreements in place so an injury claim will be treated in the same way as a claim against a person holding a valid insurance policy.

Gardai­ Report

If you are the driver of a vehicle that has been involved in a road traffic accident the first thing you should do is call the Gardai­. An abstract report from the Gardai­ can prove to be invaluable where liability for the accident is at issue. It is also necessary to ensure that you note the contact details of all people involved in the accident, including any witnesses, and more importantly to obtain the insurance details of the other drivers involved. Once all details have been exchanged and the accident has been reported to the Gardai­ it is advisable to seek medical attention.

Following an accident you may be in shock and not realise the extent of the injuries you have sustained. Although in most cases involving road traffic accidents it is obvious who was at fault, there are cases where the issues are more complex. Road traffic accidents become more complicated where there are more than two parties involved, one party refuses to admit liability, the party at fault does not have a valid policy of insurance or the party at fault flees the scene of the accident.

Whether you or the defendant owned the company car or it belongs to a company, the claims process is the remains the same. In most cases, it’s your employers responsibility to deal the insurance company in relation to the claim. And in any road accident claim, your solicitor will seek compensation from the insurers from the negligent party.

Whether you were the driver or passenger, to be eligible for an injury claim, firstly, the injury must have been caused by another party (fully or partially). If you have been injured in a car or other accident that was not your fault, Irish law entitles you to claim for compensation. You are entitled to claim if you were a driver, passenger, pedestrian, cyclist, motorcyclist and if you were driving for work in a truck, bus, car or bike. You may also be able to bring a claim for your road accident even if the other party was uninsured.
Unless you are under 18 the accident must have happened within the last 2 years and someone else was to blame (even partly).

Payout for car accident claims

The amount of money you could claim for your injury will depend mainly on the severity of your injury, the impact this has had and will have on your life and any financial losses or costs you have incurred. At the early stages of your road accident claim, we will provide guidance on a calculated amount of compensation you are entitled to based on how the injury has affected your life. This calculation will include ‘General Damages’ and ‘Special Damages’. Although a Court retains discretion when it comes to making an award of general damages, it’s also mandatory for the Court to bases its assessment regarding A Judicial Council Personal Injuries Guidelines. These Guidelines value injuries based around body part and severity of the injury.

General Damages

The amount to which you can claim varies in every case. The value of your case in terms of General Damages will depend on the nature and severity of the injury or injuries, the pain, suffering, and inconvenience resulting from the length of time for recovery and the prognosis for the future.

Special Damages

In addition to General Damages you are entitled to claim for Special Damages – all financial losses and expense sustained by you as a result of the accident, including loss of earnings, doctors’ fees, hospital fees, medication, travelling expenses etc.
Once we take your initial instructions to handle the case, we take up reports from any Medical Practitioners you’ve been to. The early reports are usually preliminary, but this enables us to decide which Court to launch your case, i.e. the District Court which has Jurisdiction to make awards up to €15,000, the Circuit Court which has jurisdiction up to €60,000 or the High Court which has unlimited Jurisdiction.
The value of your claim will be discussed with you in some detail by us at the time of Settlement Negotiations or prior to the trial of your case.

The time it takes to finalise a case usually depends more on the medical process rather than the legal process. As a general rule we advise our clients not to attempt to settle a case within 12 months from the accident date. It is good practice to see how the injury has settled at that stage. Subject to the Medical Report. It may be opportune to try to settle the case after about 12 months, although many cases may take longer, particularly the more serious ones. On conclusion of your case, you will usually be awarded your compensation payment within approximately 4 weeks.

No Win No Fee* removes the risk for the Claimant when making an injury claim for their injuries sustained by a 3rd party. Terms and conditions will apply but in most cases If you don’t win your claim, you won’t have to pay your solicitor any legal fees.

*Solicitors Advertising Regulations
The regulations forbid the inclusion of any words or phrases which suggest that legal services relating to a compensation claim will be provided on a no win no fee basis as such prohibition is in line with the statutory ban on advertisements which encourage or induce claims for damages for personal injuries. It should be noted that there is no prohibition on solicitors in Ireland undertaking work on a no win no fee basis, and solicitors are perfectly entitled to offer their services on a no win no fee basis, and indeed many solicitors’ firms operate on a no foal, no fee basis. The restriction on solicitors is merely on the content of their advertisements.
The general right of solicitors to advertise is severely curtailed when it comes to advertising for personal injuries claims. The Solicitors (Advertising) Regulations, 2002 (S.I. No. 518 of 2002) introduced a ban on advertisements which refer to claims or possible claims for damages for personal injuries, the outcome of such claims or the provision of services by solicitors in conjunction with such claims. The regulations prohibit advertisements which “solicit, encourage or offer any inducement” to make such claims. The regulations specify that the advertisement may include, amongst other things, “factual information on the legal services and areas of law to which the services relate”. The regulations specify that the words “personal injuries” may be included in such factual information in a “list of services”.

If you are a passenger in a vehicle which is involved in a road traffic accident you will be entitled to claim, regardless of who was at fault. Unlike drivers, passengers are almost never liable for road accidents. However, a passenger who knowingly travels in an uninsured car or who knowingly travels in a vehicle being driven by an intoxicated driver may be denied compensation in the event of a collision. Whether you were in a vehicle hit by a negligent driver, or a passenger in the car that caused the accident, you will most probably be entitled to compensation.

If you were partly to blame for the Road Collision, you may still be entitled to a Compensation Award – but the final amount may be reduced. It is not always obvious who is liable for the traffic accident if multiple vehicles were involved and it’s commonplace to lay fault on both sides. Your Solicitor will be able to advice you of best case outcome from the early stages of your case. When multiple parties are to blame for an accident, then the liability is split, This is called a ‘Split Liability Agreement’.
For example, if has been proven that both parties involved were equally to blame – 50% / 50%, you may receive 50% less compensation.

The injured party, although entitled to sue in the courts for the injuries sustained, may be wasting their time if the defendant motorist has little means or assets. If the court makes an award and the Defendant is not in a position to pay the award the injured party may not succeed in their case. This problem was resolved in 1955 with the introduction of the Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland (MIBI). The MIBI was established to compensate victims of uninsured motorists. A claim against the MIBI will be treated in the same way as a claim against a person holding a valid insurance policy.

A claim may be brought against the MIBI by any person, ‘entitled in law, to bring a claim for personal injury or wrongful death which arises out of the negligent use, by an uninsured person, of a mechanically propelled vehicle’. A claim against the MIBI will be taken in the same way as a claim against a person holding a valid insurance policy.

If you’ve been involved in a road collision where the driver who caused the accident doesn’t have insurance, or the 3rd party left the scene, your accident solicitor can still get you compensation. MIBI – The Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland was established to underwrite motor insurance in Ireland so victims of road traffic accidents caused by uninsured and unidentified vehicles can be fully compensated. Circumstance include:

• Uninsured Drivers >
• Unidentified Vehicles
• Non National Registered Vehicles

If you’ve been involved in a road accident and the other party fled the scene, you can still be compensated. The MIBI Agreement enables an award to compensate victims involved in a Road Traffic Accident who have sustained personal injury caused by Unidentified vehicles / Drivers. Talk to your Solicitor and they will best advice how to start a claim of this nature.

MIBI, (as Green Card Bureau), deals with claims from parties involved in accidents, in Ireland, caused by non-national vehicles – once the country of origin is a member of the Green Card System. It’s vital to obtain relevant information from the car and driver if possible: the registration number, make and model of the vehicle, country of origin, the name of the driver and insurance details. Click here for list of Green Card Countries

All Personal Injury Cases by Irish Law, bar Medical Negligence must first be processed through PIAB (Personal Injury Assessment Board). Once you have instructed us to commence proceedings for your case, we handle all dealings with PIAB on your behalf. Our legal team will also ensure that PIAB adheres to any time limits that the case may have and deal with all queries in relation to your PIAB Application.

In order for our firm to put your claim through PIAB we must first get Your Medical Report. We obtain this medical report from your treating doctor outlining all injuries sustained by you as a result of your accident. This report is very important as PIAB will base their assessment of your claim solely on the contents of your medical report along with a 2nd Report from an Independent Medical Practitioner. We will then send a copy of this report to you along with an application form (Form A) which must be signed by you in order for us to process your claim with the Injuries Board.

If PIAB is going ahead with an assessment, it has 9 months from the date of application to make an assessment. During this time period PIAB arranges for the claimant to be assessed by an independent doctor / medical expert in order to take up a medical legal report. Once the Board is in receipt of your case documentation (which we organise on your behalf) the completed Schedule of Special Damages, Certificate of Loss of Earnings (if appropriate) and the Medical Report, they will proceed to make an assessment.

1. We (the Solicitor) will be notified in writing of the award being made by the Board.
2. You (the claimant) are given 28 days to decide whether or not you wish to accept the award.
3. The respondent is given 21 days within which to make the same decision.
4. If both parties accept the assessment then an ‘Order to Pay’ will issue and your cheque is usually requisitioned within 6 weeks.

If you have already made an application to the Board yourself without using the services of a solicitor – we will be happy to arrange a consultation to look at the paperwork and advise as to whether or not we believe that the Board has made a fair assessment of your claim.

If one or both parties reject the Assessment, PIAB will issue an Authorisation, allowing you (the claimant) to issue Court Proceedings. Even if court proceedings are issued, this  does not necessarily mean that the claimant/plaintiff will end up in court. If we do end up issuing proceedings on your behalf, in the majority of cases the claim settles before going to trial.

If you are willing to accept The PIAB Assessment and the offer of compensation, provided the other side are willing to pay it, then this is the end of the matter. However, if either you or the other side does not accept the Assessment, then the claim will proceed under the former system of Court Litigation.

It should be noted that PIAB does not award any costs, so your Legal Fees must come out of the figure assessed by PIAB. The foregoing is a very brief synopsis of the workings of PIAB and, there are all sorts of diverse situations which can and do arise. Your solicitor will fully advise you in relation to your particular circumstances.