A girl who initially accepted a €21,000 damages assessment from the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) for injuries sustained in a road traffic accident has been granted an order rejecting this assessment and a declaration that the PIAB can authorise legal proceedings. Finding that the i
Personal Injury
Northern Ireland councils have paid out at least £1.3 million in personal injury cases since 2015, according to new figures. A total of £1,350,497 was paid out by six councils who disclosed their pay-outs to the Belfast Telegraph, while the other five councils said they did not have a pr
Mason Hayes & Curran partner Deirdre Munnelly and associate Aisling Pierce examine a recent judgment criticising lawyers who refer their clients for specialist medical evaluation in the absence of a referral from the client’s primary treating doctor. On appeal to the High Court, two person
Ministers are planning to bring proposals to the Dáil to protect sports clubs from some personal injuries claims, according to reports. Michael D'Arcy, minister of state with responsibility for insurance reform, told the Irish Independent that proposals to amend the Civil Liability Act and th
The Bar Council of Ireland has rejected claims that it has "unilaterally" dropped a long-standing undertaking to limit the number of senior counsel involved in personal injury cases. David Mack, head of legal services at the State Claims Agency (SCA), told the Oireachtas justice committee that the B
A cyclist who suffered a broken foot when a motorist drove over his foot at a junction has been awarded €20,640 in the High Court. His original claim was for €51,600 in damages, however Mr Justice David Keane apportioned only 40 per cent liability to the motorist for failing to keep a prop
New figures have "shone a statistical searchlight on the false and exaggerated claims of the Irish motor insurance industry", the Law Society of Ireland has said. The Central Bank of Ireland yesterday published figures showing that premiums increased by 42 per cent between 2009 and 2018, despite the
Average motor insurance premiums increased by 42 per cent between 2009 and 2018, despite the cost of claims per policy decreasing by 2.5 per cent over the same period, according to new Central Bank of Ireland figures. The bank's first annual Private Motor Insurance Report of the National Claims Info
Four models for capping personal injury awards have been set out by the Law Reform Commission in an issues paper published today. The Cost of Insurance Working Group (CIWG) and the Personal Injuries Commission (PIC) previously recommended that the law reform body should examine whether a statutory c
Personal injury solicitors are not guilty of misconduct just because their client's claim has been dismissed, a High Court judge has affirmed in response to allegations from an insurance firm. Mr Justice Charles Meenan made the comments as he refused an application from Aviva Insurance for a wasted
A meeting of the seven "members designate" of the Personal Injuries Guidelines Committee will be convened early next week by Ms Justice Mary Irvine of the Supreme Court, Ireland's top judge has announced. The Chief Justice, Mr Justice Frank Clarke, confirmed that he had designated the membership of
The new statutory scheme providing for periodic payment orders (PPO) for plaintiffs with catastrophic injuries has been described as “a dead letter” in the High Court. Noting that the Courts did not have discretion to fix an increase other than that specified in the Harmonised Index
A pedestrian who was struck by a driver on an N road in Longford has had his personal injuries claim against the driver dismissed in the High Court. Stating that the case turned on the appropriate application of The Rules of the Road, Mr Justice David Keane said that if the pedestrian had followed t
The Chief Justice of Ireland, Mr Justice Frank Clarke, has identified judges to sit on the Judicial Council's personal injuries guidelines committee, he announced this morning. Ireland's top judge told Insurance Ireland's annual fraud conference in Dublin that he had picked judges from the High Cour
Personal injury solicitors Una O'Neill and Gerard Nugent have celebrated three successful appeals which led to higher pay-outs for their clients. The pair, who practice at Northern Ireland-based JMK Solicitors, advised their clients, including the representatives of two children, that the sum awarde