The annual report from the Injuries Board Ireland has revealed a 12 per cent increase in the value of Injuries Board assessments from 186 million Euros in 2010 to 210 million Euros in 2011.
The statistics are only for personal injury claims that have been assessed through the Injuries Board, and does not include claims that were a settlement was negotiated, or where an award was made in the High Court, or medical negligence claims.
The report from the Injuries Board Ireland does not state how many of their assessments were accepted in 2011 – the average over the past four years has been under 60 per cent – but revealed that only 35 per cent (9,834) of the claims received (27,669) were actually assessed. The vast majority of injury claims in Ireland being resolved by negotiation between the claimant’s solicitors and the insurance companies before Injuries Board assessments were made or declined for assessment.
Road traffic accident claims were once again the primary reason for Injury Board assessments in 2011, accounting for 76.5 per cent of the requests for assessment. As mentioned above, the proportion of claims for injuries at work fell from 11 per cent to 8.4 per cent, while the remainder of the claims received for Injuries Board assessments were comprised of public liability claims (15.1 per cent) for injuries sustained in places of public access (supermarket injury claims, footpath injury claims, school injury claims, etc.).
The Injuries Board Ireland does not assess claims for compensation concerning medical negligence or where full liability is not admitted.