Some are sceptical about the Personal Injuries Assessment Board but it mayturn out to be a case of it having to work, writes Barry O'Halloran
This year will be the acid test for a measure that the Tánaiste, Ms Harney, has been trumpeting as key to cutting the rocketing insurance bills landed on Irish business year after year.
The Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB), the "lawyer-free zone" for dealing with compensation claims, will begin its work some time this year. Ms Harney has stated that the measure will radically cut claims costs by eliminating the need to go to court in some cases. The Government estimates that it will result in a 7 per cent saving in insurance costs, assuming the insurers pass on the savings.
PIAB, as it's known, will begin by dealing with employers' liability and progress to motor claims before possibly taking on some other areas of Irish personal injuries law. It is going to operate on a very simple premise, compensation for injuries where liability is not contested, will be awarded by a three-person board.
If you're injured, the system is designed to be simple. A Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment draft guide to the PIAB states it will involve filling out a form and sending this, along with a €50 payment and other supporting documents, to the board. It will also require a medical report from the doctor that treated you, for which you will be paid €150 when your case is over.
Assuming the other party is not contesting, the claim will then be assessed, and damages awarded. If either party objects, then they can take the issue to court. It's worth noting that even if the defendant does not contest liability in the PIAB, they can do so in court. That applies even if the defendant is the party that is seeking to go to court after first going to the assessment board. So is the PIAB going to work?
"It's not going to reduce the cost of claims, it will make savings in the associated costs, like legal costs, expert witnesses and experts' reports," says Irish Insurance Federation (IIF) chief executive, Mr Mike Kemp. He does believe that in the vast majority of cases, plaintiffs will have no need for legal advice. It is on this that PIAB's ability to cut costs will hinge.
But Bar Council chairman, Mr Conor Maguire, is sceptical. He points out that the draft guidelines, aimed at potential lay applicants to the board, state that to qualify for compensation in the first place, you have to show the party you are suing was legally responsible for your safety and failed to meet that responsibility.
He points out that this is essentially a legal question, and that while it will be easy to answer in many cases, it may not in many others. He argues that where claimants have to go to a lawyer to clarify whether or not they have a case, those costs will come out of their award.
Both he and Mr Ken Murphy, director general of solicitor's body, the Law Society, are sceptical about the argument that insurance companies will pass on any savings. Mr Maguire says that the level of compensation has fallen by 30 per cent, but insurance costs have not.
"I think it's more likely that the insurance companies will pass on the benefits to their shareholders," Mr Murphy says. However, he argues that once it is up and running, the Government will make the case that PIAB is delivering savings. So, it's not so much a case whether or not PIAB will work, and more of a case that it has to work.
