The Government is expected to announce new proposals today for dealing with compensation for personal injuries which will take them out of the courts and place them in the hands of an assessment board.
The proposals will involve a major departure from the existing method of dealing with personal injuries arising from accidents at work and on the roads, and could mean a reduction in the damages paid.
They involve setting up a Personal Injuries Assessment Board, which will examine claims for personal injuries. The board will be made up of a legal chairman, a representative of the insurance industry, and a representative of the social partners.
It is not clear whether people will be obliged to present their case first to this board, or whether this will be optional. It is likely it will initially deal with occupational injuries, and be extended later to injuries arising from road traffic accidents.
The assessment for damages will be based on a file of documents, rather than direct evidence from the injured party, who will have no automatic right to be heard. The board will, however, have discretion to call a person to a hearing.
This means the board can come to its conclusions without hearing directly from the victim. It will also know what the insurance company is offering.
At the moment claims for personal injuries are dealt with by the courts, though they are often settled beforehand. Judges do not know what an insurance company is offering when they come to their conclusion.
This system has been criticised, notably by IBEC and the insurance industry, on cost grounds. One of the main elements has been legal costs, as both litigants and the insurance companies have full legal representation.
Following a report on insurance costs by Deloitte and Touche, a working group was set up to consider alternatives to the system. It completed its report about a year ago, and this forms the basis of the proposals from the Department of Enterprise and Employment.
The proposed system will undoubtedly reduce legal costs. It is likely to be strongly criticised by representatives of the legal profession.
However, given the weight of the insurance industry on the proposed board, and the possibility that the social partners may be represented by an employers' representative, there may also be fears that those injured at work will lose out in terms of compensation.