---

Motor sector drives 10% rise in claims to IRB

The Injuries Resolution Board, formerly known as PIAB, has said that it received 20,263 claim applications last year – an increase of 10% compared with 2022.

Writing in the body’s annual report, chief executive Rosalind Carroll said that this was mainly due to a 14% jump in motor claims, with employer and public-liability claim figures relatively stable.

Carroll added that total claim volumes remained 35% lower than in 2019, with the board seeing signs of a decline in claims for minor injuries since the introduction of the Personal Injuries Guidelines in 2021.

“The claims environment is very different than before the pandemic, and while the claim volumes are seeing some growth now, the level of growth remains relatively low,” Carroll stated.

Acceptance rate up

The report shows that the acceptance rate for IRB assessments rose from 44% in 2022 to 48%.

Just over two-thirds of the 9,000 assessments made by the board last year were linked to motor claims.

The total value of awards last year was €170 million – an increase of more than 20% on the previous year.

Average awards

The average value of awards made by the board last year was €18,537 – down 23% compared with the 2020 figure, which was assessed under the Book of Quantum.

The median award in all categories was €11,650 – a drop of 37% compared with the 2020 figure.

The average award was, however, up from €15,857 in 2022.

A breakdown of average figures by category showed:

• Motor liability €16,180 (up from €13,975 in 2022),
• Public liability €20,396 (up from 16,833),
• Employer liability €27,610 (up from €22,989).

The board says that €75 million in legal costs was saved last year by its resolution of claims.

The average timeline to assess a claim last year was 11.3 months.

In December, the board launched a new mediation service for employer-liability claims. This has been extended to public liability and is expected to include the motor sector by the end of this year.

Special damages

A separate report on the second half of 2023 showed that the median award value for the six-month period was €12,212.

The board said that there has been an increase in median and average award values, driven by changes in the type of injuries being assessed, in addition to an increase in special damages or out-of-pocket expenses, such as loss of earnings.

It said that these changes reflected the wider inflationary environment.

In second half of 2023, the percentage of severe or serious injury awards was more than twice that of 2021 – increasing from 2% to 5% of claims.

At the same time, the percentage of claims for minor injuries reduced from 86% to 76%.