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Personal-injury trends stabilising, says IRB

A report from the Injuries Resolution Board (IRB) has said that personal-injury trends stabilised last year when compared with 2023.

The board said that 20,318 personal-injury claim applications were made to it last year – a 1% increase from 2023.

Motor-liability claims increased by 4% from 2023, while employer-liability claim volumes dropped by 5%, and the total number of public-liability claims remained unchanged.

Its latest report on personal-injury award values also shows that the median value of awards it made last year was €13,000 – up 12% compared with the previous year.

The IRB added, however, that the median value showed a 29% fall when compared with 2020, the last full year before the introduction of the Personal Injuries Guidelines.

Applications down 35% from 2019

Claim applications remain 35% lower than 2019 figures, the report shows, with employer-liability and public-liability claims decreasing by 40% and motor-liability claims down by 30% during this period.

The IRB uses 2019 as a comparison, as it was the last ‘normal’ year before the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The data provides further evidence of the impact of wider environmental changes on personal-injury claim volumes – including legislative reforms and the introduction of the Personal Injuries Guidelines in 2021,” the IRB said.

More awards under €15,000

On the value of awards, the board stated that the median award value highlighted “a significant sustained reduction in compensation amounts” since the introduction of the guidelines.

In 2020, it added, just 30% of awards were valued under €15,000, compared with 59% of awards in the second half of 2024.

The proportion of awards valued at €50,000 last year was 7%, compared with 8% in 2023.

The acceptance rate for IRB assessments was 50% last year. This figure does not include cases that were successfully resolved by its mediation service.

The IRB report says that recent legislative changes enabling it to assess wholly psychological injuries have influenced the injury profile, with psychiatric damage cases increasing from 5% of awards in 2021 to 14% of awards made in the second half of 2024.

The slight increase of 1% in the proportion of psychiatric damage awards in the second half of 2024 compared with the first half “suggests that this trend has now stabilised”, the board states.

Injury types

Dr Lauren Swan (IRB head of research and policy) said that the report showed that, while award values increased overall in 2024, for the first time, award statistics such as the median award value remained consistent in both halves of the year.

“Similarly, trends in injury types appear to have stabilised, with the growth in psychiatric damage claims noted in previous periods slowing,” she added.

“Additionally, the average compensation amounts for financial losses incurred as a result of accidents, termed special damages, remained unchanged from the previous year, while the maximum value of compensation awarded was similar to 2023,” Dr Swan stated.