The Injuries Board processes all personal injury claims in Ireland to include motor, employer and public liability claims.
The Injuries Board process is a paper based process and claimants can deal directly with the Board or choose to appoint a Solicitor to deal with their application.
The Injuries Board process is as follows-
- An Application is submitted via a Form A, a medical report and a fee of €45.
- The Respondent is notified of the application by the Injuries Board.
- The Injuries Board receive consent from the Respondent to assess compensation.
- The file is given to the assessment team and they proceed to arrange an independent medical examination for the applicant.
- The assessment is then made by the Injuries Board and the parties are notified of the award.
- Both parties can either accept or reject the award.
- If the award is accepted the file is closed and an Order to Pay is issued
- If the assessment is rejected the Injuries Board issue an Authorisation which allows the Claimant to bring their case to Court.
Why use a Solicitor to deal with your Case?
The Injuries Board make assessments based on medical reports. Many medical reports are not detailed and do not provide a prognosis as to future time scales for recovery. If the medical report does not contain this information then the Injuries Board will not provide a figure for future pain and suffering and the award will be reduced considerably.
There is nobody to protect the claimants position if they do not have independent legal advice. If the wrong Defendant is named on the Injuries Board application form and legal issues arise later on it may be too late to change the name of the Defendant. It is up to the claimant to ensure that they are proceeding against the correct legal entity. In many cases failure to preserve important evidence at the commencement of the case can also lead to evidential problems later on. Examples can be accident sites, accident report forms and equipment that can often be destroyed. Therefore, it is important to have an experienced personal injury Solicitor protecting your interests from day one.
