Under the Civil Liability Act 2004 Judges have to consider the Injuries Board Book of Quantum when assessing compensation for personal injuries.
The Board published its first Book of Quantum in 2004 and the second Book of Quantum was published in October 2016. The revised guidelines were commissioned and published in accordance with the Personal Injuries Assessment Board Act 2003 and are available at www.injuriesboard.ie.
The Book of Quantum deals with compensation amounts for head, neck, back and upper limb injuries. It also provides compensation levels for lower limb and internal organ failures.
The new Book was prepared by Verisk Analytics (ISO) who are a global provider of data. The general guidelines were based on an examination of a representative sample of over 51,000 closed personal injury claims during 2013 and 2014. The analysis included compensation awards made by the Courts, insurance company settlements, State Claims Agency cases and data relating to awards of the Injuries Board.ie.
The new Book of Quantum will provide important data to Judges, insurance companies and personal injury claimants. As there are more injury types in the new guidelines, the brackets have been expanded significantly to reflect current prevailing awards, the range of compensation for a proportion of injury types have increased while others have been reduced. Also, the recession and the introduction of the new Court of Appeal has reduced by at least 25% or more the value of awards being currently made by the Courts.
