PERSONAL INJURY claims rose 10 per cent last year and further increases can be expected as a result of the downturn in the economy, according to the State body that processes claims, Injuriesboard.ie.
Last year, the organisation, formerly known as the personal injuries assessment board, handled a record 23,000 claims and says it resolved over 80 per cent of cases with a saving of €100 million.
As a result, it claims, two-thirds of personal injury cases avoid the "unnecessary litigation" associated with the former legal-oriented system of settling claims.
In its annual report published yesterday, the board said it assessed cases four times faster and 70 per cent cheaper than the previous system.
However, its work is still meeting with resistance from consumers, with over 90 per cent of clients opting to have a solicitor process their claim. The acceptance rate for awards has risen from 60 per cent to 65 per cent in the past two years, but the board says that when cases decided at a preliminary stage are included, the overall acceptance rate is 81 per cent.
There is also controversy over the extent to which insurance companies have passed on savings to customers in the form of lower premiums. Although premiums dropped after the board was set up in 2004, insurers have been warning recently that prices are on the rise again.
Injuriesboard.ie chief executive Patricia Byron has warned against undue premium increases. "I don't see at this moment any figures to support an increase in premiums. Vigilance is required until such time as the case is proven. We can't afford an increase at a time when the economy is under strain," she said.
The board has been trying unsuccessfully to get individual insurers to reveal the details of the settlements they make in personal injury cases. As a result, the Department of Enterprise is considering introducing legislation to force the sector to supply this information for analysis by State bodies.
Ms Byron said she expected a "marginal" increase in claims this year: "This is always what happens when there is a downturn in the economy."
Ms Byron was confident that the number of motor claims would drop once the long-delayed plans to install speed cameras nationwide were realised. Motoring incidents account for 56 per cent of cases and 72 per cent of awards.
Some solicitors are still trying to get legal costs for representing claims clients, in spite of legislative changes introduced two years ago to make this more difficult, according to Ms Byron.
Limerick and Louth are the counties where making a claim is most likely, with over 50 per cent more claims per capita than the average. Kilkenny had the lowest number of claims, 42 per cent below the national average.
The average award last year was just over €22,000; the lowest award was €1,000 and the highest €620,000.
