Personal injury fraudsters could be jailed for ten years if tough new proposals aimed at speeding up the settlement of compensation claims become law.
The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr McDowell, today published an outline of legislation he hopes will counter the high cost of insuring against personal injury claims while at the same time simplifying the process for paying out to successful claimants.
One of the many proposals is a process for settling claims through the courts but without recourse to a trial and a requirement that an offer of mediation be accepted at the request of any party.
The Bill is part of an integrated strategy which includes the penalty points system and the long-awaited Personal Injury Assessment Board (PIAB), which was set up on an interim basis last November.
In May, the Tánaiste, Ms Harney, announced that the PIAB is intended to assess work-related claims, motor injuries and public liability.
Announcing the main points of the Bill today, Mr McDowell said the wide range of measures were needed to address a compensation culture which encourages people to pursue a personal injury claim through a system which is too costly.
"This has very negative knock on effects for the whole of society," Mr McDowell said. "The objective is to reform the law relating to personal injuries and the procedure involved in taking personal injury actions so to contribute to the easing of the insurance burden on both the business and personal sectors while, at the same time, ensuring that genuine claimants receive proper compensation for the wrongful acts which caused them injury."
The Minister made particular mention of the provision requiring pleadings and documentation to be supported by affidavit.
"The intention is that a person who includes false material in his/her pleadings will be guilty of perjury ... it means that a person will not be able to institute proceedings in the hope that the defendant's insurance company will be induced to settle without the plaintiff having to go into the witness box and perjure themselves in support of a false claim," Mr McDowell said.
The Bill also proposes to allow information on damages awarded to be made available to the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Social and Family Affairs.
The main provisions of the Bill:
- Dismissal of actions or defences where a court is satisfied a party to a personal injury claim has knowingly tendered false or exaggerated evidence
- A requirement that all court pleading documents which contain statements of fact are supported by a sworn affidavit simple narrative form
- The creation of new offences of swearing a verifying affidavit falsely; tendering adducing false evidence; falsely instructing a solicitor
These offences will carry a maximum penalty of ten years' imprisonment and/or a fine
- Reduction of the limitation period for personal injuries actions from three years to one year
- Alteration of the procedure for taking a personal injury claim to ensure defendants are notified at an early stage and that the information provided is full and descriptive
- Introduction of a power to convene a mediation conference to settle claims before they reach trial
- Powers for Courts to accept written statements of evidence
- Powers for Courts to have pre-trial conferences to end the length of trial
- Provision for requiring parties to make final offers before trial
- Exclusion from the determination of damages of any income which was not declared for tax purposes
- Taking into account of all insurance benefits paid to a claimant in assessing damages
- Appointment of neutral medical assessors
- A provision that a court, in determining damages for a personal injury, shall have regard to any damages previously awarded to a plaintiff in such an action
The Minister is also considering a provision to allow the Attorney General intervene in the public interest in certain types of litigation.
The Bill is due for publication in the autumn.