Published on Monday1stApril2019

Minister Humphreys commences the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) Act 2019

01/04/2019

Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Heather Humphreys TD signing the Commencement Order for the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) Act 2019 with Mr Conor O’Brien, CEO Personal Injuries Assessment Board and Mr Dermot Divilly, Chairman Personal Injuries Assessment Board.
  • Legislation to ensure greater compliance with the PIAB process, which delivers compensation more quickly and less expensively than litigation.
  • Encouraging more claimants to finalise their cases through the PIAB process should lead to cost savings in the claims environment.
  • Where a claimant fails to cooperate with the PIAB process and proceedings are brought forward, the Court may, in its discretion, take this into account. 

The Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys T.D., today announced (1 April 2019) that the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) Act 2019 will come into operation on 3 April 2019.  Minister Humphreys has signed the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) Act 2019 (Commencement) Order 2019.

The Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) facilitates fair and objective assessments of damages in personal injury cases. The Act strengthens the PIAB to ensure greater compliance with the process and encourage more claims to be settled through the model.  

Minister Humphreys said:

This is an important piece of legislation because enhancing the role of the PIAB will not only benefit users of the service but also society more generally.

Many commentators have suggested that the cost of personal injury claims is a contributing factor to the high cost of insurance premiums and, as Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, I am acutely aware of the serious impacts of this on businesses.

The PIAB model is a good one because it deals with cases in a far shorter timeframe than is possible through litigation, which often takes several years and has a higher delivery cost.  Ultimately it delivers compensation more quickly and less expensively.

As a result, by encouraging more claimants to finalise their cases through the PIAB model, this should lead to cost savings in the claims environment. This is good for businesses and consumers alike.

The Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) Act 2019 is available on www.irishstatutebook.ie.

The Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) Act 2019 (Commencement) Order 2019 is available on www.dbei.gov.ie.