PIAB (The Personal Injury Assessment Board) is an independent government body which assess personal injury claims and makes personal injury awards in Ireland. They make their assessment based on PIAB guidelines.
All personal injury claims, which include accidents at work, accidents in a public place and holiday accidents, must first be lodged with the PIAB. To do that, the individual bringing the claim, known as the claimant, must fill out an application form online and submit it with a medical report from the doctor, which sets out the full details of the injury. The application is then sent to the Respondent, who is the Defendant or the person who you are holding responsible for your injury. PIAB then have 90 days from when you lodge your application to advise you of whether the Respondent has consented to PIAB assessing your claim or not.
If the Respondent/Defendant believes that they are not responsible for the accident or if there is a dispute as to liability and who is responsible for the accident, then they may decline to have the claim assessed by PIAB. If that happens, an Authorisation will be issued to your solicitor, allowing them to start Court proceedings on your behalf. However, if the Respondent/Defendant consents to the case being assessed by PIAB, then PIAB must assess your claim within nine months from the date they confirm that they are going to proceed with the assessment. During that time, it is likely that they will have you assessed by an independent doctor and they will also require details of your special damages, which include any out-of-pocket expenses which you have incurred as a result of the accident. These include doctor’s fees, hospital fees, physiotherapy fees and also loss of earnings in the event that you are out of work and suffered loss of earnings due to the accident.
PIAB will then make an assessment of what your claim is worth and they will send a copy of that assessment to you and your solicitor. Once your solicitor receives that, they will immediately have a consultation with you to discuss that with you. You can choose to either accept or reject the assessment and your solicitor will guide you in that regard. If you accept the assessment, then PIAB will issue an order to pay which in effect directs that the money is paid to you by the Defendant/Respondent and/or their insurance company. In the event that you decline the assessment then an authorisation will be issued from the PIAB Board that will allow you to take Court proceedings for your case.
If you have any questions our specialized Personal Injury Claims team is here to help.
You can contact McCormack Solicitors on
Email: info@carolmccormacksolicitors.ie
Phone: 071 9621846
www.carolmccormacksolicitors.ie
*In contentious business, a solicitor may not calculate fees or other charges as a percentage or proportion of any award or settlement.
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The contents of these pages are provided as an information guide only. While every effort is made in preparing material for publication no responsibility is accepted by or on behalf of McCormack Solicitors for any errors, omissions or misleading statements on these pages or any site to which these pages connect.
