Personal injury claimants will be better placed to avoid unnecessary legal fees following a recent move by the Central Bank to compel insurance companies to forward information about the Injuries Board to potential claimants as soon as they become aware of the potential claim. The move — which came into force on January 1 2012 — could result in savings of upwards of €2,000 per claim or up to €20 million per annum according to the Injuries Board.
Since mid 2004 all personal injury claims — motor, workplace and accidents in public places — must be processed through the State Board. However many consumers were unaware of just how straight forward it is to submit a claim directly, without incurring any legal fees. By informing claimants about the Injuries Board much earlier in the process this new initiative is expected to deliver substantial cost savings of upwards of €2,000 per claim and many multiples of this for bigger awards.
Commenting, Patricia Byron, chief executive of InjuriesBoard.ie said: “Direct claims are the final piece in the jigsaw to reduce the cost of personal injury claims without reducing the size of awards to claimants. However we believe that many claimants are needlessly reducing their net award by paying out legal fees to have someone submit information on their behalf. This is a straight forward process and our independent customer-contact staff are available to assist as necessary. Our best advice is if you’ve suffered the injury you should also benefit from the full compensation.”
