This article is from page 19 of the 2014-03-04 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 19 JPG
WITH 275 awards totalling almost € 8 million, Clare accounted for the sixth highest number of personal injury awards in the country last year.
More Clare people opted again last year to settle their personal injury claims through the Injuries Board.
The board makes awards relating to motor, employer and public liability accidents, without the need for litigation.
The board’s annual review showed that its non-adversarial model has delivered direct savings of over € 72m in 2013, relative to the prior litigation.
The average award in Clare was € 28,747 and total compensation for the county amounted to € 7.9m million.
The number of new claims received by the board in 2013, a useful barometer of future award volumes, increased by 5.8 per cent last year, driven by an 8.2 per cent increase in motor claims, which are typically of lower value.
Neighbouring County Limerick had the largest number of awards as a proportion of population with 788 people claiming through the board.
The average award in Limerick was lower than in Clare however at € 21,010.
Patricia Byron, CEO of the Injuries Board said, “I am pleased that as a self-funding agency, the board has delivered cumulative savings of € 1 billion on the cost of handling personal injury claims with no cost to the Exchequer and at considerable benefit to insurance policy holders.”
“Last year the board’s processing fee to respondents, typically insurers, reduced by 30 per cent from € 850 to € 600 and, as a result, the cost of processing personal injury claims is now at historically low levels.”