Personal injury in ireland

In Ireland, the term personal injury represents any injury to your body or your wellbeing which has been caused by the negligent actions of another party.

The most common types of personal injury are road traffic accidents, work-related injuries and medical negligence injuries.

Road traffic accidents, which unfortunately occur fairly regularly on our roads, can include minor or major injuries, and may result in fatalities in some circumstances.

Injuries that are related to the workplace can sometimes happen during the course of employment, in locations such as a factory, an office or out on a building site.

Medical negligence injuries are less frequent and unfortunately, in some cases, can have catastrophic consequences.

While a personal injury includes damage to your physical health, it also relates to any harm caused to your psychological and psychiatric wellbeing as a result of another party’s actions. Oftentimes, people can be quite shocked as a result of an accident that has happened to them and in such circumstances, there can be significant psychological trauma that will require compensation.

The first bit of information that you’re going to need is the name and address of the other party. You will also need to provide your PPS number, the name of your hospital and your own GP, and basic information regarding your background, your work, your marital status and how many children you have (if you have children).

It would also be a great help for you to have the other party’s insurance details as well as the contact details of the gardaí that came on the scene.

The first step in making a personal injury claim in Ireland is to consult with a solicitor. We’re generally available at very short notice to talk to you. We can do it by telephone initially, followed by an in-person meeting. During the course of the consultation, we will give you advice on a number of things, such as what the next steps will be, how we will help and guide you through the process, and more importantly, give you an expert assessment of your case at that very initial stage and what your likely chances of success are.

The next stage involves your solicitor assisting you in obtaining the medical report. The solicitor will also then assist you in submitting an application form to the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB). We will look after all that process on your behalf. If PIAB value your claim at a lesser figure than what we think you will get later on, we will advise you at that stage as to what our view is. The next step after that point is for you to decide how you wish to proceed. If you want to take it further – and we would likely encourage and advise you to do so – we will take you through the court process after that.

This will depend entirely upon the circumstances of the accident and how it came about.  When you come to us and tell us what happened we can then give you an assessment as to whether you have a claim for personal injury.  No two cases are the same.  Our job is to give you the proper advice, look at the legal pitfalls and give you a realistic assessment as to whether you are eligible to make a claim for personal injury.”   

Again, this is why it is always advisable to consult with a solicitor for their expert advice.

There is a time limit for claiming on personal injury – you must claim within two years of the date of the accident.

So, if the accident happened on the 1^st of January 2022, you must commence your claim before the 31^st of December 2024.

A further requirement states that within one month of the claim, you must notify the parties you believe are responsible for causing the injury to you of the fact that you intend to bring a claim. If you fail to notify the other party or parties within that one-month period, you may still bring the claim, but you will have to explain why it took you longer than one month to do so.

There are a number of headings that cover the extent of damages you can claim for personal injury in its most basic form. These include:

• Out-of-pocket expenses, such as your doctor’s bills
• Your travel bills to and from doctors and hospitals
• Charges for visits to A&E departments

In more severe cases, you can claim for loss of earnings in the event that you are out of work as a result of the injury you have suffered. This loss of earnings can be calculated up to the time of recovery.

Sometimes your recovery can be such that you might not get back to work on a full-time basis or perhaps you may not get back to work at all. In these circumstances, you can claim for loss of earnings up to the time that the case is resolved, and also into the future. You will also be entitled to claim for damages for pain and suffering in the past and pain and suffering into the future.

The first thing that will be looked at is your pain and suffering.  There are guidelines on how this is calculated and these are generally followed by a Court, the Personal Injuries Assessment Board and indeed in any settlement negotiations.  We can give you advice on this. 

The Personal Injuries Assessment Board will assess and give their opinion.  In the tiny minority of cases (about 3% to 4% that actually go to a full hearing) then a Judge will make a decision as to the value of the claim.  The next level of damages is your out of pocket expenses and the third level, if appropriate, is your loss of earnings.

It is actually relatively simple.  We gather all of the necessary information about your injuries and who is responsible. You will need to provide details of your out of pocket expenses.  With these details collected, we can get on with the job of proving the claim.

Most personal injury claims that we deal with in the Coghlan Kelly Solicitors are resolved in about two to two and a half years. 

No, they do not have to go to court. In fact, around 96 percent of personal injury claims in Ireland don’t go to court. The four percent that do go to court are usually cases where there’s a major dispute as to the effects of the injury, or there’s a major dispute as to who is responsible. Any cases involving infants (people under 18 years of age) will also always have to go to court for the judge to approve any settlement that is made or proposed in their case.

The vast majority of cases, however, end up being resolved out of court.

The Personal Injuries Assessment Board was set up at the suggestion of insurance companies who felt that this was a more efficient way of dealing with personal injury claims.

The requirement of law in Ireland is that you must, in the first instance, ask PIAB to give you an opinion as to what the value of the personal injury claim is. A PIAB application and a medical report must be submitted to PIAB and they will then arrange a separate medical examination for you. They will then, in due course, issue what their opinion on the assessed value of your claim is.

However, insurance companies may decide that they don’t want PIAB to assess the value of the personal injury claim for whatever given reason. This may be the cases in situations where there is a dispute surrounding responsibility for the incident. Many claimants will also decide not to accept PIAB assessments because they are lower than what they will recover in the event that the case is taken on further.

While it is not mandatory to appoint a solicitor for a personal injury claim, it is highly advisable. Personal Injury claims are a legal minefield with extreme complexities.  Experience and expertise is crucial, from having awareness of notification periods, what information to disclose, time limits, what to swear in Affidavits, and much more. We also know that in many situations insurance companies will look out for what they regard as their best interests and not the best interests of you, the person who’s been injured as a result of the negligence of their policy holder. Of course, you can proceed without representation, but it would not be a recommended route.