The Government intends to establish on a statutory basis a Personal Injuries Assessment Board to improve the efficiency of the insurance claims process.
Making the announcement, Noel Treacy, the Minister for Science, Technology and Commerce, announced said the Personal Injuries Assessment Board would provide an independent forum which will decide on compensation for injured parties quickly and in an unintimidating environment.
The board is not intended to reduce the amount of awards to injured parties. Rather the emphasis will be on reducing the costs of delivering compensation. It will decide on the amount of personal injury compensation arising from employers liability, in its initial operational phase and will later assume responsibility for motor insurance claims.
The Government has established an implementation group to set up the Board and to decide on such matters as financing, administration, IT requirements and staffing. The Government plans to have this board up and running and dealing with employers liability claims early in 2002.
The Governments decision is based on the recommendations of a Special Working Group, set up in December 1996 to advise on alternative means of dealing with personal injury compensation, with a view to reducing insurance premiums. The main recommendation of the Second Report of the Special Working Group was the establishment of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board. The Personal Injuries Assessment Board will provide a more efficient means of deciding upon the level of compensation associated with a particular injury. |
