Ms Dorothea Dowling:

That is the separation of powers. That is what the Court of Appeal has said is to be the law in this country from now on. It is not up to the PIAB to contradict the Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal has said that what we have been doing in the past is not proportionate, is not treating like cases alike, is not scientific and is too arbitrary. There are issues with doctors who are appearing here all the time. They simply change the name on the top of the form, whether it is a whiplash report, soft tissue or whatever.

However, there are issues around the value we put on injuries in this country. For example, the Northern Irish book of quantum is much higher in compensation than the UK average. There are no reasons for these things. They are just historic but that is not necessarily the way we want to go in the future. The Court of Appeal has said that this ought to be the way of the future. It is also the way it is done in mainland Europe - the percentage of disability. It would make this market much more attractive to new entrants who would be used to that scale and would know where it slots in. Predictability is the big issue for everybody, both claimant and defendant.