Mr. Jackie McMahon:

I will give two or three more examples around the key point of time. The length of time can determine the costs not the severity of the pain. This is the key insight I can bring. For example, we had a claimant who suffered neck and upper back injuries. The Personal Injuries Assessment Board, PIAB, awarded €14,700 at 12 months after the accident based on a medical examination that the plaintiff would recover within 16 months of the accident. The case went to trial and 4.8 years later - the claimant alleging ongoing complaint - the judge awarded him €33,000, and costs were set at €16,700.

Another case of soft tissue injury to neck and shoulder, for example, was awarded €9,900 by PIAB one year and ten months after the accident. In his report the claimant's own GP expressed the view that she was 100% recovered six months after the accident. The case went to court and the judge awarded €33,700. The claimant was alleging ongoing complaints and stated that she did not agree with her own GP's first report.

A case that was not a soft tissue injury was a claimant who suffered scarring to the lower leg and post-traumatic stress after being bitten by a dog. PIAB made an award one year and 11 months after the accident for €78,600. The case went to trial in the High Court two years and eight months after the accident and the claimant was awarded €103,000, and legals costs of €41,000.

We can talk about a lot of aspects on the margins and on the periphery of insurance costs, but a key point and the fundamental issue is that the legal system is too generous. It is too generous by a factor of five timeS, especially on soft tissue injuries, which is where the real problem is. It is incentivised because a dragged out, long and slow process generates significant legal costs. At the end of the day the claimant wins because he or she gets a higher award and the lawyers win because they get significant fees. Businesses, consumers and those who pay insurance lose. Ultimately society loses. Everything else helps with the margins but that is the significant issue that needs to be addressed. We need to use that to change what is fundamentally a very high claims culture in Ireland.