Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The cost of insurance working group, chaired by my colleague, the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy D’Arcy, has undertaken a review of the factors which are influencing the increased cost of insurance. Its objective is to identify immediate and longer-term measures which can address increasing costs while bearing in mind the need to maintain a stable insurance sector. The first phase of this work involved an examination of the motor insurance sector. The second phase involved an examination of the employer liability insurance and public liability insurance sectors.

The work of the cost of insurance working group is complemented by the work of the Personal Injuries Commission, PIC. I was pleased to submit the second and final report of the PIC to the Government on 18 September 2018. The publication of this report concluded the challenging work programme of the PIC since its establishment in January 2017 on foot of a recommendation in the cost of insurance working group motor report.

The benchmarking exercise, undertaken by independent consultants on behalf of the PIC and published in this second and final report, has revealed that the level of general damages for whiplash injuries in this jurisdiction runs at a multiple of typically 4.4 times that of our nearest neighbours, England and Wales. This multiple is of such a magnitude that the PIC is satisfied that it calls for a response that is both effective and achievable in the shortest possible time.

The key recommendation in the report follows the example of judicial intervention which has occurred in Northern Ireland and in the UK, namely the introduction of judicial guidelines for judges. The PIC believes that the imminent statutory establishment of the Irish Judicial Council provides a unique opportunity to seek and obtain guidance for judges in measuring general damages for personal injury. Judicial guidelines should lead to greatly increased levels of consistency in awards, enable early resolution of claims and reduce costs.

I welcome the publication in November by the Personal Injuries Assessment Board, PIAB, of data on whiplash related injury compensation awards resulting from road traffic accidents. The publication of these data delivers on a recommendation from the first report of the Personal Injuries Commission published in December 2017 and involved analysis of approximately 4,500 awards made in the first six months of 2018.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House

The Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2018, which is scheduled for Committee Stage this evening, is an important measure to encourage more personal injury claims to be settled within the Personal Injuries Assessment Board, PIAB, process. PIAB facilitates the objective assessment of damages at a much lower delivery cost and in a far shorter timeframe than through litigation. PIAB processes claims within 7.3 months compared to several years for litigation. Therefore, encouraging more claimants to finalise their cases through the PIAB model rather than resorting to litigation should lead to cost savings in the claims environment. This is good for society as a whole as it delivers compensation more quickly, with lower costs and predictable outcomes.

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