Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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132. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the steps he is taking to ensure that insurance companies must engage with the Personal Injuries Assessment Board process. [60188/21]

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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The Personal Injuries Assessment Board Act 2003-2019 provides that all personal injury claims, with certain exceptions such as medical negligence cases, must be submitted to the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) unless they are settled at an early stage between claimants and insurers/respondents.

Under PIAB legislation consent by a respondent for an assessment is voluntary. Following the formal notice of a claim made against them a respondent has 90 days in which to indicate if they consent to PIAB assessing the claim or not. A respondent may choose not to consent to an assessment if they are disputing liability. For 2020, PIAB reported a consent rate of 55%. This voluntary basis helps ensure that the PIAB process respects the right of access of parties to the courts.

Where an assessment is made, PIAB have historically recorded acceptance rates of just over 50%, made up of a respondent (usually an insurer) acceptance rate of about 90% and a claimant acceptance rate over 50%.

The Central Bank’s ‘National Claims Information Database – 3rd Private Motor Insurance Report’ published on the 16th of November highlighted the large savings in cost and time for claimants and respondents where claims are settled through the PIAB process. The Report found that while average award levels were broadly similar through PIAB and through litigation, for settlements that were less than €100,000 the average legal costs associated with settling claims through litigation were €16,064 compared to €841 through PIAB. The Report also found that the time taken to resolve claims through litigation is 4.2 years, compared to 2.3 years through PIAB.

I am now finalising legislative proposals to deliver on the commitments contained in the Programme for Government and the Action Plan for Insurance Reform to enhance and reform PIAB. My objective is to amend the Personal Injuries Assessment Board Act 2003-2019 to facilitate an increase in the number of personal injury claims that may be resolved through the PIAB process without recourse to litigation.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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133. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the steps he is taking to introduce time limits to the Personal Injuries Assessment Board process to ensure the timely completion of cases; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60189/21]

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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The Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) facilitates the objective assessment of damages at a much lower delivery cost, and in a far shorter timeframe than through litigation.

Section 49 of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board Act 2003 provides that PIAB must assess claims within nine months of the respondent’s consent to the assessment process. In limited circumstances this may be extended by an additional six months. Further extension beyond this is only allowed with the consent of the claimant.

Notwithstanding the Covid pandemic, in 2020 PIAB processed over 26,000 claims with the average time taken to assess a claim, from the date of consent to the date of award, being nine months.

The Central Bank’s ‘National Claims Information Database – 3^rdPrivate Motor Insurance Report’ published on the 16^thof November 2021 highlighted PIAB’s valuable role in significantly reducing the timeframe for delivery of personal injuries awards and in greatly reducing associated costs.

The Report shows that while the average compensation award is broadly similar, the average time taken to resolve injury claims through PIAB is 2.3 years as against 4.2 years through litigation. It is important to note that on average a claim takes between 11-12 months from the date of an accident to the date a claim is made to PIAB.

I am finalising legislative proposals to deliver on the commitments contained in the Programme for Government and the Action Plan for Insurance Reform to enhance and reform PIAB. My objective is to amend the Personal Injuries Assessment Board Act 2003-2019 to facilitate an increase in the number of personal injury claims that may be resolved through the PIAB process without recourse to litigation, and thereby increasing the number of claims that are settled in a timely manner.