The Personal Injuries Assessment Board, abbreviated as PIAB, is an independent state body in Ireland tasked with assessing personal injury claims. The Injuries Board deals with applications regarding personal injury claims and the making of assessments ie quantum of damages. The Injuries Board is an independent state body, is not a court, has no judicial function, and applicants are not required to attend the Injuries Board to give evidence.

A question asked is how do the Injuries Board quantify claims or make their assessments and what is the value of my claim ?.

What’s termed the book of quantum contains guidelines that determine the value of claims. The Injuries Board will refer to it when assessing your claim and this Book of Quantum categorises the type of injury, the severity of the injury to reach a value for the claim.

The principle of damages in civil law personal injury claims is restitution in nature, meaning simply that the intention/purpose of damages is to put the person ie the injured party back into the position they occupied before the accident occurred.

Damages in such cases are divided between General Damages and Special Damages.

Special Damages are the financial losses a person sustained as a result of the injury, such as income loss and medical bills etc. Personal injuries can affect a persons ability to work, and if injured due to another’s negligence, this item of special damage should be sought in a case.

General Damages concern compensation for the pain and suffering the person had to go through. Yes, this depends on the person’s individual injury, duration of the injury, treatment involved etc. but it also includes the effect of the accident on the persons life, such as work, or their home life etc. It is not amenable to a straightforward monetary loss calculation, such as the special damages loss computation.

How can we put a monetary figure or value on an individuals pain ?. It’s not an easy task.

When assessing general damages, a court will have regard to the above-mentioned factors, but will also give consideration to the incomes of the country, the proportionality of the award, and fairness to both the plaintiff ie the person injured and the defendant in the case in the context of the award.

Personal Injury Solicitors

Kieran Cleary and Roger Cleary, Personal Injury Solicitors can help with questions you may have regarding negligence, liability, case viability etc. and our numbers are (01) 546 1121 or  (052) 612 1999 or our email address is info@clearysolicitors.com

DISCLAIMER

Please be advised that the above-mentioned material is intended as an overview and as a broad outline of the topic discussed. It should not be considered as complete and comprehensive legal advice, nor act as an appropriate substitute.
Due care has been taken in the publication of this article and we do not accept legal liability as a result of reliance on any material covered in the above article.

Personal Injuries * In contentious business, a Solicitor may not calculate fees or other charges as a percentage or proportion of any award or settlement.