News & Insights
IP installation reduces bogus injury claims
Tackling bogus ‘slip and fall’ personal injury claims is one of the many innovative functions of an award winning IP installation at a shopping centre. The installation at the Douglas Court Shopping Centre in Cork, Ireland, has won a ‘Best Security Solution’ award for Axis Communications, Milestone Systems and integrator RPC Consultants. The partnership won […]
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Psychiatric nurses end action after deal
Psychiatric nurses have ended industrial action in a dispute over compensation for assaults in the workplace after they backed a settlement reached at the Labour Relations Commission earlier this week. The Psychiatric Nurses’ Association and Siptu said they would lift their ban on overtime and that all units affected by the dispute will be fully […]
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Personal injury payouts higher for men
Men receive higher average payouts than women when it comes to claims through the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB), but women make more claims. But this can be explained by higher car-ownership and higher wages among men, according to Patricia Byron, chief executive of the PIAB. In all, the PIAB awarded EUR181m in claims last […]
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Switchboard operators claim hearing loss
A group of former telephone operators are to issue civil proceedings in the coming weeks against Eircom for loss of hearing. It has beenlearned that a leading audiologist has tested more than 150 retired operators, two thirds of whom showed varying signs of hearing loss. The Communication Workers Union has confirmed that a number of […]
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PIAB plans to pay vulnerable claimants solicitors fees
The Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) plans to pay legal fees to solicitors who represent ‘‘vulnerable’’ personal injury claimants. PIAB has said that additional costs might be justified for certain claimants because of ‘‘exceptional circumstances, which may inhibit their access to the service’’. The fees will normally be paid by the respondent insurance company. The […]
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Victims lose out due to PIAB loopholes
Loopholes in Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) legislation could deprive personal injuries victims of damages, according to legal experts. Since 2004, all personal injury claims relating to workplace, motor and public liability accidents have had to be submitted to PIAB. In its annual report, PIAB said it made awards worth EUR115.3 million last year – […]
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PIAB awards rose sharply last year
Preliminary figures from the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) show that awarded EUR181m to 8,200 claimants last year. The value of awards was up 56%, while the number of awards was 47% higher. The average award was up 7% at just over EUR22,000, with the highest single award EUR620,000. The PIAB was set up in […]
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Compensation delay to crash victims criticised
Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey has criticised the Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland for delays in paying compensation to victims of road crashes. The MIBI was set up by the Government and Irish motor insurance companies more than 50 years ago to compensate innocent victims of crashes caused by uninsured and unidentified vehicles. But Minister Dempsey […]
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Potholes: 330,000 paid out to drivers in compo
Potholes on Ulster’s roads have cost almost a third of a million pounds in compensation claims over the past three years. According to figures posted on the Assembly’s website the Department of Regional Development, fronted by Sinn Fein’s Conor Murphy, has paid out £329,456.12 on personal injury and vehicle damage claims since 2005. Last year […]
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More injury claimants opt for court
ALMOST EUR114m now lies uncollected in claims from the Personal Injuries Assessment Board because injured parties were unhappy with their payouts and have decided to go to court. Up to 40 per cent of claimants are walking away from the Personal Injuries Assessment Board process and deciding to take their chances in the courts instead. […]
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Refused Compensation Claims to Drop
THE number of compensation awards refused by claimants against the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) is expected to drop significantly following the introduction of new legislation, it was predicted yesterday. PIAB chief executive Patricia Byron expressed confidence that the passing of the Personal Injuries Assessment (Amendment) Act further help to push down legal costs associated […]
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PIAB in move to include legal fees in claims
INSURANCE companies who are being sued through the State’s Personal Injuries Assessment Board will be forced to pay the legal costs of "vulnerable" accident victims and others who have difficulty accessing the lawyer-free claims service. In a remarkable u-turn on its zero-tolerance policy of refusing to pay accident victims’ legal fees, the claims agency […]
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