When you have been in an accident, there is a lot to think about and go through. Luckily there are many resources that can help you determine what you are entitled to from your accident and how you can best receive that compensation. When it comes to personal injury compensations in Ireland, there are a few things to consider.
After you approach personal injury solicitor to help you with your claim and begin putting together your case, you are supposed to use the Book of Quantum as a guideline for the category of the injury and the coinciding compensation. It is great to have such a resource, but it has been brought to the attention of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) that the guidelines are flawed and may lead to injustice. Read below for how this process works and why they are putting in new guidelines in October.
The PIAB Process
The PIAB has nine months from the date the case is open to make their assessment. They will identify the category of the injury, beginning by identifying which part of the body suffered the most damaging injuries. Generally an injury is categorized from minor to severe or as a permanent condition. These categories reflect how much it impacted the person’s life, as well as the amount of physical pain and longevity of the injury.
According to McGinley Solicitors, which works with different types of Injury Claims, after identifying the category and severity of the injury you would typically look into the Book of Quantum to determine the amount of compensation you should receive. You should also consider if you have multiple injuries. However, the Book of Quantum is merely a set of guidelines and does not reflect the amount of compensation a victim may receive.
The Problem with the Book of Quantum
The Book of Quantum is used as a general guideline for the amount that may be awarded to a claimant for their injury and inconvenience. This, of course, has to be supported by medical evidence. The Book provides categories and amounts of compensation for those injuries. The problem is that it isn’t used at all to determine the actual amount a person should be awarded. As a guideline it is outdated. Justices in recent cases have even said that it can lead to injustice because the Book of Quantum cannot take into account how a particular injury impacts a person’s body and their life overall. It is better suited to determine cases with clear-cut injuries that can be placed into a specific category. With the resource failing to provide accurate categories, it will either be updated or replaced in October by a new set of guidelines.
Updating Guidelines
In a recent personal injury case, Justice Noonan lamented the limitations of the Book of Quantum and described its flaws. He noted that it cannot be fair to either the plaintiff or the defendant if their case relies solely on a judge. This is calling into question the idea that there needs to be hard categories that determine the amount of compensation for an injury while leaving room for specific details. This is what the Book of Quantum intends to do but fails. The Justice also said that should the victim’s injuries have been placed in the lower category that she could have received much less than she deserved. When it comes to personal injury cases, there should be hard lines between injuries and compensation. Some injuries cost a lot more to treat than others, and some injuries cause the victim to miss out on work and lose wages. Each case is different, which makes it difficult to determine the outcome, but there has to be not just guidelines in place but categorical rules that help the court of law come to the right conclusion.
The Book of Quantum has been outdated for a while, and it is finally getting its touch up. It is still unclear whether they will update the guidelines or replace them with new ones, but whatever happens it is clear that the personal injury courts will receive a facelift. The PIAB hopes that these new guidelines won’t only make cases easier to litigate but that it also leads to fairer conclusions.
