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PIAB - How does it work?

The Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) is an independent statutory body which assesses the amount of compensation due to a person who has suffered a personal injury.

The Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) first came into operation on the 01 June 2004 for Employer Liability Cases on the 22 July 2004 for all other claims except Medical Negligence.

Statute of Limitations

The first step in any Personal Injury Action is to consider the Statute of Limitation. This is the time within which the person who has been injured can issue proceedings. A person who has been injured has 2 years from date of knowledge to institute proceedings, in accordance with the Courts and Civil Liability Act 2004.

Letter before Action

Section 8 of the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004 states that a letter before action/letter of claim must be written to Respondent within a period of two months of the cause of action or as soon as practicable thereafter.

There is no absolute obligation on a Solicitor to provide the letter within the two month period. The caveat is "as soon as practicable." However, a prudent Solicitor will endeavour to initiate the letter before action within the two months period, presuming one is instructed in time. There is an obligation to set out in detail the allegations made in the letter before action. It is no longer expectable to state that an action occurred, one must set out the type of accident and the cause of action.

The letter before action must be sent by registered post to the proposed respondent.

Considering the wording of Section 8, if there is an inordinate delay, there is likely to be cost penalties. For example, were a Solicitor obtained full instructions from the Claimant to include details of the respondent, and has not written a letter before action at that point.

Where there is one or more respondents O'Byrne letters must also be written.

Medical Report

It is necessary to obtain a medical report prior to submitting an application to PIAB. Whilst there is no absolute obligation there is an implication in the Legislation that such a medical report should be sought from the treating doctor of the claimant. It is of note that PIAB will accept Medical Records, in some cases, in particular in circumstances where the claimant does not have funds to engage a medical expert. A medical report template is available but it is not essential that the medical report is written in such a format. Factual inaccuracies in the medical report must be corrected. If the claimant does not accept the Medical Report, there is a section in the PIAB application form itself, which asks the claimant whether he is happy with the medical report.

Form A

Form A the PIAB application. It is essential that the application is properly and carefully completed as same may be used in evidence in a future Court action.

It is essential to say the least, that the Respondent/Defendants name is correctly identified. Therefore company office searches etc should be preformed as one would perform when commencing proceedings. A prudent Solicitor would also check the Section 50 letter, issued by PIAB on receipt of the application form to ensure that PIAB have correctly recorded the name of the defendant/defendants'.

The circumstances of the accident section of the form should always be filled out by the Solicitor, who should obtain detailed instructions and complete in brief, the circumstances of the accident, prior to the form being signed by the claimant.

The special damages section of the form need not be completed at this stage, as PIAB will seek further information in that regard before the application is assessed.

The completed PIAB form is to be lodged with the €50 fee, a Medical Report, details of special damages where appropriate, a letter from the claimant to PIAB confirming that Solicitors are instructed on their behalf and copies of the letter before action and other party party correspondence.

The application form together with supporting documentation must be sent by Registered Post
To PIAB at:
PO Box 8
Clonakility,
Co Cork.

The claim is not properly registered for the purposes of stopping the clock in relation to Limitation, until a Section 50 letter is received from PIAB, stating that the claim has been received and completed for the purposes of Section 50 of the 2003 Act. If such a letter has not been received then the claim is not properly registered and the Statute of Limitation will continue to run. If the Statute is almost expired a prudent solicitor will telephone PIAB. However, do not accept a phone call confirming that the application is accepted and registered, if a Section 50 letter is not received then the application is not registered.

If it becomes apparent, once a PIAB application has been lodged, that there is an additional respondent, it is not necessary to send a second application form, one must simply write a letter to PIAB again by Registered Post confirming that you wish to add a new defendant to the application. You must receive a separate letter back confirming that this claim has been received and completed in accordance with Section 50 in relation to that particular respondent in order that the time stops running in relation to that respondent.

Once a claim has been registered, received and complete, the statute stops running. The Statute will not begin to run until 6 months after the claim is released by way of authorisation under Section 14, for a further 6 months.

From then on the respondent has a period of 90 days within which to accept or decline PIAB assessing the claim. This date must be diaried and PIAB must be chased in relation to the same. It has been observed that there is a lapse attitude in relation to the 90 day period.

If the respondent consents to PIAB assessing the claim, then PIAB have a period of 9 months from then on to assess the claim. This period maybe extended by a further 6 months on notification to the parties. If the 9 nine month period has elapsed and no notification has been received in relation to an extension, then you are entitled to an immediate authorisation to commence Court Proceedings.

If after the 90 days the respondent declines to have the claim assessed by PIAB, then PIAB will issue an authorisation enabling the claimant to commence Court Proceedings if they so wish. This is a Section 14 Authorisation.

It is of note that PIAB also as a discretion not to make an assessment under Section 17 of the Act.

A Special Damages form will be sent to the claimant, with the consent to assessment, and is a simple schedule which will require completion with Documentary Vouchers and support. Where the claimant has difficulty in obtaining information in relation to losses for example, loss of earnings, note Sections 26 and 27 of the Act which provide authority to PIAB to seek details of special damages from any third party, and therefore if one is unable to obtain loss of earnings information, PIAB should be requested to seek and obtain such information.

Award

The most important thing to be conscious of in relation to the award is that it will be sent directly to the claimant aswell as the Solicitor. It is essential therefore that clients are advised not to accept any offer or proposal of any nature without first telephoning their Solicitor. There is an onus on the Solicitor upon receipt of an award to contact their client immediately to ensure that an award is not accepted without proper advice.

If the award is acceptable to the claimant and the respondent then PIAB issues an order to pay to the respondent. The respondent has a period of 28 days to send the cheque to the claimant directly, unless an authorisation is signed by the client and addressed to the insurance company in advance. If either the respondent or the claimant declines the assessment PIAB issues an authorisation enabling the claimant to commence Court proceeding if the claimant so wishes.

One must consider with their client the cost implications in refusing an award. Under Section 51 of the Act, the award may not be referred to in any subsequent Court proceedings and is therefore is not treated as a tender offer.

The PIAB does not cover legal costs. The respondent will pay €150 as a contribution to the cost of the Medical Reports. The respondent will also pay the €50 application fee. The claimant is required to pay the Legal Costs and outlay from their award.

That having been said, it would not be advisable to reject a good PIAB award, simply because one can recover Legal cost through the Court System.

Order to pay

PIAB will send out a copy of the order to pay, the original being sent to the respondent. This obviously causes difficulty in relation to seeking to enforce the order to pay as it is necessary to lodge the original order to pay with the Central Office or the Circuit Court office. Therefore, one needs to obtain the order form the respondent. Once the order to pay is received it is essential that you send an authority giving you the Solicitor authority to receive the claimants cheque on your clients behalf, to the respondents/insurance company.

Statute of Limitation

If the assessment is rejected by the claimant or respondent, PIAB will issue an authorisation, required to commence court proceedings, and the Statute of Limitation will recommence within 6 months from the date of the authorisation.

Calculating the Statute Date

The following dates are essential dates for calculating the Statute of Limitation.

1.Date of the accident.

2.Date of expiration of the two year period.

3.Date of lodged PIAB form A.

4.Date of the Section 5 acknowledgement letter.

5.PIAB authorisation letter.

6.6 months date from authorisation letter.

7.Balance of two year period.

Please seek calculation below.

An accident occurs on the 1st of June 2006. An application to PIAB is deemed received and complete on the 1 September (3 months from the date that the accident has passed) the claim remains in PIAB until the 1st of September 2007 when it is released by way of authorisation. Therefore the Statute starts to run again 6 months later on the 1st of March 2008. A further period of one year and nine months will remain (3 months of the 2 Year Limitation period already having expired before the PIAB application was lodged) and so the Statute of Limitation will expire on the 30th of November 2009 (being the day before 1st of December 2009 1 year and 9 months from the 6 month period).

In relation to the Statute of Limitation it is of note that the PIAB Act does not stop the clock running in relation to the Statute of Limitations in Aviation or Maritime cases, as same are not covered under the Statute of Limitation Act. The Limitation period in relation to said claims remains 2 years. PIAB will not stop the clock running.

Finally in relation to the Motor Insurance Bureau it is necessary to submit an application to PIAB prior to issuing Court proceedings against the MIBI. Please see Michael Campbell v MIBI and others.

For further information, please visit the PIAB website or if you would like to discuss your legal rights and entitlements, please contact Malcomson Law by calling 01 8744422 or completing an Online Enquiry Form. A solicitor who specialises in the area of personal injury will contact you to advise you of your legal rights and entitlements.

This news section contains stories of interest from publicly available news sources. Where we are representing the clients referred to in the news material we will say so. Where we do not represent individuals or bodies mentioned or quoted, the inclusion of the news story in our news section is not intended nor should it be taken to imply that we act for the individual or body concerned.