Personal injury claims payments down in Ireland

Payments from insurance companies in Ireland for personal injury compensation have been in decline recently.  Ireland’s Injury Board has recently issued a statement that insurers should pass on savings to consumers through the reduction of premiums.

The Injury Board recently released preliminary data for last year that indicated that compensation payouts have dropped by a rate of 13.8 per cent.  However the board also found that the volume of personal injury claims in Ireland had risen by a rate of 9 per cent from 2008 to 2010.

The board stated that the inverse relationship between compensation amounts and accident claims can be attributed to a change in the composition of the claims.  The largest change throughout the past two years had been a drop of 10 per cent in the volume of high-ticket work accident claims in 2010.

Typically low-value claims in the public liability and motor sectors increased by 8 per cent and 6 per cent respectively  However a decline in workplace claims offset these increases.  Additionally the average monetary compensation awarded in 2010 fell by a rate of 4 per cent.

Patricia Byron, chief executive for the board, stated that its aim was to ensure accident victims are compensated fully whilst acting to reduce the costs of claims processing.

Mr Byron stated 2011 would bring savings of up to €205 for every filed claim for insurers.  Additionally the board’s non-adversarial model has already resulted in yearly savings of as much as €100 million.

The Injury Board believes that insurers have a responsibility to pass these benefits on to financially suffering businesses and consumers instead of constantly coming up with excuses to increase premiums, added Ms Byron.

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