Slight drop in Cavan's personal injury awards
The country saw a drop in the total number.
Cavan has seen a very slight increase in the number of personal injury awards last year.
The Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) today released its annual report for 2021, showing a drop in the number of personal injury awards across the country.
Of those, 139 were recorded in Co Cavan, an increase of seven on 2020’s figure.
Leitrim and Longford also saw increases in their number of recorded awards. Leitrim saw 52 awards last year, up from 39 the year before. Longford saw 118 awards, up from 98.
Monaghan saw a drop of seven to 87, while Meath’s total dropped by 20 to 361.
Unsurprisingly, Dublin saw the highest number of awards last year at 2,562.
PIAB dealt with 21,410 new personal injuries claims and awarded total compensation to accident victims of over €157 million in 2021.
The report shows there were also major cuts in overall claims costs as a result of a reduction of 18% in the number of personal injuries claims made to PIAB last year. This follows a reduction in 2020 of 16% and an overall drop in claims volumes in the last two years of 31%.
PIAB Chief Executive Rosalind Carroll noted the introduction of new guidelines on dealing with personal injury claims and awards.
“2021 has been a hugely significant year for PIAB. The introduction of the Guidelines has been the single biggest change in the personal injuries area since PIAB was first established 18 years ago. While there are very immediate impacts in terms of award values, it will take time to see the full impact in terms of reducing the amount of personal injuries litigation.”
“In the interim, the very significant shift in both volume and award values must not be ignored. The total value of awards that PIAB assessed in 2021 was €118 million less than in 2019. This shows major savings that will likely be mirrored outside of the PIAB system, which should translate into meaningful reductions in insurance premiums for consumers and businesses paying for cover.”