During the first six months of 2013 the total compensation awarded to personal injury claimants in Ireland increased by 8.3% to €118million, according to a mid-year analysis undertaken by the Injuries Board.

Compensation was awarded to 5,286 personal injury claimants, a 2% increase on the number of awards made during the first six months of 2012. A small number of exceptionally high awards in the period pushed up the average award to €22,349, from €21,502 in 2012.

The volume of new claims in the six months to June 2013 increased by 10%, although this has eased somewhat to 6.7% year to date. This increase was partly caused by a higher volume of motor claims, which were typically of lower value.

The Injuries Board makes statutory personal injury awards in respect of motor, employer and public liability accidents. Key statistics for the six months from January to June 2013 show that:

• Road traffic accidents continued to account for the majority of personal injury claims and represented over three quarters (75.5%) of awards. 16.4% of awards were for accidents in public places, 8.1% related to workplace accidents.
• The self funding Injuries Board made its highest ever compensation award of €976,000 at a delivery cost of €6,000 (0.6%) in this particular case, compared to an average litigation cost of €536,000 (55%), representing a saving of €530,000.
• The average delivery cost on awards is 8% as against an average of 55% in litigation.
• The average award was €22,349, compared to the overall average for 2012 of €21,502.

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