Whiplash Claims Process

Whiplash claim how long to resolve?

All Personal injury claims, including Whiplash claims must be submitted in Ireland to the Injuries Board (PIAB) for assessment.

The Injuries Board (PIAB) states on its Irish website that once a claim is submitted the assessment on average can take up to seven months to be completed. But wait for as it is easy to confuse this timetable with how long whiplash injury compensation takes to come through as clearly, they are not the same. Experience shows that the Injuries Board (PIAB) can take much longer than that.

You should be aware that the claim assessment is only one step in the claim process, and additional time must be allowed for the case to be prepared, either by yourself or with the help of a Personal injury solicitor and for the negligent third party to both consent to a claim assessment and also to accept or reject any the assessment of the Injuries Board (PIAB) once the assessment has been issued to the two parties. Personal injury claims must be accurately prepared,and a body of evidence collected to establish the negligence of a third party. Documents must be collected as proof of injury and proof of an accident and claims forms must be accurately completed and medical assessments arranged and duly documented.

The time taken for the process to be completed will also be increased if liability for the accident is denied or if the Injuries Board (PIAB) assessment is rejected by both or either party.

When an application is finally received by the Injuries Board (PIAB), the negligent third party against whom the claim is made will be sent a ‘Formal Notice’ that a personal injury claim has been filed. The third party must then notify his or her insurance company, and 90 days must be allowed for consent to be provided to the Injuries Board (PIAB) to proceed with the case assessment.

If and only if the Injuries Board (PIAB) is granted authorisation by the third parties insurance company to proceed with the case assessment, once the amount of compensation is assessed, both parties are then notified. Twenty-one days are allowed for the third party and yourself to agree to the assessment or reject it. If accepted, the Injuries Board (PIAB) issues an order to pay. The total time taken therefore for compensation to be paid in Ireland is therefore unlikely to be less than nine months, and you can realistically expect to have to wait at least year or more to receive a settlement.

If one of the two parties reject the assessment from the Injuries board (PIAB) then your Personal Injury solicitor will attempt to negotiate a settlement directly with the Insurance Company and that could take a number of months to come to a resolution. If there is no resolution, then both parties will end up in Court which again could prolong the affair for a number of months.

For certain there is no quick fix to a Personal injury claim.

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