Personal Injury Assessment Board (PIAB)

Vinegar Hill

I was wondering if anyone has had any dealings with the PIAB? I was involved in a minor motor vehicle crash about a year ago. I was just informed that the other man involved has filed a complaint with the PIAB and I have to respond to it within 90 days.

If I accept the complaint then it will cost me E1000 for them to access it. If I do not accept the complaint then he will be free to pursue legal action in court.

I feel as though this complaint is unfounded but it will cost the E1000. I just wanted to know if anyone has had dealings with the PIAB and what they thought of the process?


Thanks

johnnyskeleton

Contact your solicitor or your insurer.

Vinegar Hill

Just curoius if anyone has had dealings with the PIAB. I have already been in contact with the insurance.

johnnyskeleton

Vinegar Hill wrote: »

Just curoius if anyone has had dealings with the PIAB. I have already been in contact with the insurance.

Without making any reference to your particular situation, PIAB was set up to reduce the cost to the insurance companies arising from personal injuries claims.

The idea was that people would handle their own claims without a solicitor. Generally, for minor injuries they tend to be more generous than the courts (i.e. minor whiplash etc), for serious claims they tend to be less generous than the courts (i.e. parapalegia etc).

The process is that you submit a claim to them, they write to the other side and ask them do they consent to an assessement. The Defendant can choose not to agree to the assessment, in which case the plaintiff can then sue him in the courts.

Alternatively, PIAB can refuse to deal with the case due to the complexity of legal or factual issues, due to the primary injury being psychological etc. If PIAB doesn't assess the case then the plaintiff is free to sue the defendant in the courts.

If the defendant and piab agree to the assessment, PIAB will assess the value of the claim. The plaintiff or defendant can reject this amount, and if either of them does reject it the plaintiff will have to go to court to seek compensation.

Among the many unfair aspects of PIAB, if a plaintiff rejects an assessment but is awarded less in the court than they were in piab, they will be punished by having to pay costs.

Generally, it is the insurance companies who deal with PIAB, so a defendant in a road traffic accident will have very little to do when it comes to dealing with piab.

It is not a court so there are no witnesses, legal argument, disputes as to fact etc, PIAB makes the assessment based on reports submitted to it.

themadchef

Vinegar Hill wrote: »

I was wondering if anyone has had any dealings with the PIAB? I was involved in a minor motor vehicle crash about a year ago. I was just informed that the other man involved has filed a complaint with the PIAB and I have to respond to it within 90 days.

If I accept the complaint then it will cost me E1000 for them to access it. If I do not accept the complaint then he will be free to pursue legal action in court.

I feel as though this complaint is unfounded but it will cost the E1000. I just wanted to know if anyone has had dealings with the PIAB and what they thought of the process?


Thanks

I'm curious as to why you're the one getting correspondence from PIAB not your insurance company? Do the Insurance company not just take over from day one?

Maybe it's a silly / obvious answer.

Vinegar Hill

Thanks for the responses. I believe the insurance company is dealing with this. They were sent the same paperwork as myself. I will have to call by there after the weekend to find out.

Thanks again