InjuryWise

Personal injury in Ireland, chapter by chapter: 49 guides

Each guide names the Act, the Board page or the Guidelines paragraph it comes from, is written for the injured person (or, in chapter 9, the person a claim is made against), and carries the date it was last checked. The figures in them are the figures the tools use.

Chapter 1: The first week

What to do after a car accident, an accident at work, a fall in a shop or on a footpath, a dog bite, or an e-scooter or bicycle collision: the record, the report, the letter, what not to sign.

6 guides

  1. A dog bite: the owner's strict liability and the first weekAfter a dog bite in Ireland: section 21 of the Control of Dogs Act 1986, the owner's household insurance, the dog warden and the Gardaí, scarring and the Guidelines' brackets, children, and the Board.
  2. A fall in a shop or supermarket: the occupier's duty and the first weekAfter a slip or fall in a shop, supermarket, pub, gym or rented accommodation in Ireland: the Occupiers' Liability Act 1995 duty, the accident book, CCTV, the one-month letter and the Board.
  3. A fall on a footpath or in a pothole: claiming against the councilAfter a fall on a footpath, road or pothole in Ireland: the local authority, the non-feasance rule the courts apply, the notice to the council, photographs with scale, the two dates and the Board.
  4. An e-scooter or bicycle accident: the 2024 rules, insurance and the first weekAfter an e-scooter or bicycle collision in Ireland: the 2024 e-scooter regulations, why riders carry no insurance and what that means, the MIBI, helmets and contributory negligence, the Gardaí and the Board.
  5. Injured at work: the first steps and the accident reportThe first week after an accident at work in Ireland: the doctor, the accident book, the HSA report after three days off, Injury Benefit, the employer's insurer, section 27 and the Board.
  6. What to do after a car accident in IrelandThe first week after a road traffic collision in Ireland: the Gardaí, details and insurers, the doctor's record, the one-month letter, the two-year limit and the Injuries Resolution Board.

Chapter 2: The Board, step by step

How the Injuries Resolution Board works from the form to the Order to Pay: the fee, the medical report, the respondent's 90 days, the nine months, the 28 days, mediation, and claiming without a solicitor.

10 guides

  1. Accept or reject the Board's assessment: the 28 days and what each choice meansYou have 28 days to accept a Board assessment in writing; silence is rejection. The respondent has 21 days; silence is acceptance. The Order to Pay, the Authorisation, and section 51A in plain words.
  2. How long does a claim take at the Injuries Resolution Board?The statutory shape is 90 days plus 9 months plus 28 days. The Board's averages are about 9 months for an assessment and 3 months for mediation; the Central Bank gives 5 years litigated. What makes it longer.
  3. How the Injuries Resolution Board works, from the form to the Order to PayThe personal injury claim process in Ireland step by step: the Board's €45 form, the respondent's 90 days, the 9 months to assess, the 28 days to accept, and what follows if either side says no.
  4. Making a claim to the Injuries Resolution Board without a solicitorThe Board says you do not need a solicitor to make a claim, and its FAQ covers the form. Where that answer stops: a rejected assessment, a High Court figure, a child, a fatal claim. Section 149 and legal aid.
  5. Mediation at the Injuries Resolution Board: the calls, the agreement and the 10-day cooling-offHow the Board's mediation works: opt in on Section 7, calls with an independent mediator, a signed agreement, a 10-day cooling-off, then an Order to Pay. 54% agreed in 2025, in about 3 months.
  6. PIAB, the Injuries Board and the Injuries Resolution Board: one body, three namesThe Personal Injuries Assessment Board of the 2003 Act became the Injuries Resolution Board under the 2022 Act in 2023. Why searches still say PIAB, the vacuum company that shares the name, and the portal address.
  7. The Board's assessment: the 9 months, and how a figure is reachedHow the Injuries Resolution Board assesses a claim: on the documents, assuming full liability, with regard to the Guidelines, special damages vouched, within 9 months of consent or a 6-month extension.
  8. The Injuries Resolution Board application form: the fee, the documents and the portalWhat the Injuries Resolution Board's form asks for: the €45 online or €90 postal fee, Form B from your doctor, proof of identity, the respondent's details, Section 7 for mediation, and what can follow later.
  9. The Injuries Resolution Board medical report: Form B and what your doctor recordsThe Board's Medical Assessment Form (Form B): who completes it, what the doctor records, the recoverable cost, the Board's own examination, psychological injuries, and what not to ask the doctor to write.
  10. The respondent's 90 days: consent, mediation, silence or declinedThe Board serves a Formal Notice on the respondent, who has 90 days to consent to assessment, mediation, both or neither. What each option means for you, deemed consent, and the €1,200 charge.

Chapter 3: The clock

The two-year limit and the date of knowledge, the one-month letter, children, capacity and late claims, and how a Board application pauses the clock.

4 guides

  1. Children, capacity and late personal injury claimsA child's injury claim in Ireland: time does not run until 18, the next friend, court approval of settlements and Board assessments under section 35, capacity, late claims and the date of knowledge, and why a solicitor.
  2. How an Injuries Board application pauses the clockSection 50 of the 2003 Act: a signed Board application pauses the two-year limit from the date it is made until six months after the Authorisation, for the respondents named. Worked examples with dates.
  3. The personal injury time limit in Ireland: two years and the date of knowledgeThe two-year limit for a personal injury claim in Ireland, the date of knowledge under section 2 of the 1991 Act, the last safe day, the Board pause, the one-month letter, and what out of time means.
  4. The section 8 letter: one month to notify the wrongdoerSection 8 of the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004: the written notice to the wrongdoer within one month, what it states and does not, the consequences of a late letter, reasonable cause and how to serve it.

Chapter 4: What an injury is worth

The Personal Injuries Guidelines explained and their brackets for whiplash, back, psychiatric, scarring and limb injuries; the Board's own figures; special damages; the Book of Quantum and the 16.7% increase that is not in force.

9 guides

  1. Back injury brackets in Ireland: what the Guidelines sayThe Personal Injuries Guidelines' back brackets, from €500 to €3,000 for a minor injury recovered within six months to €300,000 for the most severe, the scrutiny rule, and when the clock starts for a disc.
  2. Head, shoulder, wrist, knee and ankle brackets: the honest answer to an injury claim calculatorThere is no injury claim calculator in Ireland, only the Guidelines' bracket for each described injury. The head, shoulder, wrist, knee and ankle sections quoted exactly, and why no site can give a figure.
  3. Psychiatric injury and PTSD brackets in Ireland: what the Guidelines sayThe Guidelines' two psychiatric sections: psychiatric damage from €500 to €170,000 and PTSD from €500 to €120,000. A recognised diagnosis is required, and the Board has assessed psychological-only claims since 2023.
  4. Scarring, facial injuries and burns brackets in Ireland: what the Guidelines sayThe Guidelines' brackets for facial disfigurement, fractures of the nose, cheekbone and jaw, damage to teeth, scarring elsewhere and burns, quoted exactly, with the considerations and why photographs matter.
  5. Special damages: loss of earnings, expenses and care, and how each is vouchedSpecial damages are the vouched financial losses an injury causes: lost earnings, medical and travel expenses, care and future treatment. What counts, how to vouch each, Injury Benefit, and the worksheet.
  6. The Book of Quantum and the 16.7% increase: what applies now and what might changeThe Book of Quantum of 2016 applies only to claims before 24 April 2021; the Guidelines replaced it with lower brackets. The 16.7% increase the Judicial Council approved in December 2024 is not in force.
  7. The Injuries Resolution Board's figures: the median, the average, the acceptance rate and what they meanThe Board's 2025 figures: 20,077 applications, 10,032 awards, a median of €14,020, an average of €20,559, 47% of assessments accepted. What each means and why none is a figure for your claim.
  8. The Personal Injuries Guidelines explained: what they are and how a bracket is foundThe Personal Injuries Guidelines of 6 March 2021 set the brackets the Board and the courts must have regard to for general damages. How they work, the €550,000 cap, and the 16.7% increase not yet in force.
  9. Whiplash and neck injury brackets in Ireland: what the Guidelines sayThe Personal Injuries Guidelines' neck brackets: €500 to €3,000 for a minor neck injury recovered within six months, up to €300,000 for the most severe. The scrutiny paragraph and the Board's medians.

Chapter 5: Court, costs and settlement

What rejecting an assessment means, which court, what a case costs and who pays, solicitor fees and section 149, an insurer's direct offer, and the Central Bank's channel figures.

6 guides

  1. An insurer has offered to settle directly: what the offer meansWhat a direct offer from an insurer means: the Consumer Protection Code, a signed settlement ends the claim, vehicle damage is separate, medical finality, and the Central Bank's €14,233 and €22,658.
  2. District, Circuit or High Court: which court hears a personal injury caseThe District Court hears personal injury actions up to €15,000, the Circuit Court up to €60,000 and the High Court above that. The summons, the verifying affidavit, the Guidelines in evidence, costs and the wait.
  3. Rejecting an Injuries Board assessment and going to courtWhat follows a rejected Injuries Resolution Board assessment: the Authorisation, section 51A's costs rule and the deemed tender, liability and contributory negligence in court, and the Central Bank's years and costs.
  4. Solicitor fees, section 149 and "no win no fee" in IrelandWhy an Irish solicitor cannot advertise a fee only if the claim succeeds, what section 149 of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 bans, the section 150 notice of costs, and how this site keeps to those rules.
  5. For both sidesThe Central Bank's figures: direct, Board or courtThe Central Bank's National Claims Information Database figures for motor injury claims by channel: €14,233 direct, €22,658 through the Board, €66,100 litigated with €26,752 legal costs, and the years each takes.
  6. What a personal injury case costs and who paysCosts follow the event, a lodgment or tender shifts them, section 51A applies after a rejected assessment, legal costs averaged €26,752 on a litigated motor claim, and section 149 bars percentage fees.

Chapter 6: Work

Accident at work: the employer's duty, the HSA and your evidence; Injury Benefit and Disablement Benefit; repetitive strain, hearing loss and stress; claiming against your employer and the protections.

4 guides

  1. Accident at work: the employer's duty, the HSA and your evidenceThe employer's duties under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, the safety statement, the HSA report after three days off, the accident book and CCTV, the Board, and the employer's liability insurer.
  2. Claiming against your employer: the fears and the protectionsSection 27 of the 2005 Act makes penalising an employee for a claim unlawful, the employer's liability insurer pays, the WRC hears penalisation complaints, and a claim does not affect an immigration permission.
  3. Injury Benefit and Disablement Benefit after an accident at workInjury Benefit is €254 a week in 2026, from the fourth day of incapacity for up to 26 weeks, after an accident at work. Disablement Benefit, Illness Benefit after, and how the Board treats recoverable benefits.
  4. Repetitive strain, hearing loss and work stress claimsInjuries that build up at work: the two-year clock from the date of knowledge, usually the diagnosis; the Guidelines' upper-limb and deafness brackets; the courts' threshold for occupational stress; and the Board.

Chapter 7: Road

An uninsured or untraced driver and the MIBI; passengers, pedestrians and cyclists; the Garda report and the accident report form; your insurer, the other insurer, and what to say.

4 guides

  1. An uninsured or untraced driver: claiming through the MIBIWhen the driver had no insurance or cannot be found, the Motor Insurers' Bureau of Ireland answers the claim: the Garda report, the Claim Notification Form, and the Board's process still applies.
  2. Passengers, pedestrians and cyclists: who the claim is againstA passenger can claim against either driver, a pedestrian or cyclist against the driver. Who the respondent is, how contributory negligence works, the Gardaí, the one-month letter and the Board.
  3. The Garda report and the accident report formSection 106 of the Road Traffic Act 1961 requires a driver to stop, give details and report to the Gardaí. What the Garda report records, how to get the abstract, and what it does and does not prove.
  4. Your insurer, the other insurer, and what to sayYou must tell your own insurer about a collision. The other driver's insurer may call, ask for a statement or offer to settle. The Consumer Protection Code, direct offers, and what a settlement ends.

Chapter 8: Other routes

The Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme after the 2026 changes, medical negligence (not the Board, a different clock), and fatal accidents and dependants' claims.

3 guides

  1. Fatal accidents and dependants' claimsThe dependants' claim under Part IV of the Civil Liability Act 1961: who the dependants are, the €35,000 solatium, dependency, two years from the death, and why the Board takes it by phone.
  2. Medical negligence: not the Board, and a different clockMedical negligence claims do not go to the Board. The HSE's complaints route comes first, the two years run from the date of knowledge, and the records and an expert report come before any claim.
  3. The Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme in 2026The Scheme for victims of crimes of violence: two years from the incident, absolute, and a Garda report required. What it has paid, the 2026 amendment, and the civil claim through the Board.

Chapter 9: A claim has been made against me

The Formal Notice, the 90 days and the respondent charge; shops, landlords, employers and dog owners: insurance, evidence and what not to say; exaggerated and false claims under section 26.

3 guides, written for the person or business a claim is made against

  1. Exaggerated and false personal injury claims: section 26Sections 25 and 26 of the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004: false or misleading evidence is an offence and the court must dismiss the action. The affidavit, and what the Board does not decide.
  2. Shops, landlords, employers and dog owners: a claim has been made against youSomeone says they were injured on your premises, at your workplace or by your dog. The duty each Act places on you, the insurer who deals with it, the CCTV and the accident book, and what not to say.
  3. The Formal Notice, the 90 days and the respondent chargeA letter from the Board says a claim has been made against you. You have 90 days and four options, silence is deemed consent, consenting is not an admission, and the respondent charge is €1,200.