How long does a claim take at the Injuries Resolution Board?

The honest answer has two parts: the periods the Act fixes, and the averages the Board and the Central Bank publish. This guide gives both, says what runs from what, and lists the things that make a claim take longer than the shape suggests.

The statutory shape: 90 days, 9 months, 28 days

The Personal Injuries Assessment Board Act 2003 as amended fixes three periods between a complete application and the end of the Board's part.

Add them up and the Board's process, with nothing extended and nobody replying early, is roughly 90 days plus 9 months plus 28 days, a little over 13 months from the Formal Notice. In practice a respondent who consents in week two shortens the first period, and the Board's own averages say the 9 months is about right for the middle one.

Before the Formal Notice there is the application itself, which cannot be complete until your doctor has completed Form B. After the 28 days there is either an Order to Pay, which ends the claim, or an Authorisation, which starts a different and longer process. The lead guide on how the Board works walks through every stage.

The Board's own averages

The Board's FAQ for claimants and its Annual Report 2025 release give two averages, dated on the figures register:

• Assessment: about 9 months from the respondent's consent. The statutory period and the practice coincide.
• Mediation: about 3 months. 54% of mediations reached agreement in 2025, and after an agreement there is a 10-day cooling-off before the Order to Pay.

So on the Board's figures, a claim where the respondent consents to mediation and the mediation succeeds can be over in a few months; one that goes to assessment takes about a year from the Formal Notice. The mediation guide explains the route.

The Central Bank's years

The Central Bank's National Claims Information Database measures something different: the time from the accident to settlement, for motor injury claims, by channel. From its private motor report of October 2025, covering 2024:

The 2.7 years is longer than the 13-month statutory shape because it starts at the accident, not the application, and includes the months before people apply, the time waiting for a medical prognosis, and any extension. The 5 years for litigation includes the Board stage, because nearly every litigated claim has been through the Board first and then been released on an Authorisation.

The Central Bank's figures for the first half of 2025 add a cost dimension: a litigated motor injury claim cost €66,100 on average, of which €26,752 was legal costs, and took 4.7 years, against €22,658 through the Board. The guide on the Central Bank's channel figures explains what the figures do and do not show, and that the claims in each channel are not the same claims.

What makes it longer

The 6-month extension

Section 49(4) and (5) let the Board extend the 9 months once, by up to 6 months, where an assessment within 9 months would not be possible or appropriate because of the claim's particular circumstances. It must give you written notice with reasons before the 9 months end. The usual reason is that the medical picture has not settled.

Beyond the extended date, section 49(6) to (8) say an Authorisation issues unless you consent in writing to the Board continuing, and you can withdraw that consent. Nobody is held in the process past 15 months without agreeing to it. The guide on how a figure is reached covers the extension in detail.

Medical finality

The Board assesses when the medical picture is settled enough to give a prognosis. If your doctor's report says recovery is uncertain, or you are waiting for surgery or a specialist's view, the Board may wait for a further report or arrange its own examination. That is the most common reason an assessment reaches the 9 months or needs an extension. It is also a reason not to rush the application: the guide on Form B explains the balance between an early application and an exact prognosis.

A respondent added later

If a second respondent is added after the first application, they get their own Formal Notice and their own 90 days, and section 50's clock pause applies to them only from the date they were added. The assessment cannot be made until every respondent's period has run.

Waiting for expenses

Special damages are added where vouched. If a loss-of-earnings figure is still moving because you have not returned to work, or treatment is still being paid for, the Board may wait, or assess what is vouched. The special damages worksheet lists what counts.

The time before you apply

The two-year limit under the Statute of Limitations runs from the accident or the later date of knowledge, and the Board's clock pause under section 50 only begins when a signed application is made. Time taken before the application counts against the two years and adds to the Central Bank's measure. The guide on the time limit and the date of knowledge and the time-limit checker give the dates.

Rejection

If either side rejects the assessment, the Board's part ends with an Authorisation and the claim goes to court or settles outside it. That is the step that turns months into years. The guide on accepting or rejecting in 28 days sets out what each choice means, including section 51A on costs.

What does not slow it down

A few things people worry about that do not add time:

• Not having a solicitor. The Board says one is not needed, and the periods are the same either way.
• The respondent staying silent. Silence is deemed consent to assessment under section 14(1)(c), and the 9 months run from the end of the notice period.
• Sending receipts after you apply. The Board's FAQ says expenses can follow the application.
• The clock. Section 50 pauses the two-year limit from a signed application until 6 months after any Authorisation, so the Board's periods are not eating your time.

A worked shape

Suppose the application is complete on 1 March and the Formal Notice issues the same week. The respondent consents on day 40. The 9 months run from that consent to mid-January. The Notice of Assessment is served then, and the 28 days end in mid-February. If both accept, an Order to Pay follows within weeks: just under a year from the application. If the Board extends by the full 6 months, the notice arrives in mid-July instead and the 28 days end in August.

Those are the Act's periods laid on a calendar. The Board timeline planner does it for your own dates, and the Board page is the site's own page on the Board.

Where this leaves you

The Board's process is slower than people hope and faster than court by years. Most of the time it takes is fixed by the Act, and the rest is medical. The Board timeline planner turns the 90 days, the 9 months, the possible 6-month extension, the 28 days and mediation's 3 months and 10 days into dates from your own application, with the clock pause alongside.