Mediation at the Injuries Resolution Board: the calls, the agreement and the 10-day cooling-off

Since February 2023 the Injuries Resolution Board has offered mediation alongside assessment. It is the faster of the two routes on the Board's own figures, it costs nothing extra, and nobody is held to it until a written agreement has survived a 10-day cooling-off. This guide explains it in the Board's own words and the Act's own sections.

What mediation at the Board is

The Personal Injuries Resolution Board Act 2022 added mediation to the 2003 Act, with section 18C setting out the agreement and the cooling-off, and the Board began offering it on 13 February 2023. The Board's own mediation page describes it: an independent, impartial Board mediator helps the two sides reach their own agreement on the claim. The mediator does not take sides and does not decide anything.

It sits beside assessment, not instead of it. A respondent can consent to assessment, mediation, or both. Where both are open, mediation is tried first, and if it does not produce an agreement the claim goes on to assessment. Nothing said in the mediation goes into the assessment.

Opting in

For you, it is a tick in Section 7 of the Board's application form; the Board's making a claim page links the form. There is no fee for mediation. For the respondent, it is a box on the consent form they return within their 90 days. Either side can also ask for mediation at any stage before an assessment is made, so a no at the start is not a no for good.

Mediation only happens where both have said yes. If you tick the box and the respondent does not, the claim goes to assessment in the ordinary way; the guide on the respondent's 90 days covers the four options.

The calls

The Board's page says mediation is typically conducted over the telephone through a series of separate calls with the mediator. You speak to the mediator, the respondent's insurer speaks to the mediator, and the mediator carries proposals between you. You do not have to speak to the other side, and there is no meeting unless everyone wants one.

The mediator has the file the Board has: your application, the medical report on Form B, and the expenses you have sent. The Guidelines apply in the background, because both sides know what an assessment would have regard to, but the figure in a mediation is whatever the two sides agree, not a figure the mediator imposes.

You may have a solicitor in the calls if you have one. The Board does not require it.

The agreement

Where the two sides agree, the mediator drafts the agreement in writing. Both sign it and return it to the Board. That signed document is what section 18C works on.

The 10-day cooling-off

Section 18C(3) of the 2003 Act gives either party 10 days from completing the mediation to state in writing that they no longer accept the agreement. Nothing more is needed: a written withdrawal within the 10 days ends the agreement, and the claim goes on to assessment or an Authorisation as if the mediation had not happened.

If neither side withdraws within the 10 days, section 18C(4) requires the Board to issue an Order to Pay under section 38. From then on the agreement has the same standing as a court order: the respondent or its insurer must pay, and the claim is over.

For a child or a person lacking capacity, the agreement needs court approval, as an assessment would under section 35.

Withdrawing and confidentiality

Two features of the Board's mediation are often missed and worth knowing.

Leaving has no consequence. The Board's page says a party can withdraw from mediation at any stage, and the claim simply continues on the other route. There is no costs rule like section 51A attached to a failed mediation, and no record that one side was unreasonable.

Communications are confidential. What is said and offered in the mediation cannot be used in the Board's assessment or in later court proceedings. An offer made in a mediation call does not become a tender, and a concession does not become evidence.

The figures

From the Board's Annual Report 2025 release of 8 July 2026, dated on the figures register:

• 54% of mediations reached agreement in 2025, up from 50% in 2024.
• The average time was about 3 months, against about 9 months from consent for an assessment on the Board's FAQ.

The 54% is a rate across every mediation the Board ran. It says nothing about whether a particular claim will settle, and the three months is an average, not a limit. The 10-day cooling-off is the only fixed period in the process.

How it compares with assessment

One difference deserves a line. In an assessment the Board assumes full liability, so the figure does not reflect any argument that you were partly to blame. In a mediation, an insurer that would argue contributory negligence in court may say so and offer less than the Guidelines' bracket for that reason. The agreement is whatever you are both prepared to sign. The guide on how a figure is reached explains the assessment's basis.

Points to weigh before the calls

None of these is a recommendation. They are the things a solicitor would weigh if you had one.

• The medical picture. An agreement is final after 10 days. If your recovery is uncertain, a further report first may matter more than three months saved.
• The Guidelines' bracket. Both sides will have it in mind. The injury checker shows the Guidelines' bracket for an injury described like yours, drawn to scale.
• The special damages. Vouch them before the calls; a mediator cannot carry a figure for a loss nobody has documented. The special damages worksheet lists what counts.
• The 10 days. Note the date the mediation is completed. The cooling-off runs from then.

Where mediation sits in the whole process

The lead guide on how the Board works places mediation between the respondent's 90 days and the assessment. the Board page is the site's own page on the Board, and the glossary explains the terms the Board uses, from the Formal Notice to the Order to Pay.

Where this leaves you

Mediation is a choice you can make at the start, add later, and leave at any time. If it ends in a signed agreement, you have 10 days to change your mind, and then an Order to Pay. The Board timeline planner shows the 3 months and the 10 days beside the 90 days, the 9 months and the 28 days, so you can see what each route would mean as dates from your own application.