Making a claim to the Injuries Resolution Board without a solicitor

People search "claim without solicitor" for two reasons: they want to know whether they can, and they want to know whether they should. The first has a plain answer from the Board itself. The second depends on what happens later in the process, and this guide says where the line falls, using the Board's own FAQ and the Act.

What the Board says

The Injuries Resolution Board's making a claim page and its FAQ for claimants say in terms that you do not need a solicitor to make a claim. The Board's customer service team can help with the form. You may use a solicitor if you choose, and the Board will correspond with them instead of you if you do.

The process was designed for this. The 2003 Act set up the Board to assess claims on the documents, with no hearing, no evidence and no argument about liability, so that a claim where fault was not disputed could be settled without legal costs on either side. The application is a form, a fee, a medical report and proof of identity; the guide on the application form, fee and documents goes through each.

The Board's figures bear this out at the scale of a year: 20,077 applications in 2025, 10,032 awards and a median award of €14,020, from the Annual Report 2025 release, dated on the figures register. A large share of claims are for minor injuries, 74% of awards in 2025, where the Guidelines' bracket is set by the recovery period in the medical report and there is little for anyone to argue about.

What the Board does not say

The Board's answer is about making the claim. It does not say that the rest of the process is the same with or without a solicitor, and it does not say the outcome is. Three points are worth knowing.

The Board does not advise you. Its customer service team explains the process and the form. It will not tell you whether to accept an assessment, whether the figure is at the right point in the Guidelines' bracket, or whether a court would award more. The Board's FAQ answers questions about the process; it does not answer questions about your claim.

The award does not cover legal costs. The Board's FAQ says the application fee and the reasonable cost of the medical report are recoverable in the award. Nothing is included for a solicitor's fee, so a solicitor's fee in a Board claim comes out of the award or your pocket by agreement with the solicitor.

The respondent has a professional on its side. The Board's respondent FAQ says the insurer usually deals with the Board for the respondent. That is a claims handler who does this every day. It does not mean you need a solicitor to apply; it is a fact about who reads the file.

What a solicitor's fee is for, and what it cannot be

Section 149 of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 says a solicitor may not charge for a personal injury claim as a percentage of the damages. Every personal injury advertisement by a solicitor must refer to that. The LSRA's Advertising Regulations 2020, S.I. No. 644/2020, go further: a solicitor may not advertise with success rates, with any reference to a first consultation being without charge, with dramatic or emotive words or pictures, or in any way that solicits or encourages a personal injury claim.

So a solicitor's fee is a fee for work: reading the medical evidence against the Guidelines, vouching the special damages, corresponding with the Board and the insurer, and, if it comes to it, advising on the 28 days and running proceedings. Under section 150 of the same Act the solicitor must give you a written notice of costs at the start. The guide on what a case costs and who pays explains the costs rules, and its companion on section 149 in chapter 5 explains what arrangements solicitors can and cannot offer, and why.

Where the Board's answer stops

The Board's FAQ answers "do I need a solicitor to make a claim" and stops. The process has four points where the question changes, and one route that never reaches the Board.

A rejected assessment

You have 28 days to accept the Notice of Assessment in writing; silence is rejection. If you reject an assessment the respondent accepted, section 51A of the 2003 Act applies: if a court later awards no more than the Board did, no order for costs can be made in your favour and the respondent is treated as having tendered the Board's figure on the date it accepted, which may leave you paying its costs from that date. Deciding whether a court would award more means weighing liability, contributory negligence and the Guidelines together, and the Board will not do it. The guide on accepting or rejecting in 28 days sets the section out; it carries the solicitor line because that is the step where one is plainly right.

A figure in the High Court range

The District Court hears personal injury actions up to €15,000, the Circuit Court up to €60,000, and the High Court above that. A claim whose general and special damages together go beyond the Circuit Court's limit involves serious or lasting injury, future loss and expert evidence, and if it is released from the Board on an Authorisation it is litigated in the High Court. The Central Bank's figure for a litigated motor injury claim in the first half of 2025 was €66,100 on average, of which €26,752 was legal costs; the guide on which court explains the limits.

A child's claim

Where the claimant is under 18, a parent or guardian claims as next friend, and section 35 of the 2003 Act requires a court to approve any acceptance of an assessment. The same applies to a person lacking capacity. The court application is a step the Board does not make for you. The guide on children, capacity and late claims covers it.

A fatal claim

A dependants' claim after a death goes to the Board by phone, not the online form, under Part IV of the Civil Liability Act 1961, with the statutory solatium shared among the dependants and a dependency claim that needs actuarial evidence. The guide on fatal accidents and dependants' claims explains why a solicitor is always the step there.

Medical negligence

Claims arising from medical treatment are excluded from the Board. They go to a solicitor and the courts, with an independent expert report and the same two-year clock from the date of knowledge. The guide on medical negligence, not the Board leads with the HSE complaints route.

Points a solicitor would weigh even in a straightforward claim

None of these is a recommendation. They are the things a trained eye handles better, and the site's tools exist to put the rules in front of you either way.

Whether to accept depends on facts a tool cannot see. The Board's figure is binding on nobody until both sides accept it.

Finding a solicitor, and legal aid

If you decide to use one, the Law Society of Ireland's find a solicitor directory lists every practising solicitor by location and area of practice. This site names no firm and takes no referral; the Law Society's position is that a solicitor accepting referrals from a claims-harvesting website may be guilty of misconduct, and the disclosure page explains how the site is funded.

Civil legal aid does not generally cover personal injury actions. The Legal Aid Board's page sets out what is covered.

Where this leaves you

You can make the claim yourself, the Board says so, and for a claim with a clear respondent, a settled prognosis and a figure in the Guidelines' lower brackets, many people do. The points where that changes are a rejected assessment, a High Court figure, a child and a fatal claim. Whichever way you go, the Board timeline planner turns the Board's periods into dates from your own application, and the Board page is the site's own page on the Board.