Time Limit for Bringing Personal Injury Claims* - Put another way
How much time do I have to bring a claim ?
This area of the law causes a lot of confusion. We thought it would be
helpful to set out a short Guide for you as to what the time limits for
bringing a Personal Injury claim.
The law on this is covered by the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004
and by the Statue of Limitations Act 1957 and the Statute of
Limitation (Amendment) Act 1991. There is a two year period from the
date of the accident within which proceedings must be issued by you
if you are claiming damages for Personal Injuries. Special rules apply
for people who are under the age of 18 years of age. We do not propose
to cover the issue of such persons in this short Guide but if you want
information about an accident where a minor, being a person under
the age of 18 years of age suffered a Personal Injury we are more than
pleased to help you.
Since July 2004 claims for Personal Injuries cannot issue until you
first have,
1.
Made a valid application to the Injuries Board. This is
commonly known as PIAB.
2.
You must receive either a refusal
(a) by the Respondent to participate in the Injuries Board
assessment or,
(b) by the Injuries Board to proceed to an assessment; or
(c) by either you, the applicant or the respondent to accept the
amount of an Injuries Board assessment.
3.
Obtain an authorisation document from the Injuries Board. This
is an authority to issue proceedings.
While an application is with the Injuries Board the time limit under
the Statute of Limitations is suspended from the date of registration
by the Injuries Board of your application to them. The Injuries Board
will give a registration number to any application. When the
authorisation for the issue of proceedings, issues from the Injuries
Board effectively there is a further period of six months from same
issuing to start proceedings. The appropriate Sections of the Act are
Sections 14, 17, 32 or 36, Rules under Section 46 (3) or Section 49.
The legislation relating to the Injuries Board which is in Section 50 of
the Personal Injuries Assessment Board Act states,
© Richard Grogan & Associates Solicitors | 16 – 17 College Green, Dublin 2.
Tel: 6177856 | Fax: 6177857 | Email: info@grogansolicitors.ie | www.grogansolicitors.ie
“In reckoning any period of time for the purposes of any limitation
period in relation to a relevant claim specified by the Statute of
Limitations (Amendment) Act 1991, the period beginning on the
making of the application under Section 11 in relation to the Claim
and ending six months from the date of issue of an authorisation
under, as appropriate, Section 14, 17, 32 or 36, Rules under Section
46 (3) or Section 49 shall be disregarded”.
You might well ask what does all this mean in plain English. In plain
English it means that whatever limitation period was outstanding at
the time that you put the application into the Injuries Board will be
extended by six months from the date of authorisation received by the
Injuries Board. So if there was 9 months left to issue there is now 15
months.
What Happens If I Receive an Assessment from the Injuries Board
that I am happy with?
If you receive an assessment from the Injuries Board that you are
happy with and the Respondent, being the party who caused the
Personal Injury to you, accepts or takes no action you are entitled to
accept that sum.
No proceedings then have to issue.
What happen if I am not happy with the assessment by the
Injuries Board or the party who caused my injury does not accept
their assessment?
In those cases if the assessment is rejected, by either party the claim
has to go to Court.
In What Circumstances Does a Case go to Court?
The case goes to Court if there is a refusal by the other party to
participate in the Injuries Board assessment, The Injuries Board
refuses to proceed to an assessment or either you or the party
responsible for your injuries do not accept the amount of an Injuries
Board assessment.
© Richard Grogan & Associates Solicitors | 16 – 17 College Green, Dublin 2.
Tel: 6177856 | Fax: 6177857 | Email: info@grogansolicitors.ie | www.grogansolicitors.ie
What happens if a case has to go to Court.
If a case has to go to Court then a set of proceedings will issue. These
will issue in either the High Court, the Circuit Court or the District
Court.
Your Solicitor will be able to help you in preparing these forms of
application to the Court. They are commonly referred to as
summonses.
It is important to make sure that all relevant information is set out.
There are details laid down by Section 10 of the Civil Liability and
Courts Act 2004 which set out the details that need to be set out in
any claim.
What should I do if I have been involved in an accident and have
suffered an injury?
If you have been involved in an accident and have suffered an injury it
is our advice that you see a Solicitor who specialises in Personal
Injury and Accident Law as soon as possible. You should not delay.
You will find other Guides on our website which may give more
information in deciding whether to use this firm of Solicitors or a
different firm of Solicitors to act for you.
This is a Guide only. It does not claim to provide legal advice. Before
acting or refraining from acting on anything contained in this Guide
legal advice from a qualified solicitor regulated by the Law Society of
Ireland should be obtained.
*In contentious cases a solicitor may not charge fees as a proportion
or percentage of any award or settlement.
© Richard Grogan & Associates Solicitors | 16 – 17 College Green, Dublin 2.
Tel: 6177856 | Fax: 6177857 | Email: info@grogansolicitors.ie | www.grogansolicitors.ie
The section with the * above is a Law Society of Ireland requirement.
This means that in cases such as covered by this Guide where a
person has suffered a personal injury in an accident a Solicitor cannot
charge a percentage fee or a fee which relates to a proportion of any
award or settlement which you receive. We would refer you to our Fees
and Costs section of our website which sets out the basis under which
we charge our fees to you. We are more than happy to sit down and
discuss our fees with you and to explain any matters that you need
explained to understand the basis under which we would provide legal
services to you.
We hope you find this Guide useful. However remember always get
legal advice before acting or refraining from acting on anything
contained in a Guide as a Guide is a Guide only dealing with matters
generally rather than the specifics of your particular case.
© Richard Grogan & Associates Solicitors | 16 – 17 College Green, Dublin 2.
Tel: 6177856 | Fax: 6177857 | Email: info@grogansolicitors.ie | www.grogansolicitors.ie