The Gazette 1993

GAZETTE

N E WiS

MWH

DECEMBER 1993

Society's Submission rejects proposal

to cap injuries awards

On^24 September, 1993, the

Law Society made a submission to

Government arguingagainst the

proposal by the Minister of State for

Commerceand Technologyto limit

the amount that_could be paid in

compensation for personal injuries.

The submission is summarised

below:

Part I - Society's recommendations

to reduced insurance costs

• The Society's submission makes it

clear that the solicitors' profession

supports the view that there is a

need to address the high cost of

insurance, and especially motor

insurance, in this country. The only

argument is with the Minister's

approach which is incorrectly

focused on awards for pain and

suffering rather than examining the

reason for the high level of

claims

and taking action to reduce accident

levels. Thus, the Society's

submission makes a number of

suggestions and endorses proposals

which have been made in the past

that are aimed at reducing the cost

of insurance but upon which the

Government has failed to act

(Section I)

\ • A Coopers & Lybrand report points

out that, although accident levels

here are lower than the UK, there

are two and a half times the number

of fatalities in Ireland and 1.25

times the number of serious injuries

on the roads in Ireland compared to

the UK. The principal reason for

this is, in the Society's view, the

poor condition of Irish roads and

inadequate enforcement of road

traffic regulations.

(Section 5)

| • The MacLiam Report of 1982

showed that there was evidence to

suggest there was a higher level of

uninsured driving

in this country

than other European countries. As

far as the Society is aware, the

incidence of uninsured driving in

this country has not abated. This

problem cannot be tackled seriously

unless additional resources are

devoted to enforcement and the

penalties for uninsured driving are

substantially increased.

(Section 6)

\ • A number of the recommendations

of the MacLiam Report remain to

be implemented including measures

to improve the efficiency of the

motor insurance industry itself. A

recent publication suggested that

for every £100 paid in premiums

almost £50 is spent by insurance

companies on administration. That

publication also suggested that

motor insurance in Ireland has

produced a profit every year except

one from 1979 to 1989 and that the

average cost of insurance-settled

claims in Ireland was less than

£2,500 per claim.

(Section 6)

• Much greater attention should be

paid to road safety, particularly

through the elimination of accident

blackspots (for example, the bridge

at Ballymascanlon, Co. Louth

which tragically has claimed eight

;

lives in recent years) and that

specific measures should be taken

to improve the standard of driving

and the repair and maintenance of

vehicles. The MacLiam Report

(eleven years ago) recommended

the annual testing of private cars

which are more than three years

old.

(Section 6)

| • The Society also supports a

recommendation in the MacLiam

Report that the possibility of

introducing a form of structured

settlements, under which

compensation could, in certain

circumstances, be paid by means of

an annual annuity instead of being

paid in one large lump sum, should

be considered. This has now been

recommended by the Law Reform

Commission.

(Section 7)

• The Society also urges that greater

attention should be paid to safety in

the workplace so as to reduce the

high incidence of injuries caused to

people at their place of

employment. Responsibility for this

lies principally on employers.

(Section 8)

• The administration of the courts also

needs to be improved so as to

reduce delays in the hearing of cases

and to reduce costs.

The Society

has recently made a major

submission to the Minister for

Justice on this matter.

(Section 6)

Part II - Summary of the Society's

criticism of the Minister's proposal

• The Minister appears to believe that

awards for pain and suffering in

Ireland are substantially out of line

with the Ed average based on the

findings of a report by Davies

Arnold Cooper. But the Society's

submission shows that the report is I

unreliable, being a subjective

assessment of the compensation

levels that would be payable in two

atypical hypothetical situations; it

does not purport to be an

examination of actual awards made

in real cases in the EC countries

surveyed; and, indeed, the report

itself makes it clear that the figures

are more in the nature of guesswork

than scientific data. Furthermore, a

close examination of the survey

shows that it is not certain that like

is being compared with like in the

European countries surveyed since

they have different legal systems,

different methods of assessing loss

and defining pain and suffering and,

in some cases, different regimes for

treating injuries caused by car

accidents.

(Section 2)

• The Society questions the Minister's

view that Irish levels of damages

397