Claims and counterclaims: what stakeholders make of injury awards decision

The proposed 50 per cent cut to injury awards means that continued delays in reducing premiums are highly likely to further damage the credibility of Irish insurers

Compensation awards for minor injuries such as whiplash are to be reduced under the new plans to reform the insurance industry

Perhaps it was inevitable, after such a long period of anticipation, that the recent decision of the Judicial Council to slash personal injury awards by about 50 per cent was met with muted enthusiasm in some quarters and abject disappointment in others.

Few groups, it seemed, were happy with the 166-member council’s decision to endorse the proposals produced by a seven-judge committee chaired by Ms Justice Mary Irvine, the President of the High Court, which ...