The Irish Insurance Federation (IIF) has welcomed the publication of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) Bill. It also criticised claims by lawyers that the PIAB system would not treat parties equitably.
IIF chief executive Michael Kemp welcomed the Bill saying insurers had enthusiastically supported it since it was first proposed.
Kemp said: "The legal profession seems to be isolated in its opposition to the PIAB. However, given the significant income generated by many solicitors and barristers from personal injuries litigation, perhaps it is not that surprising.
"While insurers recorded an operating profit of €127 million on motor and liability insurance in 2002, expenses and profit costs paid to the legal profession last year by insurers alone are estimated at over €340 million."
He said, contrary to the claims of the legal profession the PIAB system was not designed to reduce genuine claimants compensation. Kemp said it was intended to eliminate unnecessary legal and expert witness costs and improve transparency so that cases could be settled earlier.
Mr. Kemp went on, "PIAB will not be able to award claimants less than they would receive in the courts, otherwise the whole purpose of PIAB would be undermined, as a high proportion of cases would go on to litigation, incurring additional costs.
"But properly set up and managed, PIAB has the potential to achieve significant savings by tackling unnecessary litigation overheads without in any way prejudicing the interests of claimants."
"It is easy to understand why solicitors and barristers oppose a system which has the potential to reduce their fee income.
"However, a sceptical public is right to treat as disingenuous in the extreme attempts by lawyers - who, after all, represent both claimants and defendants - to ally themselves solely with the cause of injured victims for their own purposes."
