How to make a claim

Fill out a claim application form online OR complete and send one to us by post or email 

By filling in this form, you are then referred to as the Claimant.

The online form is available here and, if using post or email, the forms are available at the links below.  A completed application will contain the following:

• A Completed Application Form
• Our processing fee of €45 if your claim is submitted online or €90 if submitted by email or post.
• A completed medical report from your doctor (available here)

MEDIATION:  We have always provided a claim assessment service and now, as part of our expanded services, the Injuries Resolution Board are now offering mediation as a alternative option for resolving Workplace Injury (Employers Liability) and Public Liability claims. A comprehensive document setting out how Mediation will operate is here.

You can consent to mediation in Section 7 of the application form by clicking the box on the claim application form as illustrated below:

We will notify the Respondent of your claim (the Respondent is the person or organisation your claim is against) The Respondent, usually represented by an insurance company, then must agree to the assessment and/or mediation of your claim. Consent to the Injuries Resolution Board process by Respondent is typically quite high. This will take a maximum of 90 days. The Respondent can also consent to using our mediation service in employer liability cases and this option is available to the Respondent in our employer liability formal notice. The Respondent has the following options:

• Consent to mediation only
• Consent to assessment only
• Consent to both mediation and assessment
• Do not consent to our involvement in the claim

If both parties consent to mediation, you will then enter our mediation process where one of our experienced and independent mediators will work with you and the Respondent with the aim of facilitating an agreed outcome.

If agreement is reached, the mediator will draft a written version of anything agreed orally. This will then go to both parties to sign and return. Once signed, there is a ten-day cooling off period, during which you can change your mind. If everyone is still happy after 10 days, the agreement becomes legally binding, and we will issue an Order to Pay. This order has the same standing as a court order.

If no agreement is reached, within our mediation process, the Respondent also consented to the assessment process and the claim is suitable for assessment, then you may proceed to Step 3 of our process below.

Please note, if the Respondent does not agree to a claim being dealt with by us at all, you are issued with an authorisation to take your claim through the court system, should you so wish.

At this stage we may arrange for you to have an independent medical examination. The reason for this is so that we have an accurate picture of all of your injuries and the expected time of recovery. Independent medical examinations are arranged in relation to most claims.

We will then assess the monetary value of your claim (this is called compensation) covering the compensation for pain and suffering a result of the injury.

Our organisation will ask for receipts for out-of-pocket expenses you have had and for proof of loss of earnings incurred as a result of your injury, and that is additionally included in the compensation we assess.

You and the Respondent both receive a Notice of Assessment which sets out the compensation we have assessed for the injury. This will include the compensation for pain and suffering and for out-of-pocket expenses. The Respondent has 21 days to accept the assessment and you, the Claimant, has 28 days.

Where both parties accept the amount of compensation, our organisation issues a document called an Order to Pay, instructing the Respondent to pay the sum we have awarded. This Order to Pay has a similar status to a court order. Following that, the respondent issues a settlement cheque.

If either you or the Respondent reject the assessment by our organisation then we will issue you with an authorisation which  allows you to take your claim through the court system should you so wish.  If that happens, the case leaves our organisation.

The Personal Injuries Guidelines set guideline compensation levels for personal injury compensation awards in Ireland. The Guidelines are published and reviewed by the Judicial Council which is a body composed of all judges in Ireland. 

The Personal Injuries Guidelines deal with a wide range of injuries in terms of General Damages, which are the monetary amounts awarded for pain and suffering in relation to a personal injury.   They are used by both the Courts and the Injuries Resolution Board to determine compensation levels.

The Guidelines do not cover Special Damages, which are out of pocket expenses such as medical expenses or compensation for loss of wages, resulting from an injury.

These Guidelines seek to promote a better understanding of the principles governing the assessment and award of damages for personal injuries with a view to achieving greater consistency in awards notwithstanding that cases will invariably have their own unique features.

Click here to find a copy of the Guidelines.

The Guidelines categorise various injuries with compensation ranges applied for each bracket of severity.

The Personal Injuries Guidelines must be used by the Injuries Resolution Board and the Courts in awarding compensation for a personal injury claim.  If the Injuries Resolution Board or the Courts make an award outside of the Guidelines in any case, reasons for departing from the Guidelines must be detailed.

The commencement date for the first edition of the Guidelines was 24^th of April, 2021. These are the current guidelines in place and are applicable to all assessments of compensation that the Injuries Resolution Board makes. A review of the Guidelines took place in March 2024 with the Judicial Council publishing updated draft amendments to the Guidelines in December 2024. These draft amendments are not yet effective.

The draft amendments to the Guidelines are currently going through an approval process, and it is not yet known when the updated Guidelines will come into effect.

You can view a copy of the draft amendments to the Personal Injuries Guidelines on the Judicial Council’s website.

All awards of compensation for personal injuries should have regard to the Guidelines that came into effect on the 24^th April 2021 until any amendments to the Guidelines are formally approved and adopted and become legal.

We will update our website once any changes become effective. If amendments are fully approved and legally come into force, they will come into place for the Injuries Resolution Board for all claims where no assessment of compensation has yet been made.