Compo assessment body ‘must be set up’

NEW rules banning the “no win no fee” advertising by solicitors must not stop the Personal Injuries Assessment Board being set up, a consumer watchdog warned yesterday.

The move by the Law Society to outlaw advertising for compensation cases was welcomed by the Consumers Association of Ireland, but their chief executive, Dermott Jewell, warned: "The Tánaiste must still push ahead with the Personal Injuries Assessment Board if we are to really succeed in cutting the price of insurance."

Lawyers earned almost £½bn from processing compensation cases last year. The Irish Insurance Federation paid out 440 million in legal fees for injury compensation. And the Motor Insurance Advisory Board review earlier this year revealed that lawyers' fees accounted for over 40% of the total cost of claims. This prompted Mary Harney to announce her intention to set up a Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) on an interim basis in October to help cut legal fees in half.