€125m windfall for State in compo change

The Department of Social Protection is in line for a windfall of up to €125m under new rules that require insurance companies to reimburse the department the cost of welfare payments to people with successful personal injury claims.

In just four months after the regulations came into force, the department issued 25,000 recoverable benefits statements to insurers, setting out how much it paid in illness or injury-related benefits to each claimant and, consequently, how much was due back to the department.

In the same period, the department received some €2.5m from insurers covering around 500 settlements with claimants — an average of €5,000 per case, which would cover six months of the standard illness benefit payment of €188 per week.