Insurance claims - A wonderful success story

WHAT a wonderful success the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) has proved to be.

Compensation of €181 million was paid out in 8,200 personal injury cases last year.The awards were every bit as good as could have been expected in court but took a quarter of the time to finalise. Delivery time might have been over two years but was cut to just months and costs were about 30% of what they once were. This meant savings of €€40m in just one year.

In practical terms everyone of us sees the benefits of this system when we go to insure our car. What was once a considerable expense has become something much more manageable.

What a contrast this good news story is to the self-serving squealing of the vested interests who protested so loudly, and predicted terrible calamities before the scheme was introduced.

It should also be remembered that the scheme was pushed through by Mary Harney when she was enterprise minister despite opposition from those so well rewarded by the old, inefficient and expensive system.

Congratulations minister and well done PIAB.