THE VOLUME OF public liability insurance claims has fallen by 40% over recent years, a new report by the Injuries Resolution Board has found.

Between 2019 and 2023, both the number of claims and the average compensation value have fallen, with the total value of annual awards in 2023 nearly €20 million lower than 2019, falling from €52.7 million to €33.2 million.

Claims in cafés, hotels, and restaurants fell by 52% while claims related to shops decreased 44% and sports and athletic areas saw a 38% reduction.

The report noted that there was a low volume of personal injury claims related to childcare settings. Only 256 personal injury claims were made related to childcare settings over the five-year period, despite nearly 170,000 children being enrolled as of 2020/2021. 

The Injuries Resolution Board’s head of research and policy Dr Lauren Swan has explained the process the claims go through.

Speaking on RTÉ Radio One’s Morning Ireland, Dr Swan said that “if you’re involved in an accident – say if you’re in a cafe or a shop and you have a slip, trip or fall – you have, generally, two years to submit your personal injury claim”.

“If your claim isn’t directly settled with the insurer in the early stages of claims, then it must come through the Injuries Resolution Board. That’s irrespective of whether that claim goes on to be resolved through a mediation service or whether it’s resolved through the court system,” she said.

“What’s really important about today’s findings is that we have a comprehensive view of the full personal injury claim landscape and what the findings today show is a 40% reduction, and we can see that again in 2024 based on our provisional data.”

Responding to the report, the chair of the Alliance for Insurance Reform and CEO of the Convenience Stores and Newsagents Association (CSNA) Vincent Jennings said: “In recent years the only thing increasing faster than public liability premiums has been insurer profits, and today’s report shows that this was happening against a backdrop of significantly reducing public liability claims across whole sectors of our economy.”

He described the current landscape of insurance premiums in Ireland “unconscionable”.

“For years the message from insurers was that premiums track the volume of claims and the cost of settling them. Today’s report from the Injuries Resolution Board belies that narrative and we need the next government to step up and address this fundamental unfairness,” Jennings said.

“Businesses, sports, community and voluntary groups are currently facing crippling costs of doing business and the Injuries Board data highlighting falling claim volumes and award sizes tells us public liability insurance shouldn’t be another one of these costs.”