Using the Personal Injuries Board guide to assess how much your claim may be worth.
Most people are familiar with the concept of the Personal Injuries Board and recovering compensation for injuries caused by the fault or negligence of another party.* The ‘Book of Quantum’ has recently been published by the Board in an effort to give clarity to the amount of compensation a person can expect if they win their claim. This article will focus on figures for the most common head and neck injuries.
In order to estimate compensation you must first identify the location of the injury, second, calculate the severity from medical reports and look up the value range. Where multiple injuries occur there may be additional compensation. However, the compensation for each injury cannot be calculated individually.
There are six categories of injuries; Head, Neck, Back & Spinal, Upper Limbs, Lower Limbs and Body & Internal Organs which are calculated within the brackets of; Minor Injuries which are substantially recovered; Moderate which have ongoing symptoms affecting day to day activities; Moderately Severe include injuries with some permanent incapacity or limitation for the body part; Severe and Permanent Conditions which cause major disruption to a claimant’s life or results in serious continuing pain and/or requires permanent medical attention. There is also compensation for general damages and for loss of earnings, medication, physiotherapy and doctor fees and other expenses resulting from the injury.
Concussion –Symptoms includes headaches, dizziness and nausea. Permanent symptoms may result but most cases recover.
| Minor | up to €21,800 | No loss of consciousness |
| Moderate | €19,000 to €35,200 | Loss of consciousness less than 24 hours |
| Severe | €41,600 to €74,000 | Loss of consciousness more than 24 hours |
Skull Fracture – degrees vary depending on level of consciousness and permanent conditions resulting from the injury
| no loss of consciousness | |
| Minor | €34,700 to €60,200 |
| Moderate | €54,200 to €91,800 |
| Severe and permanent conditions | €73,400 to €105,000 |
| with loss of consciousness | |
| Minor | €34,700 to €66,600 |
| Moderate | €54,200 to €98,200 |
| Severe and permanent conditions | €73,400 to €124,000 |
| Any impact on personality or behaviour once the injury has stabilised and a greater risk of future epilepsy | |
| Minor | €52,800 to €124,000 |
| Moderate | €68,200 to €128,000 |
| Severe and permanent conditions (excluding brain damage) | €87,400 to €144,000 |
Eye and Ear – range from the most devastating where sight has been completely lost, through to transient injury to the eye with minimal impact on vision. While hearing injuries ranging from minor to total loss are contained in the Report of the Expert Hearing Group (The Green Book)
Facial Injuries – Gender and age are factors to determine the exact level of severity including elements of disfigurement attached to them and will be considered accordingly. These injuries include cheek and nose fractures, jaw damage such as soft tissue sprain, dislocation and fracture. Cheek damage spans from €21,200 for minor to €55,600 for severe injuries. Nose fractures range from €18,000 for minor to €63,900 for severe or permanent. The soft tissue jaw injuries go up to €52,700, dislocation up to €68,600 and fractures up to €80,200 for the most severe respectively.
Damage to the Teeth – For these injuries there will generally have been a course of treatment.
| Loss of Milk Tooth | €4,400 to €7,000 |
| Broken Tooth | €7,500 to €10,300 |
| Loss of One Tooth | €10,300 to €12,700 |
| The impact of the loss of more than one tooth | factors would include, the number of teeth affected, location of the teeth, the level of previous dental hygiene, cosmetic effect, possible impacts on the requirement to change to a softer food diet. |
Whiplash/Soft Tissue – an over extension or sprain often suffered in a motor vehicle accident or high impact slip/trip/fall type of accidents.
| Minor | €15,700 to €19,400 |
| Moderate | €20,400 to €30,200 |
| Moderately Severe | €34,400 to €52,200 |
| Severe and permanent | €44,600 to €77,900 |
| Transient/Minor Eye Injuries | up to €9,800 |
| Total Loss of Sight in One Eye | up to €138,000 |
| Total Blindness Cases | Several factors including age at the time of the accident, occupation, lifestyle, cosmetic or disfiguring features, prosthetic requirement. |
| Hearing | Report of the Expert Hearing Group (The Green Book) |
| Fracture of the Cheek | |
| Minor | €21,200 to €42,200 |
| Moderate | €37,700 to €47,300 |
| Severe and permanent conditions | €47,500 to €55,600 |
| Nose Fractures | |
| Minor | €18,000 to €22,100 |
| Moderate | €22,100 to €32,200 |
| Moderately Severe | €32,400 to €46,600 |
| Severe and permanent conditions | €44,500 to €63,900 |
| Jaw – Soft Tissue (the temporomandibular joint). | |
| Minor | €11,000 to €20,800 |
| Moderate | €19,500 to €27,600 |
| Severe and permanent conditions | €25,900 to €52,700 |
| Jaw – Dislocation of the lower jawbone (mandible). | |
| Minor | €21,200 to €35,400 |
| Moderate | €36,100 to €63,300 |
| Severe and permanent conditions | €52,700 to €68,600 |
| Jaw – Fracture | |
| Minor | €21,200 to €47,100 |
| Moderate | €35,900 to €74,900 |
| Severe and permanent conditions | €52,700 to €80,200 |
* in contentious business, a solicitor may not calculate fees or other charges as a percentage or proportion of any award or settlement.