Kevin Hegarty was recently instructed on behalf of a client living in Northern Ireland who unfortunately was involved in a road traffic accident in Dublin. As Kevin is qualified and licensed to practise in both the UK and Ireland, we were able to deal with the matter.
After some dispute in respect of who was at fault, eventually the Third-Party Insurer accepted liability. We instructed medical experts in the appropriate fields to examine our client and obtain reports commenting on the extent of the injury suffered.
The client then had the option of negotiating settlement directly with the insurance company for the Third Party or proceeding with an application to the Personal Injury Assessment Board (PIAB) in Ireland PIAB is a statutory body who deal with all personal injury claims, and is unique to the Republic of Ireland. The downside of a PIAB application is that the award of compensation does not factor in legal costs.
We negotiated directly with the insurance company for the Third Party and were able to obtain a settlement of £12,500. As our client was based in Northern Ireland, we were able to negotiate the figure in pounds sterling. We also ensured that our legal costs would be paid separately so that the settlement figure would go straight to our client.
This shows the benefit of having solicitors qualified and licensed to practise in both Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland. No matter where the accident occurred, O’Reilly Stewart are able to assist.