The Alliance for Insurance Reform has reacted with alarm to the publication of data by the Central Bank which shows the percentage of motor insurance personal injury claims settled by the Personal Injuries Assessment Board has fallen to only 14%.

Commenting on the news, Eoin McCambridge, managing director of McCambridge’s of Galway and director of the Alliance said, “When the PIAB was launched in 2004, it had a profound and immediate impact on motor insurance costs as was intended. But it has been undermined since then to the extent that far more cases now go to litigation, with no benefit for plaintiffs but enormous fees for solicitors and barristers.”

Peter Boland, director of the Alliance said, “It is up to the newly-formed Government Cabinet Sub-Group on insurance reform to address this issue urgently and radically, before the PIAB becomes irrelevant through no fault of its own. We have contacted the Minister of State with responsibility for the PIAB, deputy Robert Troy, to seek an urgent meeting in this regard.”