The High Court approved a €60,000 Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) assessment for a child injured in a 2019 road traffic accident, finding that pursuing court proceedings was unlikely to produce a higher award and could result in less.
The judgment, delivered by Mr Justice Garrett Simons on 27 November 2023, concerned an application under section 35 of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board Act 2003. Because the applicant is a minor, the PIAB assessment could not become binding without court approval. The child’s mother and next friend had accepted the assessment but argued that it was too low and asked the court not to approve it.
The child was a rear-seat passenger in a vehicle that collided with another car on 26 December 2019. The child had been secured in a booster seat but unfastened the seatbelt shortly before the collision to retrieve a dropped drink. The child suffered facial lacerations requiring treatment under general anaesthetic and spent three days in hospital. A plastic surgeon reported permanent facial scars, including a six-centimetre scar across the right cheek and nose, visible at conversational distance.
Psychiatric reports differed. An earlier assessment recorded post-traumatic stress disorder. A later report said the child’s anxiety had met the criteria for adjustment disorder but no longer amounted to a clinical disorder. The judge considered the newer report more comprehensive and likely to carry greater weight at trial. The child had received play therapy and school-based therapy; residual travel anxiety and concern about the scars remained.
The child’s counsel accepted that €60,000 was within a reasonable range for the scarring alone, though not generous. Counsel submitted that the psychological injury warranted an uplift and that total damages should be €75,000 to €80,000. The judge assessed the scarring at about €45,000 and said an uplift for the psychological injury was more likely to be €5,000 to €10,000, with €15,000 the upper limit before any discount. The judge concluded that a trial award was unlikely to exceed the PIAB assessment and could be lower.
The court approved the assessment. It directed that €60,000 be paid into court for the child, €8,688.60 be paid to the next friend’s solicitor as provided in the assessment, and €2,640 for future treatment be paid to the next friend to hold for the child. The respondent was ordered to bear the costs of the approval application, subject to adjudication if not agreed. Reporting restrictions prohibit publication likely to identify the child, while permitting reporting of matters in the judgment.