On the 1st of August 2014 new rules came into force regarding personal injury claims in Ireland. The Department of Social Protection can now begin the recovery of certain benefits and assistance schemes. The Department can recover the value of certain illness-related social welfare payments from compensation awards made to persons as a consequence of personal injuries claims. The illness – related social welfare payments are recovered from the compensator and not from the injured person. Compensators are usually insurers but can also be the employers. Compensators will now have to request information from the Department of Social Protection regarding what benefit payments were paid to the injured party (if any). These payments are then deducted from the loss earnings element of any compensation being paid and remit the amount deducted to the Department. Where the compensation payment arises from a court order or an Injuries Board assessment, the obligation to pay the recoverable benefits and assistance is limited to the total amount of damages assessed in relation to loss of earnings or profits. When the injuries Board issues a claim they aware they will instruct the compensator (Insurers or can be employers) to pay the injured person the loss of earnings minus any benefit payments. The compensator will then be instructed to remit the amount of benefit payment deduction to the Department of Social Protection. The payments that are recoverable are listed below (Note: the benefits are recovered from the compensator and not from the injured person).
- Injury Benefit
- Illness Benefit
- Incapacity Supplement
- Invalidity Pension
- Partial Capacity Benefit
- Disability Allowance
If you seek additional information please review http://www.welfare.ie/en/Pages/Recovery-of-Benefits-and-Assistance.aspx You need to ensure your Safety Management Systems are up to speed in order that you have some means to prevent injuries, mitigate claims and present a defence. Call us at Peninsula Business Services (Ireland) Ltd for more details on 0818 923 923. Stephanie Byrne is a Technical Advisor working with Peninsula Business Services (Ireland) Ltd; who are Ireland’s leading provider of employment law and health & safety services. Established in Ireland since 1997, we have thousands of businesses who have already integrated Peninsula to work as part of their HR and Health & Safety departments. With offices in Dublin, Belfast, Sydney and Manchester, Peninsula employs 1000 people across Ireland, Australia and the UK
