In a recent ruling, the Court of Appeal significantly reduced a compensation payout, citing it to be “grossly unbalanced, rising to the level of a legal error.” Justice Seamus Noonan highlighted the error as the high court judge overlooked the personal injury guidelines in his verbal verdict, a failure going against what is mandated by law.
Interestingly, both legal teams involved in the case failed to reference the guidelines throughout the course of the trial. This left out any legal assistance in determining the correct payout for the claimant’s injuries, as stressed by the judge. Bringing more consistency to the awards given out for common types of injuries was the main reason behind introducing these guidelines in 2019.
The re-evaluation lead by Justice Noonan, and backed by two of his peers, resulted in the slashing of the High Court’s original award of €99,162 at full liability to €59,162. After applying a 15 percent deduction for contributory negligence, the final amount granted by the court of appeal stood at €50,287.
Courtney Collins, the recipient of the payout, had suffered injures due to a horrific car accident in March 2019 when she was only 15. She, along with three schoolmates, were passengers in a car driven by Steffan Parm, as stated by Mr Justice Noonan. The vehicle was careening at a high speed and lost control on a bend, resulting in it hitting a tree and flipping into a field.
The terrifying scene was vividly described by Ms. Collins from Clonmore, Hacketstown, Co Carlow, painting an image of smashed car windows and ejected passengers screaming in pain in a field. The case was filed against Mr Parm, Anneli Parm and Toomas Parm, who were identified as the car’s owners.
Despite AXA Insurance DAC acknowledging partial liability on behalf of the car owners, they put forth a claim of contributory negligence against Ms. Collins, who was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash. The High Court’s Justice Cian Ferriter ruled Ms. Collins to be 15 percent responsible for her own injuries.
Ms Collins claimed her persistent back and neck pains limited her physical ability to groom dogs, despite various medical treatments. Diagnostic tests revealed that she had an inherent spinal condition. Along with other physical injuries, she also developed depression, which significantly impacted her willpower to go to school or perform at work, according to her own testimony.
The judge of the High Court recognised that her primary problem was psychological. Her life had been severely disrupted for a prolonged period due to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), even though her condition has somewhat improved. He granted her €55,000 in common damages for this and an extra €40,000 for her other injuries.
The defendants disputed the High Court’s award deeming it unreasonable, insufficiently justified, and inconsistent with the 2019 guidelines. During the appeal hearing on Thursday, Mr Justice Noonan noted it was somewhat paradoxical that the defendants critiqued the judge for ignoring the guidelines when they themselves did not even mention them or corresponding cases.
It is inferred from the High Court judge’s references to “dominant injury” and “uplift” that he had a general understanding of the 2019 guidelines and their intended application. While evaluating the worth of Ms Collins’s psychological injuries, Mr Justice Noonan highlighted the defendants’ admission that they could be priced up to €35,000. Hence, this judgement should be upheld.
He determined that her spinal ailment should be categorised as a minor back injury worth a €15,000 award. He priced damages to one of her front teeth at €5,000, her “mild” tinnitus at €3,000, two modest scars on her arm at €5,000, and a swelling on her head (which ceased after a fortnight) at €2,000. He stated that her non-leading injuries should receive a one-third reduction to accurately reflect their coincidental timing. This decision brought the total general damages to €55,000, supplemented by €4,162 in conceded special damages.
Including 15 percent contributory negligence, the final award was settled at €50,287.