Severely injured people in Northern Ireland can make low-risk investments with their compensation to make it last for life from today (22 March) following an announcement from the Department of Justice (DoJ).

“The situation for injured people is fairer here in Northern Ireland now than anywhere else in the UK, where they must take bigger risks when investing their compensation,” said Oonagh McClure from the Association of Personal injury lawyers (APIL) a UK-wide, not-for-profit campaign group for injured people.

“That is not to say it is perfect in Northern Ireland. People with life-long, life-changing injuries must invest their compensation to make sure it stretches to meet their needs for the rest of their lives. While this change means injured people can potentially achieve this by making low-risk investments, they really ought to have their compensation calculated on the basis that they can be risk-free with their money. Ultimately that is the only way to ensure full and proper redress for people injured through negligence,” Ms McClure explained.

A compensation payment is often all the money injured people will ever have, so they are naturally risk-averse. APIL states that injured people are not, and should not be expected to be, canny investors. 

“Injured people are often very vulnerable people with ongoing complex care needs and they deserve financial security and certainty when they receive compensation 

“For many years compensation was calculated on the assumption that injured people would be getting much better returns on their investments, so this change brings some relief, but it could be better,” she said.

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Notes to editors:

• The personal injury discount rate is set at -1.5 per cent in Northern Ireland as of 22 March. By way of comparison, in England and Wales the rate is -0.25 per cent, and in Scotland -0.75 per cent.
• The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) is a not-for-profit campaign group which has been committed to injured people for more than 30 years. Our vision is of a society without needless injury but, when people are injured, they receive the justice they need to rebuild their lives.  We have more than 3,200 members who are committed to supporting the association’s aims, and all are signed up to APIL’s code of conduct and consumer charter.  Membership comprises mostly solicitors, along with barristers, legal executives, paralegals and some academics.
• For more information contact APIL's communications manager Jane Hartwell on t: 07541 490988, e: [email protected].
• Follow @APIL on Twitter: www.twitter.com/APIL.