1. I have been injured; will the person who injured me, or his/her insurance company, hasten to fully compensate me?
No, they will not. This is human nature and also implied in the social arrangements under which we live.
2. Will the Injuries Board ensure that my interests are fully looked after?
No, it will not. It has a limited focus. It only addresses one question; the level of compensation the injured person ought to get. It does little to ensure that you will actually get your compensation.
3. How can that be?
An injured person will get nothing unless he/she can prove, if necessary, that some other person has been at fault and that the injury results from that fault. The Injuries Board expressly excludes consideration of fault.
4. Surely that’s a good thing?
Yes, if the person who injured you expressly admits the fault.
5. Will that happen in the Injuries Board system?
No, it never comes up for mention.
4. Who will look after my interests, then?
You will.
5. How do I do that?
By fully understanding what is implied in the Injuries Board system.
6. What is implied in the Injuries Board system?
The Injuries Board system exists to ensure that any legal costs incurred by you as a result of your injury will be borne by you and not by the person who injured you.
7. Is that true?
Not completely. That’s how the Injuries Board started out, but it has changed its mind. It now makes an effort to make your opponent pay for your legal representation, or some of it, if you, the injured person, are a vulnerable person.
8. I have been injured. Am I not vulnerable by that fact alone?
No, not in the view of the injuries board. In the view of the person from whom you are trying to extract compensation, or his/her insurance company, yes, you are vulnerable, but that is advantageous to them and they owe you no duty to reduce your vulnerability.
9. I am inexperienced in these matters. Am I not vulnerable by that fact, then?
No, not in the view of the injuries board.
10. What is a vulnerable person, in the view of the Injuries Board?
Someone who needs legal advice to make the application to the Injuries Board.
11. But surely no such advice is necessary?
The Injuries Board thinks it is sometimes. If you are a vulnerable person.