67% SAY ENGLAND AND WALES PIDR SHOULD MATCH SCOTLAND AND NORTHERN IRELAND

Two-thirds of respondents in this week’s Airmic Big Question said the Personal Injury Discount Rate (PIDR) for England and Wales should match the new PIDR for Scotland and Northern Ireland, which was announced and came into effect last week.

Last week, new Personal Injury Discount Rates (PIDR) for both Scotland and Northern Ireland were announced and came into effect. It is a percentage figure used to help calculate how much defendants have to pay in damages to claimants in serious, life-changing personal injury cases.

While the new PIDR of +0.5% will mean that personal injury claimants will receive less compensation, premiums for liability insurance are expected to drop.

The PIDR for England and Wales is currently being reviewed.

Julia Graham, CEO of Airmic, said: “Given changing macroeconomic conditions, the new PIDR set for Scotland and Northern strikes a balance between ensuring fair compensation for claimants to meet their current and future needs, and keeping premiums for liability insurance reasonable.”

Leigh-Anne Slade, Head of Media, Communications and Interest Groups, Airmic, said: “UK employers would typically have operations spanning the breadth of the country, so most Airmic members believe a consistent approach would ensure the process is not over engineered and incurs extra expenses. However, there are some Airmic members that believe there are cost differentials between England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and so the PIDR should be nuanced for each region.”

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We will be sharing the results of the Airmic Big Question with the press weekly.

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Media contact: Leigh Anne Slade
Head of Media, Communications and Interest Groups, Airmic
Leigh-Anne.Slade@Airmic.com
07956 41 78 77