Motor Accident Injuries Act 2017

Limited statutory entitlement A claimant has only such right to interest on damages payable in relation to a motor accident as is conferred by this section.

Non-economic loss No interest is payable on damages awarded for non-economic loss. The court or Commission cannot order the payment of interest on any such damages.

Other heads of damages The following provisions apply to damages, other than damages to which subsection (2) applies, payable in relation to a motor accident—

Interest is not payable (and the court or Commission cannot order the payment of interest) on such damages unless—

information that would enable a proper assessment of the claim has been given to the defendant and the defendant has had a reasonable opportunity to make an offer of settlement (where it would be appropriate to do so) in respect of the full entitlement to all damages of any kind but has not made such an offer, or

the defendant has had a reasonable opportunity to make a revised offer of settlement (where it would be appropriate to do so) in the light of further information given by the claimant that would enable a proper assessment of the full entitlement to all damages of any kind but has not made such an offer, or

if the defendant has made an offer of settlement, the amount of all damages of any kind that is awarded (without the addition of any interest) is more than 20% higher than the highest amount offered by the defendant and the highest amount is unreasonable having regard to the information available to the defendant when the offer was made.

The highest amount offered by the defendant is not unreasonable if, when the offer was made, the defendant was not able to make a reasonable assessment of the full entitlement to all damages of any kind.

For the purposes of this subsection, an offer of settlement must be in writing.

Calculation of interest If interest on damages is payable under subsection (3)—

the amount of interest is to be calculated for the period from when the loss to which the damages relate was first incurred until the date on which the damages are awarded, and

the amount of interest is to be calculated in accordance with the principles ordinarily applied by a court for that purpose, subject to this section.

Rate of interest The rate of interest to be used in any such calculation is three-quarters of the rate prescribed for the purposes of section 101 of the Civil Procedure Act 2005 for the period concerned.

Judgment debts Nothing in this section affects the payment of interest on a debt under a judgment or order of a court.