Committee Stage - Damages (Return on Investment) Bill
The Damages (Return on Investment) Bill was formally introduced to the Northern Ireland Assembly on 1 March 2021.
The personal injury discount rate is a percentage applied to a lump sum award for future financial loss, such as loss of earnings and cost of care, paid to a person who has suffered personal injuries.
The discount rate is applied to take account of the amount that would be expected to be earned from investing the lump-sum to make sure a person receives 100% compensation when they have been seriously injured as a result of the negligence of another in accordance with the legal principle that a person should be fully compensated for their losses but no more and no less.
The Damages (Return on Investment) Bill will change how the rate is set.
The main aims of the Bill are:
- To introduce a new statutory methodology for calculating the discount rate that will better reflect how a claimant would be advised to invest their award
- To ensure that the rate is regularly reviewed, at least every five years
- To transfer responsibility for setting the rate from the Department of Justice to the Government Actuary
The Bill passed its Second Stage on 9 March 2021 and has been referred to the Committee for Justice for Committee Stage.
The Call for Evidence is now closed.
- View the Damages (Return on Investment) Bill
- View the Explanatory & Financial Memorandum for the Bill
- View the Official Reports of the Oral Evidence Sessions on the Bill
- View the Written Submissions on the Bill
- View the Department of Justice correspondence received on the Bill
- View the Other Papers and Correspondence received on the Bill
- View the Report on the Damages (Return on Investment) Bill
