Committee Stage - Damages (Return on Investment) Bill

Call for Evidence

The Committee for Justice would like to hear your views on the Damages (Return on Investment) Bill

• Read the Damages (Return on Investment) Bill
• Read the accompanying Explanatory and Financial Memorandum

At its meeting on 28 January 2021 the Committee received a briefing on the principles of the Bill from the Minister of Justice and Department of Justice officials.

• Read the departmental briefing paper dated 19 January 2021 (PDF, 10 pages, 511KB)
• Read the Hansard of the oral evidence session on 28 January 2021
• Read the Minister of Justice correspondence dated 10 February 2021 – Follow-up to Oral Evidence Session on 28 January 2021 (PDF, 6 pages,331KB)
• Read the response from the Department of Justice dated 26 March 2021 - Association of British Insurers Briefing Paper (PDF, 6 pages, 342KB)

The Committee will be considering the following issues when scrutinising the Bill and would welcome views on them:

• Is the new statutory methodology to calculate the personal injury discount rate the most appropriate to achieve as close to 100% compensation as possible?
• Has the new methodology the potential to veer towards over compensation and if so how can this be rectified?
• Has the new methodology the potential to veer towards under compensation and if so how can this be rectified?
• Does the new statutory methodology reflect how a claimant would be advised to invest their award?
• What are the likely effects of using an investment period of 43 years rather than 30 years in the model and do you agree with this approach?
• What are the advantages or disadvantages of transferring responsibility for setting the rate from the Department of Justice to the Government Actuary and is there an appropriate level of accountability in the new statutory methodology?

How to submit your views

Written submissions should be submitted in word format and preferably by email to Damagesbill@niassembly.gov.uk or, by post, to The Committee Clerk, Room 242, Parliament Buildings, Ballymiscaw, Stormont, Belfast, BT4 3XX.

Your written submission should be structured to address specific clauses of the Bill. If appropriate, it should include any amendments you wish to propose to the text of the Bill.

The closing date for written submissions is Friday 30 April 2021.

Organisations or individuals responding to this call for evidence should note that their written submission (either in whole or part) may be published on the Committee webpage and may be quoted in the Committee's report or referred to in Committee meetings (which are public and broadcast).

The Committee recognises that in some circumstances people may prefer for their evidence to be treated as confidential, or published anonymously. If you wish to do this please make this clear when submitting your evidence.

Before sending us your views please read our Privacy Notice. This tells you how we process your personal data.

If you have any queries or require any further information about the call for evidence or the Committee Stage of the Damages (Return on Investment) Bill please contact the Committee Clerk by email at Damagesbill@niassembly.gov.uk or by phone at 028 9052 1629.