A rise in the number of people making personal injury claims is “most likely” attributable to the State’s increased economic activity, with more people at work and more vehicles on the road, the Injuries Board has said.

The board, which is the independent statutory body that makes personal injury compensation awards, published its mid-year review on Tuesday.

The figures show it received 17,132 new claims in the first six months of the year – an increase of 7 per cent on the same six-month period last year.

Of the three claim categories the board deals with, motor claims are up 6 per cent, workplace claims are up 8.5 per cent, and claims for accidents in public places have increased by nearly 9 per cent.

Injuries Board interim chief executive Maurice Priestley said the rise in the figures was “not surprising” given the improvement in the Irish economy.

Claims volumes

“It is not surprising that there has been a modest increase in claims volumes year to date given the general economic upturn - with more people at work and a lot more vehicles on the road,” he said.

Despite the rise, Mr Priestley said the increased economic activity should also manifest itself in greater numbers of insurance policies.

Recent hikes in premiums – with “many consumers” experiencing double digit increases – was “at odds” with the board’s data.

“Greater economic activity would be expected to generate greater numbers of policies and premium income for insurers,” he said.

“However, what we are seeing are insurance premia increases in the region of 20 per cent, and further clarity is needed on the precise cause of increases of this scale.

Insurance companies

“Our data on claim volumes and the cost of processing claims is at odds with the scale of premium increases taking place in the market.

“Insurance companies and claimants have benefited from the visibility of the Injuries Board model which has facilitated early settlements and/or low cost claims resolution.”

The figures also show compensation to the value of €128.45 million was awarded to 5,741 personal injury claimants in the first six months of the year, compared with €144.68 million in respect of 6,552 awards in the same period last year.

Road traffic incidents represented more than three-quarters of awards, while 16.9 per cent of awards were for accidents in public places with the remaining 7.8 per cent related to workplace accidents.

The average compensation award for the first six months of 2015 was €22,375, compared to an average award of €22,082 in the same period last year.