Psychological Injury Claims After an Accident in Ireland

A psychological injury claim in Ireland allows a person who developed a recognised psychiatric condition after an accident to seek compensation, even without a physical injury. Conditions such as PTSD, adjustment disorder, depression and generalised anxiety are treated with the same legal weight as fractures or soft tissue damage under Irish tort law. The Injuries Resolution Board (IRB), formerly known as the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB), now assesses wholly psychological injury claims [1]. Compensation brackets come from the Judicial Council Personal Injuries Guidelines (2021) [2].

Contents

Time limit: Two years from the date of accident or date of knowledge. Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004 ³

Assessment body: Injuries Resolution Board (IRB). Psychological injuries are now fully assessable. ¹

Compensation source: Personal Injuries Guidelines (2021), which replaced the earlier Book of Quantum. ²

Key legal test: Kelly v Hennessy [1995] 3 IR 253. Five criteria for nervous shock claims. ⁴

What counts as a psychological injury after a public liability accident?

A psychological injury is a medically recognised psychiatric condition caused by an accident on premises where the occupier owed you a duty of care. Common conditions include post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), adjustment disorder, generalised anxiety disorder and clinical depression. Ordinary upset, grief, disappointment or temporary shock don't cross the legal threshold, as the Personal Injuries Guidelines (2021) ² make clear [2].

The distinction matters for your claim. An adjustment disorder involves difficulty coping with a stressful event, typically with a better prognosis than PTSD. PTSD requires a specific traumatic trigger and produces intrusive flashbacks, avoidance behaviour and hyperarousal. Generalised anxiety is broader, with persistent worry that may or may not be tied to one event. Each condition falls into a different bracket under the Guidelines, so the diagnosis your psychiatrist gives you directly affects the compensation range.

How each psychiatric diagnosis maps to the Personal Injuries Guidelines brackets

Diagnosis	Typical prognosis	Likely Guidelines bracket
Adjustment disorder	Good recovery expected with therapy, often within 6 to 18 months	Minor to moderate (€500 to €35,000)
Generalised anxiety disorder	Variable, depends on severity and treatment response	Moderate to serious (€10,000 to €80,000)
Clinical depression	Responds to treatment but relapse risk remains	Moderate to serious (€10,000 to €80,000)
Post-traumatic stress disorder	Ranges from full recovery to chronic impairment	Minor to severe (€500 to €120,000, PTSD-specific brackets)
Severe PTSD with comorbid depression	Poor prognosis, marked impairment across all life areas	Serious to severe (€35,000 to €170,000, psychiatric damage generally)

These ranges are indicative only. The court assesses each case individually based on medical evidence, prognosis, impact on daily function, and the specific facts. Judicial Council Personal Injuries Guidelines (2021) ².

A detail that catches many claimants off guard: a counsellor's letter won't carry the same weight as a structured clinical interview from a consultant psychiatrist. The IRB and Irish courts look for a formal diagnosis using recognised criteria, not a general observation that someone is "struggling with anxiety." If you've only seen a counsellor so far, the next step is a referral to a psychiatrist or clinical psychologist for a formal assessment.

Can you claim for psychological injury without a physical injury?

Yes, you can bring a standalone psychological injury claim in Ireland without any physical injury, provided a recognised psychiatric condition has been diagnosed and linked to the accident by negligence. The IRB now assesses wholly psychological claims, a change from its previous practice of declining them. Citizens Information (Updated 2025) ¹ confirms this shift [1].

Standalone psychological claims are harder to prove than cases involving both physical and psychiatric injury. When a broken wrist follows a fall, the link between accident and harm is visible. When the only injury is PTSD after witnessing a ceiling collapse in a restaurant, the connection depends entirely on psychiatric evidence and contemporaneous records. Strong contemporaneous evidence from the scene, witness statements about your visible distress, and early GP attendance all strengthen the causation argument.

What should you do first after developing psychological symptoms?

Attend your GP as soon as symptoms appear and describe them in connection with the accident. The GP visit creates the first dated clinical record linking your condition to the incident. According to the HSE (Updated 2025), PTSD symptoms can take up to a month to develop after a traumatic event [10]. Delayed GP attendance weakens the causation link because insurers will argue the symptoms arose from something else.

In the first weeks after an accident on premises, take these practical steps to protect both your health and your claim:

First steps after developing psychological symptoms from a public liability accident

When	Action	Why it matters
Within days	Attend your GP. Describe symptoms (sleep disturbance, flashbacks, anxiety, avoidance) and link them to the accident.	Creates the earliest dated clinical record. The GP can refer you to a specialist and prescribe initial medication if needed.
Week 1	Report the accident to the occupier in writing. Keep a copy of the letter or email.	Establishes a formal record that the incident occurred. Starts the one-month notification clock under the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004. 3
Week 1 to 2	Begin a personal symptom diary. Record sleep patterns, concentration difficulties, avoidance of specific places, and how symptoms affect daily activities.	Contemporaneous records carry significant weight. A diary written in real time is harder for insurers to challenge than a retrospective account months later.
Week 2 to 4	Request a referral to a consultant psychiatrist or clinical psychologist for a formal assessment.	A specialist diagnosis under ICD-11 or DSM-5 criteria is the foundation of Stage 2 of the Psychiatric Evidence Chain.
As soon as possible	Preserve any evidence from the scene. Request CCTV footage in writing before it's overwritten (retention periods can be as short as 7 to 14 days).	CCTV showing the hazard and the accident is often the strongest single piece of liability evidence in public liability claims.

One detail that surprises clients: the symptom diary doesn't need to be formal or polished. A few lines each day in a notebook or phone note, written in your own words, showing how the condition affects work, sleep and daily routines, carries more weight than a perfectly structured document produced months after the event.

How is psychological injury proven in Irish law?

The legal test for nervous shock claims in Ireland comes from Kelly v Hennessy [1995] 3 IR 253, a Supreme Court decision that remains the foundation for all psychiatric injury claims. The Law Society of Ireland Gazette (2023) confirmed these criteria still apply [4].

Five conditions must be met:

Kelly v Hennessy: five criteria for a nervous shock claim in Ireland

Criterion	What it means in practice
1. Recognisable psychiatric illness	You must have a formal diagnosis of a condition such as PTSD, adjustment disorder, depression or generalised anxiety. Ordinary distress isn't enough.
2. Shock-induced	The illness must have been triggered by a sudden, shocking event, not a gradual decline. A ceiling panel falling onto a table beside you qualifies. A slow realisation over weeks does not.
3. Caused by the defendant's act or omission	The negligent party's failure to maintain safe premises must have caused or materially contributed to the traumatic event.
4. By reason of actual or apprehended physical injury	The shock must arise from witnessing or experiencing physical danger to yourself or another person.
5. Duty of care owed	The defendant must have owed you a duty not to cause reasonably foreseeable psychiatric harm.

The timing matters more than most guides suggest: the "shock-induced" requirement (criterion 2) is where many claims fail. In Germaine v Day [2024] IEHC 420, the High Court dismissed a claim where psychiatric injury arose from witnessing a loved one's gradual clinical decline rather than a sudden event [6]. The court held that prolonged deterioration didn't satisfy the "sudden shocking event" requirement. For public liability claims, this distinction is usually straightforward because falls, impacts from objects and collapses are sudden by nature.

Does Ireland follow the UK primary and secondary victim rules?

No. Irish courts have not adopted the rigid primary and secondary victim classification used in England and Wales. The Court of Appeal confirmed this in Sheehan v Bus Eireann [2022] IECA 28 [7]. Instead, Irish law applies a flexible test of reasonable foreseeability, proximity and the reasonableness of imposing a duty of care on the facts of each case.

In the English system (from Alcock v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire), secondary victims must meet strict requirements around physical proximity, the means of perception and a close relationship to the injured person. Irish courts look at each case individually. In Sheehan, the plaintiff came upon the aftermath of a fatal bus crash, discovered a body, and developed severe PTSD. The court awarded €85,000 in general damages, finding that her proximity to the horrific scene and her role as an involuntary witness satisfied all five Kelly v Hennessy criteria.

A 2025 High Court ruling reinforced this approach. A mother who arrived at the scene of her son's fatal road traffic accident within ten minutes was awarded €130,000 in general damages for severe PTSD. The court ruled that her proximity in time and space to the immediate aftermath fully satisfied the nervous shock test. Irish Legal News (2025) reported the decision [12].

For public liability claims, this broader Irish approach is significant. A shopper who witnesses another customer's serious fall from a height in a shopping centre and develops PTSD could potentially bring a claim. Under the rigid UK test, a bystander with no family connection would face steep hurdles. Under Irish law, the court assesses foreseeability and proximity on the individual facts.

What if you had a pre-existing mental health condition?

The eggshell skull rule protects you. Under Irish tort law, a defendant must take the claimant as they find them. If you had pre-existing anxiety or depression before the accident, and the incident made your condition significantly worse, the defendant remains liable for the full extent of the worsened condition. Irish courts have consistently applied this principle to psychiatric injuries. DAC Beachcroft (2025) analysed recent rulings confirming the rule's application [8].

The High Court applied this principle in the Sykula case (2024), where the plaintiff suffered anxiety, depression and PTSD after a road traffic accident. The court accepted that, under the eggshell skull rule, the defendant could not escape liability because the plaintiff was psychologically vulnerable before the crash. DAC Beachcroft (2025) ⁸ reported the ruling [8].

One aspect the official guidance doesn't cover: courts can reduce your psychiatric award if other life stressors contributed to the condition. In Sykula, the court found that homelessness, COVID-19 isolation and litigation stress all worsened the plaintiff's mental health alongside the accident. General damages for psychiatric injury were reduced by 50% to reflect these non-accident-related contributors. The total general damages came to €65,000, with €30,000 attributed to psychiatric injury after apportionment.

How much compensation for psychological injury in Ireland?

Compensation for psychiatric damage in Ireland is set by the Judicial Council Personal Injuries Guidelines (2021) ², which replaced the earlier Book of Quantum [2]. The Guidelines include separate categories for psychiatric damage generally (including adjustment disorders) and for post-traumatic stress disorder. According to the IRB H2 2024 Award Values Report, the average personal injury award across all categories in 2024 was €18,967 [13]. The brackets below apply to general damages for pain and suffering only. Special damages for therapy costs, lost earnings and related expenses are additional.

Personal Injuries Guidelines (2021): psychiatric damage compensation brackets

Severity	Psychiatric damage generally	PTSD (standalone section)
Severe	€80,000 to €170,000	€60,000 to €120,000
Serious	€35,000 to €80,000	€35,000 to €80,000
Moderate	€10,000 to €35,000	€10,000 to €35,000
Minor	€500 to €15,000	€500 to €10,000

Awards vary case by case. These figures represent general damages under the Judicial Council Personal Injuries Guidelines (2021). The proposed 16.7% uplift to these brackets isn't in force. The Government signalled in July 2025 that it wouldn't seek Oireachtas approval, so the 2021 figures remain the current reference. Maximum general damages for the most catastrophic injuries are capped at €550,000.

Factors the court considers when placing a claim within these brackets include the claimant's age, the degree of interference with work and daily activities, the impact on relationships, whether treatment has been sought, the likely success of future therapy, and any associated physical injuries. Where general damages for a physical injury are also claimed, the court identifies the dominant injury bracket and uplifts for the secondary condition rather than adding both brackets together. At this point, the question becomes how the IRB handles the assessment in practice.

How does the IRB handle psychological injury claims?

The Injuries Resolution Board now assesses psychological injury claims in Ireland, including cases involving purely psychiatric harm with no physical injury. This is a significant change from earlier practice, when the Board routinely declined to assess psychological-only claims and issued authorisations for court instead. Citizens Information (Updated 2025) ¹ confirms the shift [1].

The standard IRB claims process applies. You submit an application (€45 online, €90 by post or email), supported by a medical report on Form B completed by your treating doctor or psychiatrist. The respondent (the occupier, business or local authority you're claiming against) has 90 days to consent to assessment. If they consent, the IRB assesses the claim using the Personal Injuries Guidelines. If they refuse, the Board issues an Authorisation allowing you to proceed to court. The IRB assessment is NOT a court hearing. You do NOT attend in person. The Board assesses your claim on paper based on the medical evidence and Form B submitted with your application.

The IRB also offers mediation as an alternative, available since May 2024 [9]. Mediation can resolve psychological injury claims faster and with less adversarial stress than a full courtroom hearing.

The scale of change is visible in the IRB's own data. According to the IRB 2024 Award Values Report, psychiatric damage awards now represent 14% of all IRB awards, up from just 5% in 2021 [13]. Across all categories, the average award in 2024 was €18,967 and the median was €13,000. The respondent consent rate reached 71%, and 50% of assessments were accepted by both sides without court proceedings. These figures confirm a structural shift toward administrative resolution of psychological claims that previously required litigation.

How long does a psychological injury claim take?

A psychological injury claim after a public liability accident in Ireland typically takes 12 to 24 months from first GP visit to resolution, though complex cases with disputed causation can take longer. According to Citizens Information (2025) ¹, most IRB assessments are completed within 9 months from consent ¹. The bottleneck specific to psychiatric claims is the wait for specialist reports, not the IRB assessment itself.

A realistic timeline for a straightforward psychological-only claim:

Typical timeline for a psychological injury public liability claim in Ireland

Stage	Typical duration	What happens
GP attendance and referral	Weeks 1 to 4	GP documents symptoms, provides initial treatment, refers to consultant psychiatrist.
Psychiatric assessment and report	Weeks 6 to 18	Consultant psychiatrist conducts structured clinical interview, produces medico-legal report. Wait times of 10 to 14 weeks are common due to high demand.
IRB application	Month 4 to 6	Application submitted with Form B and psychiatric report. Fee: €45 online. Respondent has 90 days to consent.
IRB assessment	Month 7 to 15	If the respondent consents, the IRB assesses the claim. Most claims are assessed within 9 months from consent. 1
Acceptance or court	Month 15 to 24+	If both parties accept, the claim settles. If either rejects, Authorisation issues and litigation begins. Over 95% of authorised claims settle before trial.

What the timeline estimates don't account for: if the insurer commissions their own psychiatric IME, that adds another 6 to 10 weeks. If the respondent refuses IRB consent entirely, you skip straight to court with Authorisation, but court listing delays can add 12 months or more depending on the venue and court workload.

What special damages can you recover for psychological injury?

Special damages in psychological injury claims cover the actual financial costs the condition has caused you. These are paid on top of general damages for pain and suffering and must be supported by receipts, invoices or payslips. Typical recoverable costs in Irish psychological injury claims include:

What evidence supports a psychological injury claim?

Successful psychological injury claims in public liability cases follow what practitioners call the Psychiatric Evidence Chain, five linked stages that together prove both the injury and its connection to the accident. The IRB (2025) ¹ and the courts require medical and situational evidence demonstrating that the psychiatric trauma was caused by a third party's negligence ¹. If any link in the chain is missing, the claim becomes harder to advance.

Stage 1: Incident proof. CCTV evidence showing the hazard and the accident is often decisive. Accident report books, witness statements and inspection or maintenance logs all establish that a negligent event occurred on the premises. For psychological claims, the duration of the hazard shown on CCTV (how long a wet floor remained without a sign, for instance) can prove the occupier had constructive notice.

Stage 2: Clinical diagnosis. A formal diagnosis from a consultant psychiatrist or clinical psychologist carries the most weight. The diagnosis must name a recognised condition under ICD-11 or DSM-5 criteria. The Personal Injuries Guidelines (2021) ² specify that upset, distress and grief do not qualify ². A GP letter confirming "anxiety symptoms" is a starting point, not an endpoint. The medical evidence supporting psychiatric claims needs to come from a specialist who conducted a structured clinical interview and, where appropriate, psychometric testing.

Stage 3: Causation connection. The psychiatric report must explicitly state that the diagnosed condition was caused or materially contributed to by the accident, using the "but for" test. Would the claimant have developed this condition at this severity if the accident had not occurred? If the answer is no, causation is established.

Stage 4: Treatment trail. Ongoing records of treatment engagement strengthen the claim. GP visit notes, therapy session records, medication prescriptions and referrals all show the condition is real, persistent and being managed. Courts view non-engagement with available treatment as a factor that may reduce awards.

Stage 5: Impact documentation. Evidence of how the condition affects daily life closes the chain. Loss of earnings records, a personal impact statement describing sleep disturbance and functional limitations, and statements from family members about observed changes all support the damages assessment. The next step is to consider what treatment options strengthen both your recovery and your claim.

What treatment options are available and how do they help your claim?

Treatment for PTSD and related psychiatric conditions in Ireland typically follows a GP referral pathway to specialist psychological therapy. According to the HSE (Updated 2025) ¹⁰, trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is the recommended first-line treatment, with eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR) as an evidence-based alternative [10]. Medication, usually SSRIs, may be prescribed alongside therapy.

Private therapy options in Ireland include accredited CBT and EMDR practitioners. The EMDR All Ireland directory lists qualified practitioners across the country [11]. HSE waiting lists for specialist trauma therapy can stretch to several months, so many claimants access private treatment and recover those costs as special damages.

From a claims perspective, treatment records serve dual purposes. They prove the condition is genuine and persistent (Stage 4 of the Psychiatric Evidence Chain). They also affect how the court positions your claim within the Guidelines brackets. Engaging with treatment does NOT automatically reduce your award. A claimant who engages with CBT or EMDR and shows improvement typically has a better prognosis, which may place them in the "moderate" rather than "serious" band. A claimant with a poor prognosis despite treatment may qualify for the higher brackets. Not engaging with available treatment, on the other hand, can reduce an award.

What happens at the insurer's independent psychiatric assessment?

Insurers routinely commission independent medical examinations (IMEs) in psychological injury claims. A psychiatrist appointed by the respondent's insurer will assess you separately from your own treating doctor. The purpose is to verify the diagnosis, test causation and assess prognosis from the insurer's perspective.

Expect the examination to cover your full psychiatric history, including any pre-existing conditions, previous treatment and current medication. According to DAC Beachcroft (2025) ⁸, insurers will look for non-accident contributors that could reduce the award ⁸. The assessor will look for alternative explanations for your symptoms. In claims after public liability accidents, insurers often argue that the incident was too minor to cause a genuine psychiatric condition or that non-accident stressors are the real cause.

Between assessment and settlement, the sticking point is usually whether the condition is "shock-induced" or caused by broader life circumstances. The Sykula ruling illustrates this: the court accepted the eggshell skull principle but still reduced the psychiatric award by 50% after finding significant non-accident contributors. ⁸

Your own psychiatric evidence is your best defence. A detailed, well-structured report from a consultant psychiatrist who has reviewed your full records and conducted a thorough clinical interview gives your solicitor the strongest foundation for challenging any IME findings that minimise your condition. This leads to the question of how psychological injury plays out specifically in public liability cases involving premises accidents.

Psychological injury in public liability accidents

Psychological injury claims in public liability cases differ from car accident claims because the defendant is an occupier or premises manager rather than another road user. The Occupiers' Liability Act 1995 defines the duty of care owed to visitors, recreational users and trespassers. Under the Act (1995), this duty extends to preventing foreseeable psychiatric harm, not just physical injury.

Premises-specific psychological outcomes include fear of returning to similar locations (a form of avoidance behaviour recognised in PTSD diagnosis criteria), anxiety triggered by specific environments such as supermarkets or shopping centres, and agoraphobia developing after a fall in a crowded public space. The Personal Injuries Guidelines (2021) ² assess these conditions under the same psychiatric damage brackets regardless of whether the accident occurred on premises or on a road ². These outcomes are underreported in medical records because treating professionals don't always ask about venue-specific fear unless the patient raises it.

In Quinn v Topaz Energy [2021], the court examined an employer's duty to prevent foreseeable psychiatric harm. The employee was supposed to wear a panic alarm but wasn't wearing one during an incident. The defendant argued the employee was responsible for not wearing it. The court rejected this argument and also rejected the claim that psychiatric injury was unforeseeable. While this was a workplace case, the principle of foreseeable psychiatric harm applies equally where an occupier under the 1995 Act knows that a hazard could trigger a traumatic event.

What if you were partly at fault?

Contributory negligence reduces both physical and psychological awards proportionally. If the court finds you were 30% responsible for the accident (for example, you ignored a visible warning sign or were looking at your phone while walking), your total compensation, including the psychiatric component, reduces by 30%. The psychological award is not treated separately from contributory negligence. It's part of the overall damages calculation.

References

1. Citizens Information: Injuries Resolution Board (Updated 2025)
2. Judicial Council Personal Injuries Guidelines (2021)
3. Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004 (Act No. 31)
4. Law Society of Ireland Gazette: Nervous Shock (2023)
5. Personal Injuries Assessment Board Act 2003
6. Fieldfisher: Germaine v Day [2024] IEHC 420
7. Fieldfisher: Sheehan v Bus Eireann [2022] IECA 28
8. DAC Beachcroft: Eggshell skull rule and psychological injury (2025)
9. Injuries Resolution Board: Mediation (2024)
10. HSE: PTSD Treatment (2025)
11. EMDR All Ireland (2023)
12. Irish Legal News: €130,000 nervous shock award (2025)
13. IRB 2024 Award Values Report (April 2025)

Common questions about psychological injury claims

Related questions

What if PTSD symptoms only appeared months after the accident? Delayed-onset PTSD is recognised in Irish law. The "date of knowledge" rule means your two-year time limit starts from when you became aware of the condition, not the accident date. See time limits for public liability claims.

Can a tourist make a psychological injury claim in Ireland? Yes, if the accident occurred on Irish premises and the occupier owed a duty under the Occupiers' Liability Act 1995. See tourist accident claims.

What about children who develop anxiety after an accident? The child public liability claims page covers the extended limitation periods and the role of a next friend in bringing a claim on a minor's behalf.

Gary Matthews, Principal Solicitor, regulated by the Law Society of Ireland, Practising Cert No. S8178. Office: 3rd Floor, Ormond Building, 31-36 Ormond Quay Upper, Dublin D07. Phone: 01 903 6408.

We can review your situation and explain whether your psychological injury may support a claim. Call 01 903 6408 or request a callback on our site.

Information here is for educational purposes only and doesn't constitute legal advice. Every case is different and outcomes vary. Consult a qualified solicitor for advice specific to your situation.

Resources

Read the Personal Injuries Guidelines at the Judicial Council (2021). See the Citizens Information IRB page (2025). Background on PTSD: Wikipedia.

Next, read public liability compensation in Ireland, how to prove a public liability claim, evidence for public liability claims, medical evidence for injury claims, and settlement vs court.