How Much Is Scarring Worth in Ireland?

How much is a scar worth in Ireland?

A scar in Ireland is worth between a few hundred euro and roughly €200,000. The figure depends on where the scar is, how visible it is, and its psychological effect. The 2021 Personal Injuries Guidelines set the ranges, and a judge or the Injuries Resolution Board places your scar in the band that best fits the medical evidence [1].

Two things decide the figure more than anything else. The first is location. A scar on the face, neck or hands attracts a higher award than one hidden by clothing, because it is seen in every social and work interaction. The second is psychological impact. A scar that triggers a diagnosed adjustment disorder, anxiety or social withdrawal moves into a higher bracket than the same scar with no documented psychological effect [1].

Size matters far less than people expect. There is no "compensation per stitch" and no fixed rate per centimetre. A short facial scar that is visible at conversational distance can be worth more than a long scar on a thigh that nobody sees. The Irish courts value the effect of the scar on your life, not its dimensions.

Are the figures still the 2021 ones in 2026?

Yes. The 2021 Personal Injuries Guidelines remain the binding legal standard in 2026. The Judicial Council proposed a 16.7% increase across every bracket in early 2025, but the Government decided in July 2025 not to bring a resolution before the Oireachtas, so the increase has no legal effect [2].

The reason this matters is that some websites quote the proposed higher figures, or older Book of Quantum amounts, as if they applied today. They do not. The Supreme Court confirmed in Delaney v Personal Injuries Assessment Board [2024] IESC 10 that the 2021 Guidelines are binding and that any change requires legislation [5]. A High Court assessment in May 2025, Somers v The Commissioner of An Garda Síochána, reached the same conclusion, declining to apply the proposed 16.7% uplift because it had not been enacted. Your scar is valued at 2021 rates, whether the claim is assessed this year or next.

Facial scarring compensation brackets

Facial scarring is assessed under §9A of the Guidelines, "Facial Disfigurement", using five severity bands [1]. Irish law applies the same bands to men and women. The old practice of giving women higher awards for facial scars came from the former UK approach and does not reflect the current Irish Guidelines.

The five facial bands run as follows. The most severe band, €80,000 to €200,000, covers a very disfiguring cosmetic effect with a severe psychological reaction, usually in a younger claimant. Severe scarring, €60,000 to €80,000, is substantial disfigurement that remains after treatment with a significant ongoing psychological effect. Serious scarring, €30,000 to €60,000, is where the worst effects are reduced by plastic surgery but the scar stays visible at conversational distance. Moderate scarring, €7,000 to €30,000, is a single concealable scar or several small scars with limited effect on appearance. Minor scarring, at the lower end, is superficial marks with minor visual and psychological effect [1].

The line between "moderate" and "serious" often comes down to the conversational distance test. If a facial scar is clearly visible to someone speaking to you at a normal distance of about one to three metres, courts tend to place it in the serious band, which sets a baseline of €30,000. A scar that shows only on close inspection sits in the moderate or minor band [3].

Age has a strong effect on facial awards. A younger claimant lives with the disfigurement for far longer, so the loss of amenity is greater. A visible facial scar on a person in their late teens or twenties will usually be valued higher than the same scar on a much older person.

How much is a non-facial scar or burn worth?

Non-facial scarring covers the arms, legs, hands, back, chest and torso, and is assessed under §10 of the Guidelines [1]. A single noticeable scar with a minor cosmetic defect is valued between €1,000 and €40,000 under the minor-to-moderate band of §10 [1]. The same chapter sets a higher band of €30,000 to €80,000 for multiple noticeable scars or a single highly disfiguring body scar [1].

People often assume a hidden scar is worth little. That is wrong. The single largest public liability award assessed by the Injuries Resolution Board in the first half of 2025, €134,892, related to an accident in which the person sustained non-facial scars [6]. Extensive bodily scarring, multiple laceration scars, or a single disfiguring scar can command a high award when the disfigurement is significant and the psychological effect is real.

For non-facial scarring, a single noticeable scar with a minor cosmetic defect on the limbs, hands, back or chest is valued between €1,000 and €40,000. Multiple noticeable scars, or a single highly disfiguring scar on the body, move toward the upper part of that range and beyond on the facts. Burns are assessed individually by the area of the body affected, the treatment endured and the resulting scarring, and severe burns attract high awards [1].

Burns are treated more seriously than ordinary laceration scars of a similar size. The reason is the acute pain of burn treatment, the debridement and skin grafting often involved, and the risk of tight contracture scars over joints. Facial burns are assessed under the facial disfigurement bands above. For workplace burns specifically, our guide to burns and chemical exposure at work claims explains the employer's duty in more detail.

↑ Back to top

The six factors that decide your award

Irish courts and the Injuries Resolution Board weigh the same set of factors when valuing a scar. Understanding them tells you what genuinely moves the figure, and what evidence proves each point.

A practical point that catches people out: a general practitioner's note is rarely enough for a scarring claim of any value. A GP describes the original wound, but the court needs a consultant plastic surgeon to describe the permanent scar and its prognosis. The two reports do different jobs, and the surgeon's report is the one that supports the valuation.

How doctors and courts measure a scar

A scarring claim turns on a medical report, so it helps to understand how a plastic surgeon measures a scar and why timing matters. Two things decide the strength of that report: when it is written, and how the scar is scored.

Why you should wait for the scar to mature

A scar takes roughly 12 to 18 months to reach its final state, as the collagen remodels and the colour settles from red and raised to pale and flat. During that window a scar can thicken into a hypertrophic scar or a keloid. Settling too early carries a real risk. If you accept an offer at six months and the scar worsens at month 14, you cannot reopen the claim for more. Waiting for a consultant plastic surgeon to give a settled, long-term prognosis protects the value of the claim, which is why a GP note alone is rarely enough for a claim of any value.

The Vancouver Scar Scale

The Vancouver Scar Scale is the scoring tool a plastic surgeon commonly uses to describe a scar objectively. It rates four features: vascularity (redness), pigmentation (colour against surrounding skin), pliability (how supple or tight the tissue is) and height (how raised the scar is). A higher combined score points to a more severe, more permanent scar, which supports placement toward the upper end of a Guidelines band. The score gives the court a consistent measure rather than a subjective impression, and it is one reason a specialist report is worth far more than a general description.

Scar types and how they affect value

The type of scar affects both its appearance and its prognosis, and the medical report will classify it. Fine-line scars usually fade and flatten over time and have the best prognosis. Hypertrophic scars stay raised but within the original wound boundary. Keloid scars grow beyond the wound and are the hardest to treat. Atrophic or pitted scars sit below the skin surface, and contracture scars, common after burns, tighten the skin and can restrict movement over a joint. Keloid and contracture scars tend to attract higher awards because they are more disfiguring and harder to improve, while a fine-line scar that is expected to fade sits lower in its band.

How psychological impact increases an award

The psychological effect of a scar is the single biggest lever on its value. A plastic surgeon can describe the size, texture and permanence of a scar, but it is the psychiatric or psychological report that pushes a claim into the upper brackets [1].

The Injuries Resolution Board data shows why this matters. Claims where psychiatric damage is the most significant injury rose from 5% of awards in 2021 to 14% in the first half of 2025, after the Board's remit expanded to assess psychological claims [6]. Permanent disfigurement is a common trigger for adjustment disorders, anxiety, low mood and, in some cases, post-traumatic stress disorder.

Where the psychological effect is documented, a scar valued at around €25,000 on its physical features alone can rise materially once a formal diagnosis of social withdrawal or anxiety linked to the disfigurement is in evidence. Where the psychological effect is left undocumented, that part of the claim is assessed at nothing. If a scar has affected your confidence, your relationships or your willingness to be seen in public, that needs to be recorded by a qualified professional. Our page on medical negligence injuries explains how psychological harm is valued alongside a physical injury.

Scarring valued alongside other injuries

Scarring rarely happens on its own. A car crash can cause a fracture, a head injury and facial lacerations together. When there are several injuries, Irish courts do not simply add the brackets together. They value the dominant injury, then apply a proportionate uplift for the lesser injuries, including scarring [7].

The Court of Appeal set the leading approach in Zaganczyk v John Pettit Wexford Unlimited Company [2023] IECA 223. The court identifies the most significant injury and its bracket, adds an uplift for the additional injuries, then applies a "reality check" to make sure the total is proportionate against the wider scale of awards [7]. In that case the High Court had simply added the figures and reached €90,000. The Court of Appeal reduced the total to €60,000 [7].

The uplift is where scarring value is often won or lost. In Crum v Motor Insurers Bureau Ireland [2023] IEHC 656, the dominant injury was a serious wrist fracture valued at €45,000. The court noted that the claimant's 10cm surgical wrist scar would have been worth €20,000 on its own, but because it was a secondary injury it formed part of a combined uplift rather than a separate addition [8]. The lesson is that a scar that would attract a solid figure alone is discounted for overlap when it sits behind a more serious injury, yet it still adds real value to the overall award.

A worked example shows how that calculation works in practice, using round numbers for illustration only. Take a claimant with a serious leg fracture as the dominant injury, valued at €50,000, plus a noticeable forearm scar that would be worth €15,000 on its own. The court does not award €65,000. It starts with the €50,000 dominant injury, then adds a discounted uplift for the scar, because the pain and recovery overlap. A discount of around a third on the secondary injury might produce a €10,000 uplift, giving €60,000. The court then applies the reality check, comparing that total against awards for single injuries of similar seriousness, and adjusts if it looks disproportionate [7].

Medical negligence scarring claims

Scarring caused by negligent medical treatment is handled very differently from accident scarring. A medical negligence claim does not go to the Injuries Resolution Board. It proceeds directly to court, because the Board does not assess claims that turn on whether a medical professional met the proper standard of care.

Medical negligence scarring arises in several situations: a post-surgical wound infection from poor sterile technique, a burn from electrocautery or a chemical used during a procedure, failed cosmetic or reconstructive surgery, or keloid and contracture scarring from inadequate wound management after an operation. A delayed skin cancer diagnosis can also cause avoidable scarring, because a tumour allowed to grow needs a wider, deeper excision that leaves a larger surgical scar. Our guide to missed melanoma and skin cancer claims covers that situation in detail.

A medical negligence scarring claim needs more than proof of a bad outcome. A poor result that happened despite competent care is not negligence. You need expert evidence that the treatment fell below the accepted standard, and a separate causation report linking that failure to the scarring. The two-year time limit runs from the date of knowledge, which in surgical scarring or infection cases can be well after the original procedure.

One point surprises many clients. A young patient with facial scarring from a negligent procedure can receive higher general damages for the scarring alone than for the underlying physical injury, because the Guidelines weigh the duration of impact heavily, and a person in their twenties will live with the disfigurement for decades longer than someone much older.

↑ Back to top

Special damages and future treatment costs

General damages compensate for the pain, the disfigurement and the effect on your life. Special damages are the separate, vouched financial losses, and scarring claims often carry significant ones. These are claimed on top of the bracket figures above, provided you can prove them with receipts, quotes and records.

Future treatment is a major head of special damages in scarring cases. Scar revision surgery, laser treatment, steroid injections, silicone gels and camouflage products can all be claimed where a plastic surgeon recommends them. Counselling or therapy for the psychological effect is also recoverable. In Power v Malone the court awarded €15,000 in special damages for the makeup the claimant used to cover her facial scarring, on top of her general damages [3].

Loss of earnings and loss of earning capacity can be substantial where a visible scar affects your work. Roles in hospitality, retail, sales, teaching, media and front-of-house work can be affected by visible facial or hand scarring. If a scar has changed your career path, as it did for the claimant in Power v Malone who abandoned a beauty therapy career, that loss can be claimed with the right evidence.

How to protect the value of a scarring claim

The difference between a well-run scarring claim and a rushed one is often tens of thousands of euro, and it comes down to evidence and timing rather than argument. In our scarring work we follow a consistent sequence, which we call the Scar Value Protection Method, to make sure nothing that adds value is left undocumented.

1. Wait for the scar to mature before settling. A final plastic surgeon prognosis at 12 to 18 months captures the true, permanent scar rather than an optimistic early estimate.
2. Get both reports, not one. A consultant plastic surgeon for the physical scar and a consultant psychiatrist or psychologist for the psychological effect. A claim with only a surgeon's report leaves the psychological value at nothing.
3. Photograph the scar properly. Same lighting, angle and distance every few months, including shots at conversational distance, so the court can see what an observer sees.
4. Record the human impact in your own words. A personal impact statement, supported by a partner, parent or employer, shows the effect on confidence, work and social life.
5. Keep every receipt and quote. Past and future treatment, camouflage products, counselling and travel all feed the special damages.
6. Get advice on the route early. Accident scarring goes through the Injuries Resolution Board, medical negligence scarring goes to court, and the deadline runs from the date of knowledge.

One observation from handling these claims: the psychological report is the piece clients most often skip, and it is usually the single most valuable document in the file. A visible scar that has changed how someone dresses, socialises or sees themselves is worth recording formally, because a judge cannot compensate distress that no one has set down in evidence.

What if your situation is different?

Scarring claims vary with the facts. The common variations below show how the answer changes.

Recent Irish scarring cases

Recent judgments show how the courts apply the brackets and the uplift in practice. Each case turns on its own facts, so these illustrate the approach rather than predict any particular figure.

Evidence that supports a scarring claim

Strong scarring claims are built on the right medical evidence, gathered in the right order. The most important single decision is timing: do not settle before the scar matures.

A scar takes roughly 12 to 18 months to reach its final state, as the tissue remodels and the colour settles. During that time a scar can hypertrophy or turn into a keloid. If you settle at six months and the scar worsens at month 14, you cannot go back for more. Waiting for a consultant plastic surgeon to give a settled, long-term prognosis protects the value of the claim.

The core evidence pack has six parts. A consultant plastic surgeon report describes the permanent scar, its type and prognosis once it has matured. A consultant psychiatrist or psychologist report diagnoses the psychological effect and links it to the scar. Serial photographs, taken with the same lighting, angle and distance every few months, show permanence. A personal impact statement explains the effect on your confidence, work and social life. Receipts and treatment quotes support the special damages. Employment records show any effect on your hours, promotion or career path.

The claims process: IRB or court

The route your claim takes depends on how the scar was caused. Accident scarring and medical negligence scarring follow different paths.

Accident scarring (road traffic, workplace, public place, assault or dog bite) starts with an application to the Injuries Resolution Board, formerly the Personal Injuries Assessment Board. The Board assesses the value using the Guidelines. If either side does not accept the assessment, the Board issues an authorisation and the claim can proceed to court [4]. Our guide to scarring claims in public liability cases covers the accident route for restaurant burns, shop slips and dog bites.

Medical negligence scarring bypasses the Board entirely and goes directly to litigation, because the claim turns on the standard of medical care. These claims need expert breach-of-duty and causation reports before proceedings issue.

Scarring from an assault has a further option. As well as a civil claim against the attacker, you may be able to apply to the State's Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme, which requires the incident to have been reported to the Gardaí without delay.

The two-year time limit applies to both routes, running from the accident or the date of knowledge of the injury. For children, the clock generally does not start until their 18th birthday. Because the date of knowledge can be complex, especially with surgical scarring, it is worth getting advice early.

↑ Back to top

How long does a scarring claim take?

A scarring claim in Ireland usually takes between one and three years, because the scar must mature before it can be valued. The single biggest factor is the 12 to 18 month wait for a final plastic surgeon prognosis, so scarring claims rarely settle quickly.

The timing reflects the reality that an early settlement on an immature scar cannot be reopened, so the wait protects the value of the claim. Accident claims through the Injuries Resolution Board are generally faster than medical negligence claims, which go through the courts and turn on contested expert evidence [4].

What most guides get wrong

Several myths about scarring compensation circulate online, and they cost claimants money. Three stand out.

The first myth is that women receive more compensation than men for facial scars. The 2021 Guidelines value facial disfigurement by severity band, with no gender distinction [1]. The second is that you have three years to claim. The Irish limit is generally two years from the accident or the date of knowledge [4]. The third is that a hidden body scar is worth little. The largest public liability award in the first half of 2025, €134,892, was for non-facial scarring [6].

A fourth trap is relying on UK figures. Many pages that rank for scarring questions quote sterling amounts from the UK Judicial College Guidelines. Those figures do not apply in Ireland. Irish awards are set in euro under the Judicial Council Guidelines and differ materially from England and Wales.

Common questions

References

1. Judicial Council, Personal Injuries Guidelines (adopted March 2021), sections 9A Facial Disfigurement and 10 Non-Facial Scarring and Burns.
2. RTÉ News, 16.7% personal injury award increase will not go ahead (July 2025).
3. Irish Legal News, High Court: €86,000 for young woman who sustained facial scarring in a car accident (June 2023).
4. Citizens Information, Injuries Resolution Board and time limits (Updated 2026).
5. The Irish Times, Supreme Court rules Personal Injuries Guidelines are legally binding (April 2024).
6. Injuries Resolution Board, Personal Injuries Award Values Report, January to June 2025.
7. BAILII, Zaganczyk v John Pettit Wexford Unlimited Company [2023] IECA 223.
8. Courts Service of Ireland, Crum v Motor Insurers Bureau Ireland [2023] IEHC 656.
9. Irish Legal News, High Court: €60,000 under the Guidelines for moderate PTSD and a thigh scar, Lipinski v Whelan [2022] IEHC 452 (July 2022).

Related guides on this site: scarring claims in public liability cases • burns and chemical exposure at work • missed skin cancer claims • medical negligence injuries