Personal Injuries Assessment Board Act 2003

Power to impose charges.

22.—(1) The Minister may make regulations enabling the Board to impose the charges referred to in subsection (2) in respect of the dealing by the Board with an application under section 11 in relation to a relevant claim.

(2) Those charges are—

(a) a charge on the claimant of an amount specified in the regulations under subsection (1),

(b) a charge on the respondent or, as the case may be, each of the respondents of an amount specified in those regulations, and

(c) a charge, additional to that referred to in paragraph (b), on the respondent or, as the case may be, each of the respondents, for the purpose of defraying any amount of the expenses incurred by the Board, or on its behalf, in the making of the assessment concerned that, in its opinion, is of an exceptional kind.

(3) For the purpose of subsection (2)(c) and regulations under that provision—

(a) “an exceptional kind”, in relation to an amount, means an exceptional kind relative to the amounts of expenses typically incurred by the Board, or on its behalf, in the making of assessments,

(b) without prejudice to paragraph (a), any amount of expenses incurred by the Board, or on its behalf, in the arranging of, or the carrying out of, a medical examination referred to in section 24 (2) is an amount of an exceptional kind.

(4) Different amounts may be specified in regulations under subsection (1) for the purposes of subsection (2)(b) in relation to different classes of relevant claim.

(5) The Board may refuse to deal with an application under section 11 if a charge imposed by it pursuant to regulations under subsection (1) in relation to the application has not been paid to it.

(6) Any amount of charges imposed pursuant to regulations under subsection (1) may be recovered by the Board from the person concerned as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction.

(7) Charges may be imposed pursuant to regulations under subsection (1) even though, before the making of an assessment of the claim would otherwise have fallen to be made under section 20 , a settlement is entered into in respect of the relevant claim concerned.

(8) In subsection (2) “respondent” includes a non-accepting respondent (within the meaning of section 34 ).