After a workplace accident, your first priorities are usually medical treatment, reporting the incident and dealing with time away from work. There is also a legal deadline that starts running immediately.
Under Section 8 of the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004, an injured person must generally send written notice of a potential personal injury claim to the person or organisation believed to be responsible within one month of the accident.
This is commonly called the 30-day deadline, although the legislation uses the words “one month”. It is a statutory deadline, not a suggested timeframe.
What is a Letter of Claim?
A Letter of Claim is a formal written notice sent to the person, company or other party alleged to have caused the accident.
In a workplace accident case, the recipient may be your employer. Depending on what happened, notice may also need to be sent to a contractor, property owner, equipment supplier or another party. Identifying the correct recipient is an important part of the process.
Section 8 requires the notice to state the nature of the alleged wrongdoing. In plain terms, it should explain:
- When and where the accident happened
- How it happened
- The nature of the failure or wrongdoing alleged
- That you suffered an injury and may bring a claim
The letter does not need to contain every piece of evidence or a final medical assessment. Its purpose is to put the relevant party on notice so that the accident can be investigated while records, CCTV footage, equipment and witness accounts may still be available.
Reporting the accident at work may not be enough
Telling a manager, completing an accident report or recording the incident in the workplace accident book is important. However, you should not assume that an internal report meets the requirements of Section 8.
A Letter of Claim is a separate legal notice. It must contain the necessary information and be served on the correct party within the required period.
This is one reason to speak to a solicitor promptly. A solicitor can establish who should receive the notice, prepare it in the correct terms and keep evidence showing when and how it was sent.
What happens if the one-month deadline is missed?
Missing the deadline does not automatically prevent you from bringing a personal injury claim. It can, however, have a serious financial effect later.
Where a Letter of Claim was not served within one month and there was no reasonable cause for the failure, the court must draw whatever inferences it considers appropriate. Where the interests of justice require, the court can also:
- Refuse to award legal costs to a successful claimant; or
- Reduce the amount of legal costs that the claimant would otherwise recover.
“Legal costs” are the fees and expenses involved in pursuing the case. They are separate from the compensation awarded for the injury.
This means you could succeed in proving that another party caused your workplace accident and still face a substantial costs penalty because the Section 8 notice was late. Some or all of the expense of bringing the case could then fall on you.
What if more than one month has already passed?
Speak to a solicitor even if the deadline has passed.
Section 8 refers to a failure “without reasonable cause”. Whether a reasonable cause exists depends on the circumstances and is ultimately a matter for the court. You should not assume that a late letter makes a claim impossible, but further delay may make the position harder to explain.
A solicitor can send the notice immediately, record why it was late and advise you on the likely implications. Waiting longer does not correct the missed deadline.
Why getting advice now matters
The Letter of Claim is only one part of a workplace accident claim, but it is one of the earliest deadlines. Taking advice promptly allows a solicitor to:
- Calculate the correct deadline
- Identify every potentially responsible party
- Serve the notice in the appropriate form
- Preserve proof that it was sent
- Begin gathering evidence before it is lost
If you have recently been injured at work, contact a solicitor now and provide the date of the accident, details of your employer, any accident report and the names of possible witnesses. The immediate reason is clear: the Section 8 clock is already running, and missing it may affect what the case ultimately costs you, even if your claim succeeds.
About the author: Sean Fitzgerald is a Partner at HOMS Assist with over a decade of experience in personal injury law, specialising in workplace accidents and industrial disease cases. Combining his legal expertise with a science background, Sean is renowned for securing justice for employees affected by employer negligence. His commitment to fairness and deep understanding of Irish workplace accident law are evident in his advocacy for injured workers.
