Zapryanova v Rochford Gibbons Solicitors & Ors (Approved)

                  The court has been provided with photographs of the plaintiff's vehicle which put beyond doubt that the crash involved a severe impact to her vehicle. It is also clear that the third-party driver was fully responsible for the accident. Liability has been conceded by his insurance company, and the plaintiff's claim for personal injuries is proceeding as an assessment of damages only.

                  On the 22 nd October 2019, PIAB issued an authorisation pursuant to s. 17 of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board Acts 2003�2019. It is of note that in the covering letter appended to the authorisation, PIAB stated that it would be inappropriate to make an assessment in circumstances where there was an "interaction between one or more injuries arising from different causes."

                  On the 13 th November 2019, Declan Wade BL was instructed to act in the matter and to draft the necessary High Court personal injury summons.

                  On the 20 th January 2020, draft proceedings and a letter of advices were sent to the plaintiff for her review. On the 28 th January 2020, Mr. Power issued a follow up letter to the plaintiff, requesting that she contact him in relation to the proceedings. The plaintiff did not respond to Mr. Power's correspondence for a number of months, despite reminders being sent on the 13 th February and the 5 th March 2020.

              On the 12 th March 2020, Mr. Power wrote to the plaintiff to communicate his concerns in relation to the delay in issuing the personal injury summons and referred to the advice that had been provided by counsel. Despite follow up letters being sent on the 18 th March, 26 th March, 6 th April, 27 th April, 13 th May, 5 th June and the 17 th June 2020, no response was forthcoming from the plaintiff.