Personal injury lawyers continue to wait for an update on whiplash damages that is now months overdue.
Then lord chancellor Alex Chalk announced in May that he had completed his review of whiplash regulations, which included the tariff for low-value injuries.
But the announcement happened to be on the same day Rishi Sunak confirmed there would be a general election. The pledge to come back quickly with the outcome of the review was then kicked into the long grass pending the vote for a new government.
Since Labour came to power, there has been no word from the new justice team on the issue. Parliament returned at the start of September but practitioners continue to wait for news on the tariff.
Personal injury lawyers had hoped the revised tariff may be implemented this month – even accounting for Labour not wanting to rely on the decisions of the previous government.
Association of Personal Injury Lawyers chief executive Mike Benner told the Gazette: ‘We believe that the tariff approach is unsuitable, unfair, and offensive to injured people.
‘But if there must be a tariff, injured people need a review to recognise that the current amounts are inappropriate, as they do not reflect the fact that the same injury can have different effects on different individuals. At the very least, the review should have concluded that the tariff amounts need to be increased in line with inflation.’
Donna Scully, owner and director of Liverpool firm Carpenters Group, said the lord chancellor must urgently evaluate the previous statutory review.
She added: ‘We have seen record inflation since the [whiplash portal] inception and expect the review to recognise that within recommended uplifts.’
The Ministry of Justice has not been able to commit to an implementation date but has confirmed the tariff levels are being reviewed.
Chalk was required as lord chancellor by the Civil Liability Act to review the tariff of damages for whiplash injuries within three years of implementation. The tariff, along with the Official Claims Portal for handling these cases, came into force on 31 May 2021. According to Chalk’s original timetable, he was intending to publicise his decision around the start of June.
The current tariff ranges from £240 for a whiplash only injury of less than three months, through to £4,125 where the injury lasts from 18 to 24 months.
Stuart Hanley, director of legal practice at Yorkshire firm Minster Law, said the expectation is that tariff increases will not be retrospective.
‘While some insurer industry sources have previously predicted around a 15% increase, it now seems more likely that we’ll see a figure closer to the recent Judicial College Guideline 22% increase, and 20% seems a likely compromise figure,’ he added.
‘For all concerned, it is hoped the government presses on with this overdue review without further delay.’
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