The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (Shabana Mahmood)
I would like to announce that I have completed my report of the first statutory review of the Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021.
Part 1, section 3 of the Civil Liability Act 2018 provides for the Lord Chancellor to set a tariff of damages for whiplash injuries of up to two years in duration and to make regulations to do so. Section 4 of the Act requires the Lord Chancellor to review regulations made under section 3 within three years of implementation.
In summary I have decided to:
maintain the existing split structure of the tariff (whiplash only and whiplash plus minor psychological injury) and to provide additional guidance on defining minor psychological injury;
uprate the tariff by around 15% to account for actual consumer price index inflation to May 2024 and for forecasted inflation to May 2027—the likely date of the next review;
keep the allowable judicial uplift for exceptional injuries or circumstances at its current level of up to 20% of the tariff award; and
make no changes to the definitions on what constitutes appropriate medical evidence and who may provide it for the purposes of the ban on seeking or making an offer to settle a whiplash claim without evidence.
As per the requirements of the Act, I will today lay a report in the Libraries of both Houses with more information on the review, its conclusions and the next steps. I will also shortly commence a consultation on these decisions with the Lady Chief Justice and will provide further information on the implementation timetable in due course.
[HCWS241]