Personal Injury Brief – market insights

Whiplash Injury (Amendment) Regulations 2025

A statement made by the Minister of State for Justice confirmed the laying of the draft Whiplash Injury (Amendment) Regulations 2025 before Parliament on 20 March 2025.

Subject to the Regulations being approved by both Houses, the Regulations will increase the tariff for whiplash injuries occurring on or after 31 May 2025. Tariff figures in each band are to be increased by 14-15% (accounting for CPI inflation between 2021 and 2024 and building in a three-year buffer).

The statement adds that the “original whiplash tariff will continue to apply to relevant whiplash injuries from road traffic accidents that occur before 31 May 2025.”

Contacts: Ian Davies and Angela Crisall

Revisions to the medical reporting process in RTA claims up to £5,000

On 16 December 2024, the Government Response to the call for evidence on revisions to the medical reporting process for road traffic accident claims was published. Among the next steps to be taken by the Ministry of Justice are:

Increasing the fixed cost medical report levels (as set out in the Response), with associated rule changes and new figures to be consulted on prior to implementation.
Working with MedCo to review and refine the MedCo Accreditation process and training. The objective being to improve compliance with the relevant pre-action protocols and quality of MedCo medical reports generally.

Contacts: Ian Davies and Angela Crisall

New reforms to support victims of child sexual abuse

The government published its response to the consultation on limitation law in child sexual abuse cases in England and Wales on 5 February 2025.

Here we consider the government’s response, how the law will change, and offer a comparison with the law on limitation of abuse claims in Scotland.

Contacts: Helen Snowball and Andrea Ward

Civil Justice Council (CJC) publish final report on the procedure for determining mental capacity published

 A final report following a CJC working group’s consultation on mental capacity was published on 11 November 2024. This proposes the creation of a ‘menu of options’ for the court to ensure an appropriate approach can be adopted in each case.

The report notes that “the strong view of the working group, and the almost unanimous view of the judges and practitioners whom it consulted, that there should be clear provision and guidance on the procedure for the determination of issues of litigation capacity”.

The CJC plans to review progress on the recommendations “after enough time has passed for their effect to be assessed.”

Contact: Mark Burton

Update on the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill

The National Care Service (Scotland) Bill (the Bill) is framework legislation to enable: ‘the most significant reform to public services since the creation of the NHS’ according to the Scottish Government.

Following a recent significant milestone in the evolution of the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill, we consider the future for the Bill as it continues it parliamentary journey.

Related items:

Contact: Lesley Allan

Irish parliament to vote on proposed 16.7% increase to awards in Personal Injuries Guidelines

In January, the Judicial Council approved the proposal to increase all the awards set out in the Personal Injuries Guidelines by 16.7% to reflect inflation. The proposal has since been referred to the Minister for Justice and the next step is for him to put it before both Houses of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament) for approval. We are monitoring this closely.

Contact: David Strahan

New law in Spain introduces a mandatory negotiation process

On 2 January 2025, the ‘Organic Law 1/2025 on Measures in the Matter of the Public Justice Service’ was published in the Official State Gazette, introducing significant changes to resolving disputes, by moving away from the traditional court route towards alternative dispute resolution methods.

Until now, in Spain there was no general rule requiring communications between the parties prior to proceedings being issued. It was also not mandatory to respond to an out-of-court claim, making the lawsuit the only effective measure to obtain a response from the counterparty.

The changes enter into force in April 2025, making “adequate means of conflict resolution” a prerequisite to issuing proceedings. In this article, we highlight some important points that the changes will introduce.

Contact: Geoffrey Ratcliffe

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