What are the whiplash reforms?
As of 31 May 2021, the personal injury claims process has changed for people who suffer from low-value injuries in road traffic accidents.
Our personal injury solicitors can confirm that the reforms are partly the result of the Civil Liability Act 2018. The regulations underpinning these reforms include the Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021, the Civil Procedure (Amendment No. 2) Rules 2021.
Read on to learn everything about the new reforms, and how they might affect you.
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MG Legal’s expert team of personal injury solicitors have a success rate in excess of 99% and settle many thousands of personal injury claims, on a yearly basis. Our success rate speaks for itself, and our many happy clients are only too happy to recommend our services. Call your nearest office now, or email us at injury@mglegal.co.uk, and one of our personal injury specialist will make contact with you today.
A guide to the whiplash reforms:
Have you been injured in a road traffic accident the last three years?
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How will the reforms affect my personal injury claim?
The small claims limit increase, along with new tariffs, will lead to more personal injury claims from road traffic accidents being processed as small claims. This means that under the reforms, if you have been injured in an Road Traffic Accident, your injuries must be valued in excess of £5,000, or the total value of the claim (general damages plus special damages) must exceed £10,000 in order to pursue a claim with the assistance of a specialist personal injury solicitor at MG Legal.
So, if you are in a road traffic accident, after 31 May 2021, and suffer a minor injury, such as whiplash, then how will you be affected? Any local personal injury solicitor will tell you that the changes are neither claimant, or personal injury solicitor friendly. The changes will affect the amount of compensation claimants injured in road traffic accidents receive and, include:
the small claims limit increasing from £1,000 to £5,000 for Road Traffic Accidents, not involving vulnerable road-users such as pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and horse riders
Following the introduction of the Civil Liability Act 2018, personal injury claims will be handled by the small claims court, unless:
General damages estimate exceeds £5,000 for road accidents or
The total value of the claim (general damages plus special damages) exceed £10,000
Who is exempt from the new whiplash reforms?
The new reforms to road traffic accident claims do not apply to everyone and every type of road user. There are a number of groups of people who are exempt form the whiplash reforms.
These include:
1. Vulnerable road users- The largest group of people involved in road traffic accidents who will be exempt from the new reforms, and who the whiplash reforms will not apply to are those considered to be vulnerable road users in the eyes of the law.
These road users are considered to be more at risk of suffering serious injuries in road traffic accidents, and more vulnerable to accidents on the road, due to their unprotected nature compared to other road users, such as cars and lorries.
These vulnerable road users include:
Those using a mobility scooter or wheelchair
If you are injured in a road traffic accident as any of these types of road users, the new restrictions on road traffic accident claims will not apply to you. No matter the value of your claim, you can still make a personal injury claim for financial compensation in the same way.
2. Children and other protected road users-
Another group of people who the new whiplash reforms will not apply to are those who are considered to be protected parties in the eyes of the law. This includes children, and anybody who is not considered to hold the mental capacity to deal with their own affairs.
These people are still able to make a road traffic accident claim in the same way that they did before, and the new whiplash reforms will not apply to them or their road traffic accident claims.
3. Accidents involving vehicles registered outside of the UK-
If the vehicle at fault, who the road traffic accident claim is being filed against, is registered anywhere outside of the UK, the whiplash reforms do not apply to any road traffic accident claim made for the incident.
4. Injured people who are bankrupt-
If, at the time of the road traffic accident, you have been declared as bankrupt, the new reforms will not apply to your personal injury claim.
5. If somebody dies-
If anybody involved in the accident has died as a result of the accident, the reforms will not apply to any personal injury claim made in relation to the road traffic accident. Whether it is the person at fault, or the not at fault party who dies, no injury claims regarding the accident will be subject to the new reforms.
What if I have suffered from whiplash and other injuries?
Under the new rules, this is looking to be one of the most common situations in which whiplash claims are successfully made for road traffic accidents.
Many people who are involved in road traffic accidents may suffer from whiplash as well as other injuries on top of this. If this is the case, then the value of your overall injury claim, including all of your injuries, must be valued at over £5000 in order to be dealt with through the Official Injury Claim process.
With many instances of whiplash injuries being valued not far below the £5000 threshold, it is likely that many clients with an additional injury on top of the whiplash will qualify to make a regular personal injury claim for their injuries. These are known as mixed injury claims.
To learn more on this, speak to one of our injury solicitors today, here.
What is classed as a whiplash injury?
Often much maligned by the press, the infamous whiplash injury has never, really, been taken as seriously as it should have been. When the word whiplash is used, those who have never been in a road traffic accident are often quick to mock- they are however, often, completely unaware of how whiplash can prevent finding that comfortable sleeping position, can make working on a PC very hard indeed, going to the gym, impossible, or looking right and left at junctions, when driving, a painful and lifechanging experience.
The Civil Liability Act informs us that a whiplash injury is as follows:
(1)In this Part “whiplash injury” means an injury of soft tissue in the neck, back or shoulder that is of a description falling within subsection (2), but not including an injury excepted by subsection (3).
(2)An injury falls within this subsection if it is—
(a)a sprain, strain, tear, rupture or lesser damage of a muscle, tendon or ligament in the neck, back or shoulder, or
(b)an injury of soft tissue associated with a muscle, tendon or ligament in the neck, back or shoulder.
(3)An injury is excepted by this subsection if—
(a)it is an injury of soft tissue which is a part of or connected to another injury, and
(b)the other injury is not an injury of soft tissue in the neck, back or shoulder of a description falling within subsection (2).
How are whiplash injuries valued in personal injury claims?
Damages for whiplash injuries sustained in road traffic accidents are now clearly defined. Whereas prior to 31 May 2021, solicitors handling RTA Claims involving whiplash injures were able to negotiate settlement on the best possible terms for their injured client, if the injury you have sustained in a road traffic accident is valued at less than £5,000, or your total claim, including special damages, is less than £10,000, then you are at liberty to pursue the claim, as a layperson, as the Civil Liabilities Act is designed such that your local personal injury solicitor will not be paid costs, if you injury claim is of a low value.
Compensation for whiplash injuries sustained in a road traffic accident, will, if your accident happened after May 31st 2021, be valued as follows:
|
Duration of injury |
Amount – Regulation 2(1)(a) |
Amount – Regulation 2(1)(b) |
|
Not more than 3 months |
£240 |
£260 |
|
More than 3 months, but not more than 6 months |
£495 |
£520 |
|
More than 6 months, but not more than 9 months |
£840 |
£895 |
|
More than 9 months, but not more than 12 months |
£1,320 |
£1,390 |
|
More than 12 months, but not more than 15 months |
£2,040 |
£2,125 |
|
More than 15 months, but not more than 18 months |
£3,005 |
£3,100 |
|
More than 18 months, but not more than 24 months |
£4,215 |
£4,345 |
Is this an end to whiplash injury claims in road traffic accidents?
No. Not at all. Our personal injury solicitors cannot speak for all other local solicitors that handle RTA claims, but what we can say is that the personal injury solicitors at MG Legal specialise in high value road traffic accident claims, and settle claims for those who have suffered anything from broken bones, including wrists, arms, legs, in road traffic accidents, to those who have suffered catastrophic life changing injuries to the spine, eyes, or brain.
The changes are designed to cut the costs for insurance companies, and will see many solicitors that handle whiplash injury claims, go under, and disappear from the personal injury market. At MG Legal, our personal injury solicitors are a small, dedicated, specialist team of qualified professionals, that settle No Win No Fee injury claims for claimants who have suffered injuries with a value outside of the new proposals, having recently settled a personal injury claim in the sum of almost £400,000 for a client who had sustained multiple injuries including, injury to the head and face requiring significant reconstructive surgery, mild brain damage, injury to the back, a broken leg, and psychological injuries including PTSD.
Contact MG Legal to see if you are elegible to make a road traffic accident claim for your injuries:
If you are still unsure on any aspect of the new whiplash reforms, how they might impact your personal injury claim, or whether you are eligible to make a personal injury claim, then do not hesitate to get in touch with MG Legal’s road traffic accident solicitors today for a free, no-obligation discussion with one of our expert solicitors.
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