The government has confirmed that legislation paving the way for whiplash reforms will come into force from 31 May reports the Law Society.
Newly-published draft statutory instruments have also finally indicated the tariff levels at which damages will be set for soft tissue injuries suffered in road traffic accidents.
The total damages for pain, suffering and loss of amenity payable is limited to £240 for injuries not lasting more than three months. The levels increase incrementally for every extra three months that injuries continue, reaching £4,215 for cases where injuries continue up to 24 months.
A small fixed amount is added to the tariff to cover ‘minor’ psychological injuries suffered on the same occasion as the whiplash injury.
Where a person suffers more than one whiplash injury through the same incident, the injury with the longest duration will apply.
The legislation allows for an uplift of up to 20% in ‘exceptional circumstances’, where a court may determine that damages should be greater than the tariff allows. In these cases, the court must be satisfied that the whiplash injury is ‘exceptionally severe’ or where the person’s circumstances increase the pain, suffering or loss of amenity.
