Blog Post

Whiplash Reforms

O EVANS • 4 June 2021

New Whiplash Injury Regulations came into force on 31st May 2021

Legislation to implement the Government’s whiplash reforms came into force on 31 May 2021, which sets limits on the amount of compensation that can be claimed for soft tissue injuries suffered in road traffic accidents.

The new legislation has provided a new definition for what is to be deemed a whiplash injury, has set a compensation tariff for whiplash injuries and has raised the small claims track limit from £1,000 to £5,000.

A whiplash injury is defined by the Civil Liability Act 2018 as ‘an injury of soft tissue in the neck, back or shoulder that is… a sprain, strain, tear, rupture or lesser damage of a muscle, tendon or ligament in the neck, back or shoulder, or an injury of soft tissue associated with a muscle, tendon or ligament in the neck, back or shoulder’. These types of injuries are often found in Road Traffic Accidents (RTAs).

The new Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021 set the new limit for compensation for pain, suffering and loss of amenity that can be claimed for soft tissue injuries suffered in road traffic accidents as set out in the table below. A small uplift can be claimed where the whiplash sufferer also experiences ‘minor’ psychological injuries as a result of the crash. Where a person suffers more than one whiplash injury through the same accident, the injury with the longest duration will apply. Claims for special damages (expenses) will be separate.

Duration of injury	Amount – Regulation 2(1)(a)	Amount – (to include small uplift for minor psychological injuries) 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.

The new rules stipulate that a whiplash claim cannot be settled, or an offer or payment made, without the compensator (for example, an insurer) seeing a medical report on the whiplash injury.

A new portal designed to allow unrepresented claimants to handle their own claims has been created as part of the reforms calledThe Official Injury Claim online service, with insurers paying compensation based on the fixed tariff. All road traffic accident claims worth less than £5,000 will go through the portal and any legal costs incurred will not be recoverable.

However, claims for complicated injuries, where compensation is expected to be of more that £5,000, or where the injured person is a pedestrian or other vulnerable road user will still go via the court process.

The new Whiplash Regulations apply to any Road Traffic Accident that took place from 31st May 2021 onwards.

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