A simple majority of the Judicial Council voted to adopt the new
Personal Injuries Guidelines on 6th March 2021
(the Guidelines).
The Guidelines have been introduced with the stated intention of
achieving greater consistency in awards for general damages for
personal injuries. Their introduction follows a series of decisions
of the Court of Appeal in which general damages were reduced. You
can read more about those cases in our previous briefing here.
Effect
Forming part of the Government's Action Plan for Insurance
Reform, it was widely predicted that the Guidelines would reduce
personal injury awards across the board, and it appears that is
what has been achieved.
The Guidelines contain a catalogue of injuries which have
different levels of awards provided depending on their severity. Of
particular note are the substantial reductions for minor injuries
and whiplash-type injuries from which there is full recovery, a
greater number of which may now fall within
