The Lord Chancellor has introduced a circa 15% uplift to the tariffs set out in the Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021, which will apply to all claims for whiplash injury lasting up to 2 years, where the cause of action accrues on or after 31 May 2025.

The updated tariffs in the Whiplash Injury (Amendment) Regulations 2025 No. 615 (“Amendment Regulations”) have been introduced to account for an increase in inflation since 2021. However, it has been widely agreed by claimant representatives that the tariffs remain far too low and fail to properly compensate claimants who have experienced pain, suffering and loss of amenity as a result of whiplash injury lasting 2 years or less.

Moreover, the Amendment Regulations do not introduce any other substantive changes as regards the duration of whiplash injury covered, or the fact that such claims must continue to be processed via the OIC portal for low value personal injury claims, which is subject to a fixed legal costs regime.

For claims where the cause of action has accrued before 31 May 2025 (but on or after 31 May 2021), the following fixed tariff damages in Table 1 of the Amendment Regulations will apply:

Table 1

For claims where the cause of action accrues on or after 31 May 2025, the following fixed tariff damages in Table 2 of the Amendment Regulations will apply:

Table 2

Comments

Although the Amendment Regulations are a step forward in ensuring that claims for whiplash injuries lasting up to 2 years are appropriately compensated in light of changing market conditions, claimant representatives widely agree that the tariffs remain low overall. As such, one can expect claimant representatives to continue to push the government for regular review of the fixed tariff damages tables and the fixed legal costs regime for low-value personal injury claims.