personal injury the whiplash reforms

<p><strong>What are they?</strong></p> <p>There are a range of measures, but the most important, arguably, is that the Ministry of Justice intends to increase the small claims limit of whiplash injuries resulting from a road traffic accidents to £5,000.</p> <p><strong>Why is this significant?</strong></p> <p>The ‘small claims limit’ is the point at which, once you are over that value of claim, the costs awarded with the claim usually increase. For any claim under the small claims limit, the costs awarded are very low. This will normally make it unviable for a solicitor to assist you free of charge (or on a ‘no win no fee’ basis), as they will not recover sufficient costs from the claims process to cover their time. The small claims limit <u>in personal injury cases </u>is currently £1,000. That means that any case where the value of the injuries are worth more than £1,000, can usually be ran by a solicitor on a ‘no win no fee’ basis. If the small claims limit in respect of whiplash injuries is increased to £5,000, it is unlikely that a solicitor will be able to pursue that claim for you on a ‘no win no fee’ basis, without you funding part of the costs.</p> <p><strong>How will they affect me? </strong></p> <p>Many whiplash claims will fall into the category of being worth less than £5,000. In the future, you may find that you will need to pay your solicitor to pursue the case for you, or you will have to pursue it yourself without expert guidance. If you have an existing claim that you have not yet pursued, or you have one in the future, the decision of how and whether to pursue the claim will likely be a bit more complicated.</p> <p><strong>When?</strong></p> <p>The reforms were initially planned for April 2020, and then by August 2020. This has now been pushed back April 2021, on account of the coronavirus.</p> <p><strong>What can I do?</strong></p> <p>If you have, or are, suffering with whiplash injuries from a road traffic accident that occurred in the last three years, our advice would be to pursue it now. That will mean that your solicitor is far more likely to take your case on a ‘no win no fee’ basis, which means you have the full advantage of a solicitor’s expertise, without having to pay for it upfront.</p> <p><strong>How can DWS Legal help?</strong></p> <p>DWS Legal have a team of expert litigators that regularly deal with these types of claims. Our claims are ran on a ‘no win no fee’ basis, which means that you do not have to pay for our time. We also offer a free, no obligation initial consultation, during which we would be happy to explain the funding and the process further to you.</p> <p>We also deal with many other types of personal injury claims such as; other road traffic accident injuries, accidents at work, clinical negligence, trips and slips etc.</p> <p>To speak to a member of the Personal Injury Team about an accident that you have had, please call 0116 2999199 and press 0.</p>