Autumn Statement 2015 Reaction: Another blow for Personal Injury Lawyers

Karen Hain, Partner and Head of the MHA Professional Practices sector made the following observations on Wednesday’s Autumn Statement:

 

“The Chancellor proposed an increase in the small claims limit on minor soft tissue personal injuries to £5,000, from its current limit of £1,000, in a bid to reduce the whiplash claims culture that he quotes as costing £2bn a year.

 

This measure directly hits personal injury solicitors as their potential clients would have to go to the small claims court with any damage claims less than £5,000. As a result, many personal injury cases will fall by the wayside and personal injury lawyers will see a reduction in their caseloads and demand for road traffic accident (RTA) specialisms.

 

Any personal injury law firm undertaking RTA work will be hit by this announcement. If RTA work reduces, these firms will have to consider directing staff resources to other work and, if this is not feasible, they may need to consider more extreme measures like redundancies or even closing down.

 

This proposal is the latest significant blow to personal injury lawyers”.