The personal injury discount rate was increased to 0.5% in January, based for the first time on a detailed report by an expert panel. In this week’s NLJ, Julian Chamberlayne wonders whether the decision-making is vulnerable to challenge by judicial review, and uncovers a multitude of weak spots.
Chamberlayne, partner at Stewarts and chair of the Forum of Complex Injury Solicitors, sets out his preliminary analysis. For example, assumptions made around earnings inflation and the risk profiles of assumed investment portfolios could be challenged.
Chamberlayne writes: ‘There is no justification for not modelling the reality of de-risking investment portfolios over time.’ He notes: ‘I also question the evidence that led to the assumption that the highest value claims have the longest duration of future losses. In my experience, the vast majority of multi-million-pound injury claims involve impaired life expectancy, or are fatal accident claims with the main loss period relating to retirement age.’RELATED ARTICLES
