header-logo header-logo

Rate change for serious injury

02 October 2019
Issue: 7858 / Categories: Legal News , Personal injury , Insurance / reinsurance , Damages
printer mail-detail
The Scottish government has set the personal injury discount rate, the rate used to determine lump sum compensation for pursuers who suffer a serious injury.

In England and Wales, the discount rate changed from –0.75% to –0.25% in August, prompting insurance lawyers to express concern about the cost to public bodies.

Julian Chamberlayne, chairman of the Forum of Complex Injury Solicitors (FOCIS) said: ‘The government actuary, Martin Clarke, has set the new discount rate in Scotland and guess what? It is staying at –0.75%.

‘In doing so Mr Clarke—adopting the new approach required by the Damages (Investment Returns and Periodical Payments) (Scotland) Act 2019—has made a 0.5% adjustment to reduce the proportion of seriously injured claimants who will be undercompensated. Conceptually this is the same type of adjustment recommended by the Government Actuary's Department which was adopted by the Lord Chancellor in the summer when setting the rate in England and Wales.’

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Group partner joins Guernsey banking and finance practice

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

London labour and employment team announces partner hire

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Double partner appointment marks Belfast expansion

NEWS
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has not done enough to protect the future sustainability of the legal aid market, MPs have warned
Writing in NLJ this week, NLJ columnist Dominic Regan surveys a landscape marked by leapfrog appeals, costs skirmishes and notable retirements. With an appeal in Mazur due to be heard next month, Regan notes that uncertainties remain over who will intervene, and hopes for the involvement of the Lady Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls in deciding the all-important outcome
After the Southport murders and the misinformation that followed, contempt of court law has come under intense scrutiny. In this week's NLJ, Lawrence McNamara and Lauren Schaefer of the Law Commission unpack proposals aimed at restoring clarity without sacrificing fair trial rights
The latest Home Office figures confirm that stop and search remains both controversial and diminished. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort University analyses data showing historically low use of s 1 PACE powers, with drugs searches dominating what remains
Boris Johnson’s 2019 attempt to shut down Parliament remains a constitutional cautionary tale. The move, framed as a routine exercise of the royal prerogative, was in truth an extraordinary effort to sideline Parliament at the height of the Brexit crisis. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC dissects how prorogation was wrongly assumed to be beyond judicial scrutiny, only for the Supreme Court to intervene unanimously
back-to-top-scroll