Instead, the limit will rise to £1,500. The implementation date has been postponed from 31 May 2021 to April 2022.
Justice minister Lord Wolfson said, in a written statement this week, the government had considered the views of ‘a wide range of representatives from across the insurance industry and the personal injury and trade union sectors’ before deciding to reduce and defer the limit.
However, the small claims RTA limit will increase from £1,000 to £5,000, as originally planned, when the whiplash reforms come in on 31 May.
Qamar Anwar, managing director of First4Lawyers, said the decision was ‘a significant, if belated, sign of progress.
‘The government clearly appreciates how access to justice for thousands of injured people would be impeded by the higher limit―and makes the unfairness of the new £5,000 limit for road traffic injuries even starker.’
