Key Facts
- •Two appeals (Rabot and Briggs) concerning road traffic accident claims involving whiplash and other injuries.
- •Claims processed through the Official Injury Claim (OIC) portal.
- •Whiplash injuries fell under the Civil Liability Act 2018 (2018 Act) and Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021 (Regulations), attracting tariff awards.
- •Other injuries were non-tariff injuries, assessed under common law.
- •The key question: How to assess damages for pain, suffering, and loss of amenity (PSLA) in mixed injury cases (tariff and non-tariff)?
Legal Principles
Full compensation for injuries.
Livingstone v Rawyards Coal Co (1880) 5 App Cas 25; Attorney General of St Helena v AB [2020] UKPC 1; Heil v Rankin [2001] QB 272
In mixed injury cases, assess damages for each injury separately, then 'step back' to avoid double-counting (Sadler v Filipiak [2011] EWCA Civ 1728).
Sadler v Filipiak [2011] EWCA Civ 1728
Statutory interpretation: Presumption that Parliament does not alter common law unless expressly stated or necessarily implied (Lachaux v Independent Print Ltd [2020] AC 612).
Lachaux v Independent Print Ltd [2020] AC 612
Civil Liability Act 2018, section 3: governs PSLA damages for whiplash injuries, setting tariff amounts.
Civil Liability Act 2018, section 3
Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021: specify tariff amounts for whiplash injuries based on duration.
Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021
Outcomes
Appeals in Rabot and Briggs dismissed.
The 2018 Act and Regulations only address whiplash injuries; they don't alter the common law assessment of non-whiplash injuries. The court should assess tariff injuries under the Regulations and non-tariff injuries under common law, then adjust to avoid double-counting, ensuring the final award isn't less than the value of non-tariff injuries alone.
Cross-appeal in Rabot dismissed; cross-appeal in Briggs allowed in part.
The deduction in Rabot was reasonable; the deduction in Briggs was excessive. In Briggs, a reduction of £340 to the non-tariff award was deemed appropriate, resulting in a total award of £3,500.