Hybrid whiplash claims - Claimants successful

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Yoann Samuel Rabot v. Charlotte Victoria Hassam

Matthew David Briggs v. Boluwatife Laditan

and

The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers and The Motor Accident Solicitors Society (Interveners)

Neutral Citation Number: [2023] EWCA Civ 19

Case No: CA-2022-001805; CA-2022-001806; CA-2022-001915

Hybrid Claims – Court of Appeal backs Claimants’ right to exclude non whiplash injuries from tariff

The Court of Appeal has finally handed down its judgment on the correct approach to take to hybrid whiplash and non whiplash claims, by a majority decision. This provides much needed clarity to parties and insurers. The Master of the Rolls disagreed and sided with the Defendants’ position that the intention of the reforms was to include non whiplash injuries in the tariff. If his view had prevailed, damages recoverable in hybrid claims would have been drastically reduced and taken away the Courts’ discretion to evaluate damages on the principle of 100% recovery.

Fortunately for Claimants, the Court agreed that judges can carry on applying the common law approach to assessment of non whiplash damages, only applying the tariff to whiplash injuries. The correct approach to take is as follows:

It follows that the approach of the court to an assessment of damages in respect of a tariff and non-tariff award where concurrently caused PSLA is present is that the courts should:

(i) assess the tariff award by reference to the Regulations;

(ii) assess the award for non-tariff injuries on common law principles; and

(iii) “step back” in order to carry out the _Sadler_ adjustment, recognising that the sum included in the tariff award for the whiplash component is unknown but is smaller than it would be if damages for the whiplash component had been assessed applying common law principles.

This decision will come as a relief to Claimants and provide that they can claim 100% of their damages when they are injured in a road traffic accident, except for whiplash injuries which parliament has restricted.