The 14th Edition of the Judicial College Guidelines for the assessment of General Damages in Personal Injury cases was published on the 14th September 2017. They replace the 13th Edition, which was published two years ago.

Although legislation for fixed compensation for whiplash injuries is anticipated in the near future, the 14th Edition appears to provide for an increase in awards of roughly 5% for minor neck and back injuries (compared to the 13th Edition). It should be noted, however, that the introduction contains a warning to Judges against taking an approach where the length of time for which any symptoms are suffered is treated as the critical factor when assessing an award for a minor injury as this approach “takes insufficient account of the other factors by which the quantum of awards for minor injuries falls to be assessed, and may obscure the fact in many cases that recovery may not occur at an even pace over time”.