Personal injuries payments to be updated as damages bill introduced to Scottish Parliament

Annabelle Ewing - Image credit: Scottish Parliament

A bill to create a clearer way of setting of the rate for personal injury damages has been introduced to the Scottish Parliament.

The Scottish Government’s damages bill aims to address concerns that the current process for setting personal injury discount rate is not transparent and has not been reviewed often enough.

The personal injury discount rate is used to help calculate lump sum compensation to cover future losses such as future salary or care costs in personal injury cases.

The damages bill proposes a new method for calculating the discount rate, requires the discount rate to be reviewed by the government actuary every three years and will give courts in Scotland the power to impose payment orders for future financial loss.

Minister for Legal Affairs Annabelle Ewing said: “This legislation is part of our wider programme of civil law reform which aims to ensure the system keeps pace with modern Scotland and the needs of its people.

“While the number of people affected by the discount rate is relatively small, we know that those cases tend to involve catastrophic injury with little prospect of the individual’s full recovery.

“That is why it is so important the law determining how the discount rate is set is clear, fair, transparent and credible.”