Learn About The Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021

Updated on 5th November 2025. The Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021 changed how some personal injury claims for road traffic accidents are made. They were introduced under the Civil Liability Act 2018 and came into force on 31 May 2021. They apply to road traffic accident (RTA) claims arising in England and Wales where the cause of action occurred on or after that date. The purpose of these regulations is to standardise and simplify compensation for whiplash injuries by introducing a fixed tariff system for pain, suffering, and loss of amenity (PSLA)

Whiplash involves a sudden and forceful whipping movement of the neck, which can damage soft tissue, including muscles, nerves, and ligaments. This type of injury can be debilitating because the neck is essential for everyday movement, and can even make the sensation of breathing painful.

Here at Legal Expert, we can discuss the Whipash Injury Regulations 2021 with you and answer any questions you may have, including providing you with a free eligibility assessment and an estimated compensation figure. Importantly, our solicitors will offer you their legal services on a No Win No Fee basis so that you can claim with confidence.

What You Need To Know

• What are the Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021? A new law that changed how low-valued injuries suffered in road traffic accidents are claimed for.
• What symptoms can whiplash cause? Whiplash can cause neck pain, stiffness, and difficulty moving your head, as well as headaches, pain, and muscle spasms in the shoulders and arms. 
• What type of car accidents can cause whiplash? Whiplash can be caused by any type of car accident that involves the driver or passengers experiencing a sudden, back-and-forth movement of the neck.
• What type of evidence can I use? In road traffic accident claims, you can use evidence such as CCTV or dashcam footage as well as photographs of the accident.
• How is road traffic accident compensation calculated? Road traffic accident compensation is calculated based on the severity of the injury and the presence of financial losses.

The Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021

The way certain road traffic accident claims in England and Wales are made were recently changed by the Whiplash Reform Programme. 

Now, if you match this criteria, the whiplash injuries you have are valued by the fixed tariffs set out in the Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021:

1. You were a driver or passenger of a vehicle when you were injured. 
2. You are over the age of 17. 
3. Your injuries (such as whiplash) have a value of £5,000 or less.
4. The accident occurred in England or Wales.

If you have sustained any injuries that are not covered in the above tariffs, they will be valued in the traditional way. Additionally, if your injuries combined have an overall value of more than £5,000, then your claim will be made in the traditional way, but the above tariffs may still apply. 

How Do I Know If I Can Make A Whiplash Injury Claim?

You may be able to make a whiplash injury claim if you meet this eligibility criteria:

1. You were owed a duty of care on the roads. 
2. This duty of care was breached because a road user was negligent. 
3. You sustained an injury, such as whiplash, as a result of this breach. 

All road users owe one another a duty of care while they are on the roads. To comply with their duty of care, all road users must ensure one another’s safety by following the rules set out in the Road Traffic Act 1988 and The Highway Code. 

Here are a few ways a road user might breach their duty of care and potentially cause another road user to suffer an injury, such as whiplash:

• A drunk driver fails to realise the distance between their vehicle and the traffic ahead, leading to a rear shunt collision with the car in front. 
• A driver fails to abide by the traffic lights, and runs through a red light. This leads to a T-bone collision with another car at the 4-way junction. 
• A driver is speeding. So, when the car in front of them starts braking, they cannot slow down in time, leading to a rear-end collision. 

If you believe you meet the above road traffic claims eligibility criteria, we encourage you to contact us today. It is absolutely free to do so, and after having a quick chat about your circumstances, we will be able to confirm your compensation claim eligibility. 

How Much Whiplash Compensation Could I Get Under The New Reforms?

Under the new Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021, whiplash injuries that last between 18-24 months are generally valued at £4,345 if psychological damage has been suffered as well. 

However, a whiplash injury claim could be worth more if additional injuries and losses are taken into consideration, such as loss of amenity and financial losses. So, for a more accurate idea of how much you could be eligible to claim for whiplash, it is best to have a chat with us.

All car accident claims are valued differently depending on two heads of claim:

• General damages – the physical and psychological injuries you have suffered as a result of the car accident. 
• Special damages – the financial losses you have suffered as a result of your physical and psychological injuries, such as loss of earnings.

The Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) is a document often used by legal professionals to help value the worth of general damages. This document contains different physical and psychological injuries, with guideline compensation brackets for each.

For the table below, we have included some whiplash injuries from the Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021, plus some additional injuries from the JCG, which you may have suffered alongside whiplash. 

Please note that the top figure is not from either of these documents, and keep in mind that all of these figures are a guideline and cannot be guaranteed. 

If you don’t see the injuries you suffered on the table, why not give us a call? An advisor from our team will be happy to discuss the potential value of your injuries as well as provide advice on what items you could be reimbursed for under special damages.

The Reason Why The Whiplash Regulations Were Introduced

The reason why the Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021 were introduced was to save a significant amount of money for insurance companies, which then allows them to invest that money back into their customers. 

According to the Association of British Insurers (ABI), over 1,500 whiplash claims are made every day in the UK, which used to cost the insurance industry more than £2 billion each year. This added about £90 to the average annual motor insurance premium. 

By introducing the Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021, the Government hoped to decrease the volume and costs of exaggerated claims as well as reducing annual motor insurance premiums.

How Are The New Reforms Different To The Old Process?

Here are differences between the old process and the new Whiplash Reform Programme:

• The small claims limit for general damages has risen now from £1,000 to £5,000 for road traffic accident injuries.
• Whiplash injuries and soft-tissue injuries now have a fixed compensation tariff, banded by severity. 
• Low-value small claims for motor vehicle accidents are now made in a different manner.
• In a low-value claim, people can no longer recover their legal costs, which is now deducted from settlements up to £5,000. 
• Some minor injuries are now classed as low-value, such as simple fractures where there are no complications. 
• Whiplash claims cannot be settled unless there is medical evidence of the injury.

However, as we have previously stated, not all road traffic injury claims are affected by these changes. 

If you have suffered whiplash and want to learn more about how the Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021 may affect your compensation claim, please have a chat with us today about your circumstances.

How Can I Make A Claim For The Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021?

The first step to begin a claim under the Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021 is to contact us. Simply tell us how you suffered your whiplash injuries, and we can evaluate whether you’re eligible for compensation.

After that, you don’t need to worry, as you will be guided through each step of the claims process and will be told what you need to do next. Simply leave it to us, and we will do the complicated legal work for you so that you can focus on recovery. 

However, you must contact us about starting a claim within the claim’s limitation period. This limitation period is 3 years, running from the accident date, as per the Limitation Act 1980. 

This 3-year time limit to begin a whiplash claim applies to all claimants, except for those who:

• Are younger than 18. 
• Do not have their full mental capacity.  

This is because the above claimants are unable to make their own claim. 

In these cases, a litigation friend can be appointed to start a whiplash claim on the claimant’s behalf. But, a litigation friend can only step in up until the claimant can make a claim for themselves, which happens when the claimant either:

• Turns 18 (meaning they will have 3 years to claim from their 18th birthday).
• Gains their full mental capacity (meaning they will have 3 years to claim from the date of recovery).

If you would like to know more about making a whiplash claim on someone else’s behalf, please feel free to contact us about this today. 

What Evidence Do I Need To Make A Whiplash Claim:

Having evidence is a crucial part of the whiplash claims process.

Here are the types of evidence that can prove you have suffered negligence and can best support your whiplash claim:

• Dash-cam footage of the incident.
• CCTV footage of the incident. 
• Contact and vehicle details from the negligent driver, including their insurance details. 
• Contact details from potential witnesses to the accident. Your solicitor can ask them to give a statement later on in the claims process. 
• Copies of your medical records that show what injuries you have sustained from the accident, and how severe they are. 
• A diary where you have recorded your symptoms and what treatment you’re receiving. 

If you connect with one of our solicitors to help you with your whiplash injury claim, they will be able to help collect your evidence for you. This is just one of the many things provided in our solicitors’ services. 

Get Legal Expert’s Help With Your Whiplash Claim

Our No Win No Fee solicitors at Legal Expert can help you in numerous ways with your whiplash claim. They can:

• Help collect your evidence. 
• Set you up with rehabilitation specialists. 
• Negotiate to ensure that all of your suffering is covered within the compensation. 
• Send any correspondence on your behalf. 
• Guide you through each step of the claims process without the complex legal jargon. 
• Help you no matter where you are based in the country. 
• Use their years of high-level training and knowledge to ensure that the claims process gets handled as smoothly as possible. 
• Find legal representation for you if the case gets sent to court (which will be unlikely, as most whiplash claims are settled out of court).

Because all of our solicitors work on a No Win No Fee basis (specifically through a Conditional Fee Agreement), this basically means you pay nothing for your solicitor’s services unless the claim is successful. Even when the claim is successful, your solicitor’s service charges will just get taken out of your compensation as a ‘success fee’. The ‘success fee’ is a percentage, which is always legally capped to ensure that the majority of the whiplash compensation goes to you.

Contact Our Solicitors

Contact us today to find out whether you’re eligible to make a whiplash claim and connect with our specialist solicitors. Our solicitors strive to give you the best customer service and to ensure that the claims process is as easy as possible for you. Please feel free to discuss your circumstances with us at any time:

• Call 0800 073 8804. 
• Fill out the form on our ‘Contact Us’ page. 
• Send a message into our live chat box feature on the screen.

 

More Information

For similar information regarding compensation claims, please browse a few of our other guides below:

• Learn about how personal injury compensation is awarded.
• Everything you need to know about car accident law.
• How to claim compensation on behalf of a child.

Additionally, it may be useful for you to browse through these other pages:

• Gov.UK – information about vehicle insurance.
• Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) – information about making a car accident claim against an uninsured or untraceable driver.
• NHS – how to treat whiplash.

Thank you for reading our guide all about the new Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021 and its changes. If you want to make a claim enquiry after suffering whiplash in a car accident, please feel free to contact us at any time. Our friendly advisors are here to help 24/7.