The Civil Procedure (Amendment No. 2) Rules 2021

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Rules)

These Rules amend the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 (S.I. 1998/3132). The amendments give effect to, or are consequential upon—

(a) changes to Part 26 of the Civil Procedure Rules regarding the allocation of personal injury claims arising from road traffic accidents which occur on or after 31st May 2021 to the small claims track and fast track;

(b) new Practice Direction 27B: Claims Under the Pre-Action Protocol for Personal Injury Claims Below the Small Claims Limit in Road Traffic Accidents – Court Procedure; and

(c) the Pre-Action Protocol for Personal Injury Claims Below the Small Claims Limit in Road Traffic Accidents (“the RTA Small Claims Protocol”).

These rules amend the Civil Procedure Rules by—

(a) amending rule 14.1B, to extend that rule to cover admissions made under the RTA Small Claims Protocol;

(b) amending rule 16.6, to require a claimant to specify on their claim form whether they expect to recover, as general damages for pain, suffering and loss of amenity, not more or more than £5,000, where the claim is for personal injuries arising from a road traffic accident which occurs on or after 31st May 2021;

(c) amending Part 26 by—

(i) inserting new rule 26.5A to provide that claims started under new Practice Direction 27B shall be treated as being allocated to the small claims track;

(ii) amending rule 26.6 to provide that the normal track for personal injury claims arising from an RTA will be the small claims track where the claim for personal injuries is valued at—

(aa) not more than £5,000; or

(bb) not more than £1,000 in any of the circumstances specified in rule 26.6A;

(iii) inserting new rule 26.6A, which preserves the current £1,000 small claims track limit for personal injury claims arising from an RTA in any of the circumstances specified in that rule (those circumstances include a claim for personal injuries arising from a road traffic accident which occurs before 31st May 2021) except where new rule 26.6B applies; and

(iv) inserting new rule 26.6B, which provides that the normal track for a personal injury claim arising from an RTA which occurs on or after 31st May 2021 will be the fast track where, on the date that the claim is started—

(aa) the claimant is a child or protected party; or

(bb) at the time the claim was first presented via the Pre-Action Protocol for Low Value Personal Injury Claims in Road Traffic Accidents, the claimant was a child; and

(cc) the claim consists of, or includes, a claim for a whiplash injury.

(d) amending rule 27.2 to enable a rule or practice direction to require or permit a particular procedure to be used under Part 27 and to disapply or modify rules made under Part 27;

(e) amending rule 35.4 to specify the medical evidence that may be obtained in respect of a claim for a road traffic accident related personal injury claim which consists of, or includes, a claim for a whiplash injury where the court gives its permission;

(f) amending Part 45—

(i) to specify the amount that might be recovered, as a disbursement, for a fixed cost medical report obtained in respect of a claim for a whiplash injury where either Section III or IIIA of Part 45 applies; and

(ii) by inserting new Section IIIB, which concerns claims which are or should have been started under the RTA Small Claims Protocol—

(aa) new rule 45.29M specifies the circumstances in which a court may order a defendant to pay a successful claimant no more than the costs which they may recover under new Practice Direction 27B, where the claimant has not proceeded under, or has not complied with, the RTA Small Claims Protocol and has started proceedings; and

(bb) new rule 45.29N provides that, where a claim exits the RTA Small Claims Protocol, and unless an order is made under rule 45.29M, the costs provisions in Section IIIA of Part 45 will apply as though the claim had been started under the Pre-Action Protocol for Low Value Personal Injury Claims in Road Traffic Accidents; and

(g) amending rule 46.14, to ensure, by inserting paragraph (1A), that the procedure specified in rule 46.14, which concerns pre-issue entitlement to costs, is not used for disputes arising under the RTA Small Claims Protocol and that the procedure in Practice Direction 27B for dealing with costs is used wherever appropriate.