Lord Justice Jackson has intimated he is considering raising the limit of small claims in personal injury cases, if there is no agreement with the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) on fast-track fixed costs.

The Law Gazette reports that Lord Justice Jackson was speaking at the Civil Court Users Association conference in Leicester when he raised the issues of ‘whether to propose a comprehensive system of fixed costs in the fast-track – and whether the small claims limit for personal injury should be raised’.

Lord Justice Jackson said:

‘Although these issues are separate, there may possibly be a link between the two. On one view, it may be easier to keep the small claims limit for personal injury claims at £1,000 if fixed costs are implemented across the fast-track.’

In September, APIL representatives walked out of talks instigated by Lord Justice Jackson, which discussed extending fixed costs to fast-track claims, the current limit of which is £25,000.

APIL later said it decided to leave the table because the talks centred ‘solely on figures’, rather than whether fixed fees for fast-track small claims were appropriate.

In claims beneath the limit, claimants are not able to claim back solicitors’ fees if they win the case. For this reason, personal injury lawyers have resisted attempts to change the small claims limit – and last year, the government decided the limit should not be raised.

APIL’s president John McQuater said that any change that linked the small claims limit to fast-track fixed costs would be ‘inappropriate’ – and said that nothing had changed since the government’s rejection of the move last year.

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