ILU Contacts

Andrew Lothian

Direct Dial:
0131 625 7284

Email:
andrew.lothian@
@andersonstrathern.co.uk

Douglas Keir

Direct Dial:
0131 625 7283

Email:
douglas.keir@
andersonstrathern.co.uk 

Where are we?

1 Rutland Court,
Edinburgh, EH3 8EY
t: 0131 270 7700
f: 0131 270 7788

24 Blythswood Square
Glasgow, G2 4BG
t: 0141 242 6060
f: 0141 221 4733

Contact information and maps of all Anderson Strathern offices

Insurance Litigation Unit

The Scottish Executive has announced plans to reform the system for dealing with claims worth less than £5,000.  

There are currently three tiers to the Sheriff Court system in Scotland:

• small claim (limit £750)
• summary cause (limit £1,500)
• ordinary cause (anything above £1,500)

Claims worth more than £1,500 may also be litigated in the Court of Session (equivalent to the High Court in England).  It has been 19 years since these limits were fixed. 

The changes, which are broadly good news for insurers, and long overdue, come into effect from January 2008.

The key changes are:

• Personal injury claims will be taken out of the small claim procedure
• The small claim limit (for non-personal injury claims e.g. ILR) is raised from £750 to £3,000
• The summary cause limit is increased from £1,500 to £5,000
• The minimum value for Sheriff Court ordinary cause claims is increased from £1,500 to £5,000
• The minimum value for Court of Session claims is increased from £1,500 to £5,000

Because recoverable costs increase at each level of the court system, these reforms will restrict costs payable on litigated personal injury claims.  They will also keep more low-value personal injury claims away from the Court of Session where costs are higher and the claimant can seek a jury trial.  It is likely that claimant solicitors will litigate early between now and the end of 2007 to take advantage of the current system, before the reforms come into effect.