Following from my last post regarding the Court of Appeal decision Simmons v Castle [2012] EWCA Civ 1039, I note that the matter was the subject of submissions before the Supreme Court in the last number of days.

The ABI appealed the Court of Appeal decision that the Jackson 10% uplift should be applied to all personal injury awards from April 2013 to include cases launched before that date.

Insurers submitted that defendants stand to lose more than £300m if claimants are given the ‘windfall’ of a risk-free rise in damages.

The ABI said it accepted the uplift – a key element of Lord Justice Jackson’s review of civil litigation costs – in principle, but argued it should not apply to claimants already benefiting from conditional fee agreements.

The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers which was also not a party to the Court of Appeal case told the panel of judges that damages were already too low, and that the uplift was intended to address this problem, rather than offset the changes to CFAs.

A decision is imminent….