A Practical Guide to Periodical Payment Orders in Personal Injury Cases in Scotland

A Practical Guide to Periodical Payment Orders in Personal Injury Cases in Scotland is geared towards practitioners in Scotland who deal with personal injury cases involving future pecuniary losses. This is not restricted to practitioners who deal with serious injury cases in the traditional sense. The Damages (Investment Returns and Periodical Payments) (Scotland) Act 2019 was enacted in part on 1 July 2019. Part 2 of this Act deals with the use of periodical payments in personal injury cases and the relevant rules of court are awaited. They are however expected to be published in the near future.

Although, currently, periodical payment orders can be agreed extra-judicially in cases where both parties consent to them, once part 2 of the Act comes into force, practitioners will be under an obligation to provide advice in respect of their applicability in cases with future pecuniary losses. The court will also have the power to impose a periodical payment order even if parties do not consent to it but the individual circumstances of each case will be taken into account.

This book aims to provide an introduction to practitioners as to how to approach these cases and the practical factors that must be considered. It will provide background and context to periodical payment orders, their pros and cons and the practical steps that must be taken when they are being put in place.