Judicial College Guidelines
The standard reference work, currently in its 18th edition (April 2026), used by courts in England and Wales (and persuasively in Northern Ireland) to assess general damages in personal injury cases.
What it means in practice.
Updated every two years to reflect inflation and case law. Solicitors and barristers cite the relevant JCG band as the starting point for any quantum negotiation.
The Judicial College Guidelines for the Assessment of General Damages in Personal Injury Cases set out brackets, a lower and upper figure, for each type of injury. Judges in England and Wales start from the bracket, then place the claimant within it according to the severity of the injury, how long it lasts, and how it affects daily life. The guidelines are updated for inflation in new editions.
The 18th edition was published in 2026. Judgments from 2026 show both editions in use: one noted that the 18th edition came out shortly after its trial and applied the uprated figures, while a hearing in 2025 still worked from the 17th edition.
The guidelines are a starting point, not a rule. Judges also look at reported awards in similar cases and, for multiple injuries, step back to avoid paying twice for the same pain. For road traffic whiplash, a statutory tariff replaces the guidelines.
How it works in different places.
| Where | How it works | Source |
|---|---|---|
| England and Wales, 18th edition | Severe psychiatric damage bracket cited as £72,440 to £152,900; severe chronic pain (CRPS) £69,360 to £110,990. | Dickinson v Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals [2026] EWHC 1574 (KB) |
| England and Wales, 18th edition | Used to value a motorcyclist’s spinal cord injury, brain bleeds and fractures at £150,000 for pain and suffering. | Greening-Steer v Ainge [2026] EWHC 1239 (KB) |
| England and Wales, 17th edition | The lowest brain injury bracket was cited as £52,550 to £110,720 in an interim payment hearing. | SRN v Nekiwala [2026] EWHC 16 (KB) |
| Road traffic whiplash | The Whiplash Injury Regulations tariff replaces the guidelines for qualifying whiplash; other injuries are valued with the guidelines and added. | Hassam v Rabot [2024] UKSC 11 |
| Scotland | Scottish courts refer to the guidelines when valuing solatium; a foot fracture was placed between the moderate and serious foot injury brackets. | Ward v WM Morrison Supermarkets [2025] SC EDIN 17 |
| Northern Ireland | Uses its own Green Book; for moderately severe PTSD the band cited was £60,000 to £150,000. | Lynas v Ulsterbus [2025] NIKB 51 |
A worked example.
Placing an award in a bracket: Riley v Salford Royal (2022)
- Injury
- Below knee amputation after delayed treatment of compartment syndrome
- Claimant’s figure
- £122,500
- Defendant’s figure
- £110,000
- Judge’s award
- £120,000, a little above the middle of the range
Both sides argued from the same guideline bracket. The judge placed the award within it after weighing the evidence of how the amputation affected the claimant.
Riley v Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust [2022] EWHC 2417 (KB)