Abstract
This report brings the most recent official statistics on personal injury claims, road casualties and workplace injuries in Scotland into a single reference. It draws on Scottish Government civil justice statistics, Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service releases, Transport Scotland road casualty data, Health and Safety Executive figures for Scotland, Compensation Recovery Unit data and National Records of Scotland population estimates. In 2022-23, the latest year with a full published breakdown, 8,474 personal injury actions were initiated in the Scottish civil courts, 64% of them arising from road traffic accidents. Police recorded 5,535 road casualties in 2025, including 134 deaths, and an estimated 40,000 workers a year sustain a non-fatal injury at work. The report adds derived measures, including court actions per 100,000 population and the ratio of court actions to recorded injuries, and sets out the limitations of each source.
Download the full report (PDF) · Key findings · New analysis · References
Key findings
- 8,474 personal injury actions were initiated in the Scottish civil courts in 2022-23, up 12% on the year before [1].
- That is about 156 actions per 100,000 people, or roughly 23 new actions every day (own calculation).
- 64% of personal injury actions arose from road traffic accidents and 16% from accidents at work [1].
- 49% of actions were raised in the national Sheriff Personal Injury Court, whose caseload has grown 40% since its first full year [1] [3].
- Police recorded 5,535 road casualties in 2025, including 134 deaths and 1,906 serious injuries (provisional) [8].
- Motorcyclists made up 10.5% of road casualties in 2025 but 25.4% of road deaths (own calculation from [8]).
- An estimated 40,000 workers a year are injured at work in Scotland, and 26 workers were killed in 2024/25 [11].
- Scotland's worker fatal injury rate of 0.93 per 100,000 was 3 times the rate for England in 2024/25 [12].
- There were roughly 96 road traffic court actions for every 100 police-recorded road casualties (own calculation).
How many personal injury claims reach court in Scotland each year?
8,474 personal injury actions were initiated in the Scottish civil courts in 2022-23, the latest year with a full published breakdown [1]. That was 12% more than in 2021-22 and equal to about 23 new actions every day.
Apart from the pandemic year 2020-21, between 7,600 and 9,500 personal injury actions were initiated in each of the ten years to 2022-23 [1]. Personal injury accounted for 14% of all civil court cases in 2022-23, behind debt (50%) and family actions (18%) [1]. The 2022-23 total was 13% below the 9,766 actions recorded in 2009-10 [2].
Table 1. Personal injury actions initiated in Scottish civil courts, selected years
| Financial year | Actions initiated | Source |
|---|
| 2009-10 | 9,766 | [2] |
| 2010-11 | 9,099 | [2] |
| 2011-12 | 7,810 | [2] |
| 2012-13 | 8,693 | [2] |
| 2013-14 | 8,287 | [2] |
| 2014-15 | 9,210 | [2] |
| 2015-16 | 8,766 | [2] |
| 2016-17 | 8,378 | [2] |
| 2017-18 | 9,443 | [2] |
| 2018-19 | 9,146 | [2] |
| 2019-20 | 8,576 | [3] |
| 2022-23 | 8,474 | [1] |
Includes the Court of Session, sheriff courts and the Sheriff Personal Injury Court. The pandemic years 2020-21 and 2021-22 are not shown.
These figures count court actions only. A claim settled with an insurer before proceedings are raised never appears in court statistics, so the totals understate the number of claims made.
The Scottish Crime and Justice Survey 2021-22 found that 1% of adults had experienced a personal injury problem in the previous three years, and 2% a medical negligence issue [1].
What is the most recent position?
The Scottish Government has paused its civil justice bulletin, so 2022-23 remains the latest year with a full published breakdown [5]. The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) now publishes a civil workbook, and reports that personal injury made up 9% of civil business in 2024/25 and 10.0% in 2025/26 to date [6] [7].
The SCTS percentages are calculated on a wider base that includes commissary (deceased estates) business, so they are not comparable with the 14% share in the Scottish Government series.
What types of accident lead to the most personal injury actions?
Road traffic accidents account for almost two thirds of personal injury actions in Scotland: 64% in 2022-23 [1]. Accidents at work are the second largest category, with 1,391 actions (16%).
Table 2. Personal injury actions initiated by case type, 2022-23
| Case type | Actions | Share of total |
|---|
| Road traffic accident | about 5,400 | 64% |
| Accident at work | 1,391 | 16.4% |
| Asbestos | 427 | 5.0% |
| Clinical negligence | 234 | 2.8% |
| Other | about 1,000 | about 12% |
| Total | 8,474 | 100% |
Source: [1]. The road traffic count is derived from the published 64% share; the other row is the remainder. Shares for work, asbestos and clinical negligence are own calculations from published counts.
Accident at work actions fell by 166 in 2022-23 and were 25% lower than the 1,844 recorded in 2009-10 [1] [2]. Asbestos actions fell by 143 to 427, and clinical negligence actions fell 32%, from 343 to 234 [1].
Which courts hear personal injury cases in Scotland?
Almost half (49%) of personal injury actions in 2022-23 were raised in the national Sheriff Personal Injury Court in Edinburgh [1]. A further 23% were sheriff court ordinary cause actions, 22% were sheriff court summary cause actions and 6% were raised in the Court of Session.
Table 3. Where personal injury actions were raised
| Court and procedure | 2021-22 | 2022-23 |
|---|
| Sheriff Personal Injury Court | 44% | 49% |
| Sheriff court, ordinary cause | 26% | 23% |
| Sheriff court, summary cause | 18% | 22% |
| Court of Session | 12% | 6% |
Source: [1].
The Sheriff Personal Injury Court opened on 22 September 2015 with jurisdiction over the whole of Scotland. Actions valued up to £100,000 can be raised either in a local sheriff court or in the national court [4]. It received 4,129 new actions in 2022-23, 24% more than the year before and 40% more than in 2016-17, its first full year [1] [3].
Table 4. Actions initiated in the Sheriff Personal Injury Court
| Financial year | Actions initiated | Source |
|---|
| 2015-16 (from 22 September 2015) | 1,143 | [3] |
| 2016-17 | 2,956 | [3] |
| 2017-18 | 3,282 | [3] |
| 2018-19 | 3,591 | [3] |
| 2019-20 | 3,220 | [3] |
| 2022-23 | 4,129 | [1] |
The specialist court is used most for workplace and disease claims: 88% of accident at work actions and 74% of asbestos actions were raised there in 2022-23 [1]. SCTS reports that 84% of the court's hearings took place virtually in 2025/26 to date, and that 26% of initiations in the year to date were submitted online after the Civil Online portal was extended to the court in September 2025 [6].
How many people are injured on Scotland's roads each year?
Police recorded 5,535 road casualties in Scotland in 2025, including 134 deaths and 1,906 serious injuries, according to provisional figures [8]. That is about 15 casualties a day and 3% fewer than in 2024.
Table 5. Reported road casualties in Scotland by severity
| Severity | 2024 | 2025 (provisional) | Change |
|---|
| Killed | 160 | 134 | -16% |
| Seriously injured | 1,978 | 1,906 | -4% |
| Slightly injured | 3,594 | 3,495 | -3% |
| All casualties | 5,732 | 5,535 | -3% |
Sources: [8] [9].
Measured against population, the 2025 total equals 99.8 casualties per 100,000 people, or about one person in every 1,000 (own calculation using [14]). Scotland's road death rate was a provisional 29 per million population in 2024 [9]; on the provisional 2025 figures it falls to about 24 per million (own calculation).
These statistics cover only collisions in which someone was injured and which were reported to the police. Damage-only collisions and unreported injuries are not included [8].
Which road users are most at risk?
Car users suffered the most casualties in 2025 (3,092), followed by pedestrians (867) and motorcyclists (581) [8]. Motorcyclists were 10.5% of all casualties but 25.4% of those killed.
Table 6. Road casualties and deaths by road user type, 2025 (provisional)
| Road user | Casualties | Share of casualties | Deaths | Share of deaths |
|---|
| Car users | 3,092 | 55.9% | 59 | 44.0% |
| Pedestrians | 867 | 15.7% | 27 | 20.1% |
| Motorcyclists | 581 | 10.5% | 34 | 25.4% |
Source: [8]. Shares are own calculations. Other road user groups are not shown, so columns do not sum to 100%.
Motorcycle casualties rose 24% in 2025 while car user casualties fell 9%. Pedestrian deaths fell from 42 to 27 and car user deaths from 73 to 59, but cyclist deaths rose from 3 to 7 [8].
Is Scotland on track to meet its 2030 road safety targets?
Not yet. By 2025 the number of people seriously injured was 30% below the baseline, against a 2030 target of a 50% reduction, and the number of children seriously injured was 33% lower against a target of 60% [8].
How many people are injured at work in Scotland each year?
An estimated 40,000 workers in Scotland sustain a non-fatal injury at work each year, based on the Labour Force Survey average for 2022/23 to 2024/25 [11]. Employers reported 5,686 non-fatal injuries to employees under RIDDOR in 2024/25, and 26 workers were killed.
Table 7. Workplace health and safety in Scotland: headline figures
| Measure | Figure | Period and basis |
|---|
| Fatal injuries to workers | 26 | 2024/25, RIDDOR |
| Non-fatal injuries to workers (self-reported) | 40,000 | 2022/23 to 2024/25 average, Labour Force Survey |
| Non-fatal injuries to employees (employer-reported) | 5,686 | 2024/25, RIDDOR |
| Workers with work-related ill health | 122,000 | 2022/23 to 2024/25 average, Labour Force Survey |
| Working days lost to work-related ill health | 3.3 million | 2022/23 to 2024/25 average, Labour Force Survey |
| Annual cost of workplace injury and new ill health | £1.6 billion | 2023/24, HSE Costs to Britain model |
Source: [11].
The gap between the two injury counts is wide: there are about 7 self-reported injuries for every injury reported by an employer (own calculation). The measures differ in scope. RIDDOR covers only specified injuries and those causing more than seven days' absence, and applies to employees, while the survey estimate covers all workers and all injuries.
How does Scotland compare with the rest of Great Britain?
Scotland had the highest worker fatal injury rate in Great Britain in 2024/25, at 0.93 deaths per 100,000 workers, compared with 0.69 in Wales and 0.31 across England [12]. That is 3 times the English rate.
HSE cautions that regional differences are strongly affected by the mix of jobs in each area, and that Scotland has proportionally fewer workers in low-risk occupations than England [12]. Scotland's rate of work-related ill health, at 4,510 cases per 100,000 workers, was significantly lower than the Great Britain rate of 5,210 [12].
How do Scottish court actions compare with claims across Great Britain?
Across England, Scotland and Wales, 435,565 personal injury claims were registered with the Compensation Recovery Unit in 2025 to 2026 [13]. Motor claims made up 69% of them, compared with the 64% of Scottish court actions that arise from road traffic accidents.
Table 8. Claims registered with the Compensation Recovery Unit, Great Britain, 2025 to 2026
| Liability type | Claims registered | Share of total |
|---|
| Motor | 300,867 | 69% |
| Public | 60,399 | 14% |
| Employer | 46,791 | 11% |
| Clinical negligence | 14,562 | 3% |
| Other and not known | 12,946 | 3% |
| Total | 435,565 | 100% |
Source: [13]. Shares are own calculations.
The Compensation Recovery Unit recorded 475,878 settlements in the same year and recovered £173.0 million in benefits and lump sum payments [13]. Its published data are not broken down by nation, and they count every claim notified by a compensator, whether or not court proceedings follow. They are therefore a different measure from the Scottish court series and the two should not be added together.
What do the combined figures show?
Combining the sources produces measures that none of them publishes on its own. The table below sets out each derived figure with the calculation behind it, so that it can be checked and reproduced.
Table 9. Derived measures (own calculations)
| Measure | Result | Calculation | Inputs |
|---|
| Personal injury court actions per 100,000 population, 2022-23 | 156 | 8,474 / 5.447 million x 100,000 | [1] [15] |
| Personal injury court actions per day, 2022-23 | 23.2 | 8,474 / 365 | [1] |
| Road traffic court actions per 100 police-recorded road casualties | about 96 | about 5,400 actions (2022-23) / 5,643 casualties (2022) x 100 | [1] [10] |
| Accident at work court actions per 100 self-reported workplace injuries | 3.5 | 1,391 / 40,000 x 100 | [1] [11] |
| Self-reported workplace injuries per employer-reported injury | 7.0 | 40,000 / 5,686 | [11] |
| Scottish worker fatal injury rate relative to England, 2024/25 | 3.0 times | 0.93 / 0.31 | [12] |
| Road casualties per 100,000 population, 2025 | 99.8 | 5,535 / 5.5455 million x 100,000 | [8] [14] |
| People killed or seriously injured on roads per day, 2025 | 5.6 | (134 + 1,906) / 365 | [8] |
| Road deaths per million population, 2025 | 24.2 | 134 / 5.5455 million x 1,000,000 | [8] [14] |
| Motorcyclist share of road deaths relative to share of casualties, 2025 | 2.4 times | 25.4% / 10.5% | [8] |
| Growth in Sheriff Personal Injury Court actions, 2016-17 to 2022-23 | +40% | (4,129 - 2,956) / 2,956 | [1] [3] |
| Change in accident at work court actions, 2009-10 to 2022-23 | -25% | (1,391 - 1,844) / 1,844 | [1] [2] |
Two of these results stand out. First, someone was killed or seriously injured on Scotland's roads about once every 4.3 hours in 2025. Second, the number of road traffic court actions is close to the number of road casualties recorded by the police. The two series do not count the same people, and not every claim reaches court, so the comparison indicates that police records capture only part of the road injuries that lead to compensation claims.
Workplace injuries show the opposite pattern. There were only about 3.5 accident at work court actions for every 100 self-reported workplace injuries, which shows that a small minority of workplace injuries result in court proceedings.
How does the Scottish system differ from England and Wales?
Personal injury law in Scotland is separate from the law of England and Wales, with its own courts, procedures and legislation. Three differences matter most when comparing statistics across the border.
- Time limit. A personal injury action must generally be raised within three years under the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 [16].
- A national specialist court. The Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 raised the exclusive competence of the sheriff court to £100,000 and led to the creation of the all-Scotland Sheriff Personal Injury Court [17] [4].
- No whiplash tariff. The fixed tariff for whiplash injuries introduced by Part 1 of the Civil Liability Act 2018 applies in England and Wales only, so it does not affect claims arising from road traffic accidents in Scotland [18].
Methodology and limitations
This is a secondary analysis of published official statistics. No survey or modelling was carried out. Every figure is taken from the numbered source shown beside it, and every figure described as an own calculation can be reproduced from the inputs listed in Table 9.
- Court statistics count actions initiated, not claims made or people injured. Initiations and disposals do not necessarily refer to the same cases.
- Latest court year. The full Scottish Government breakdown ends at 2022-23 because the 2023-24 bulletin was paused [5].
- Road casualty figures for 2025 are provisional and will be superseded by Reported Road Casualties Scotland 2025.
- Workplace estimates from the Labour Force Survey are three-year averages based on self-reports and are subject to sampling error.
- Different periods. Some derived measures combine a financial year with a calendar year or a three-year average. These are indicative ratios, not precise rates.
- Rounding. The road traffic action count is derived from a share published to the nearest whole per cent, so it is shown as an approximation.
The report will be reviewed at least once a year and whenever one of the underlying sources is updated.
How to cite this report
Callan, R. (2026). Personal injury claims in Scotland: a statistical review 2026. Scotland Claims Technical Report SC-TR-2026-01. Available at: https://www.scotlandclaims.co.uk/research/personal-injury-claims-scotland-2026.aspx
References
- Scottish Government (2024). Civil justice statistics in Scotland 2022-23. Edinburgh: Scottish Government. ISBN 9781836012146. https://www.gov.scot/publications/civil-justice-statistics-scotland-2022-23/
- Scottish Government (2020). Civil justice statistics in Scotland 2018-19. Edinburgh: Scottish Government. https://www.gov.scot/publications/civil-justice-statistics-scotland-2018-19/
- Scottish Government (2021). Civil justice statistics in Scotland 2019-20. Edinburgh: Scottish Government. https://www.gov.scot/publications/civil-justice-statistics-scotland-2019-20/
- Scottish Government (2017). Civil justice statistics in Scotland 2015-16. Edinburgh: Scottish Government. https://www.gov.scot/publications/civil-justice-statistics-scotland-2015-16/
- Scottish Government (2026). Civil justice: statistics. Edinburgh: Scottish Government. https://www.gov.scot/collections/civil-justice-statistics/
- Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (2026). Debt actions make up over a quarter of civil business. Edinburgh: SCTS, 2 April 2026. https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/about-us/news/news/2026/april/debt-actions-make-up-over-a-quarter-of-civil-business/
- Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (2025). Civil statistics added to the website including key civil business insights. Edinburgh: SCTS, April 2025. https://scotcourts.gov.uk/about-us/news/news/2025/april/civil-statistics-added-to-the-website-including-key-civil-business-insights/
- Transport Scotland (2026). Key reported road casualties Scotland 2025. Glasgow: Transport Scotland. https://www.transport.gov.scot/publication/key-reported-road-casualties-scotland-2025/
- Transport Scotland (2025). Reported road casualties Scotland 2024. Glasgow: Transport Scotland. https://www.transport.gov.scot/media/24hnbr14/reported-road-casualties-scotland-2024.pdf
- Transport Scotland (2024). Reported road casualties Scotland 2023. Glasgow: Transport Scotland. https://www.transport.gov.scot/media/uzon25ia/reported-road-casualties-2023-commentary.pdf
- Health and Safety Executive (2025). Key facts: health and safety at work. Summary statistics for Scotland 2025. Bootle: HSE. https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/assets/docs/key-facts-scotland.pdf
- Health and Safety Executive (2025). Countries and regions: information on work-related injuries and ill health for Scotland, Wales and the English regions. Bootle: HSE. https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/regions/overview.htm
- Department for Work and Pensions (2026). Compensation Recovery Unit performance data. London: DWP. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/compensation-recovery-unit-performance-data/compensation-recovery-unit-performance-data
- National Records of Scotland (2026). Mid-2025 population estimates. Edinburgh: NRS. https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/publications/mid-2025-population-estimates/
- National Records of Scotland (2024). Mid-2023 population estimates. Edinburgh: NRS. https://nrscotland.gov.uk/publications/mid-2023-population-estimates
- Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973, c. 52. London: HMSO. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1973/52/contents
- Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014, asp 18. Edinburgh: The Stationery Office. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2014/18/contents
- Civil Liability Act 2018, c. 29. London: The Stationery Office. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2018/29/contents
About this report
This report is published by Scotland Claims Injury Lawyers and is free to quote with attribution. For an indication of what a specific injury may be worth, see the Scottish compensation calculator.