Whiplash Injury Compensation

Introduction to Whiplash Injury Compensation

75% of claims made to motor insurance companies in 2007 concerned whiplash injuries to almost half a million motorists. These figures indicate the huge volume of claims for whiplash injury compensation that are processed every year, and can suggest that victims of whiplash injury may be undercompensated if they accept an early settlement from an insurance company or if their claim for whiplash injury compensation is not handled correctly.

Whiplash injuries can also happen without a motor vehicle in sight. People who trip on an uneven surface, slip on a wet floor or experience a fall in the course of their work can also experience the symptoms of whiplash injury if their head hits a static object as they fall. Not only will this snap the head back and forth in the same way as when involved in a sudden road traffic accident, but the victim could also sustain other head injuries which mask the pain of the whiplash injury.

Typical Whiplash Injuries

Whiplash injuries are caused by the unnatural and sudden stretching of the ligaments and soft tissues around the top of the spine when the heads snaps back and forward on impact. Typical whiplash injuries start with neck ache and tenderness around the injured area, can cause headaches (where the brain has ricocheted around the inside of the skull) and pins and needles to the arms and legs – due to damage to the nervous system within the spinal cord.

Doctors grade whiplash injuries on a five point scale, where “0” indicates that no pain or stiffness is evident, and “4” represents a neck fracture and serious damage to the spinal cord. The three intervening grades describe the extent of the whiplash injury from “no physical signs” to “sensory deficits” and can indicate neurological damage or injury to the nervous system. With only five grades to choose from, victims of whiplash injury may find themselves mis-categorised, and therefore it is important that you have competent legal representation when making a claim for whiplash injury compensation.

What to do After a Whiplash Injury Accident

Research in the States has shown that a rear-end impact at 5 miles per hour will cause a whiplash injury in 38 per cent of car drivers – with women and children suffering a much higher proportion of whiplash injury than men due to generally weaker neck muscles. Passengers are even more likely to suffer a whiplash injury as they usually pay no attention to traffic conditions, and do not have that split second to brace before impact that a driver would have who sees a car approaching from behind in his rear-view mirror.

Therefore, no matter how minor you consider your bump to be, the best course of action to take after sustaining a whiplash injury is to exchange insurance details with the negligent driver and go to hospital for an immediate examination. Symptoms of whiplash may not appear for several days, so the potential exists for you to cause further damage to your whiplash injury inadvertently all the time you believe that you have suffered no injury. Once you have been diagnosed with a whiplash injury and (usually) fitted with a neck brace, you should speak with a whiplash injury compensation solicitor.

Whiplash Injury Compensation Solicitors

An experienced whiplash injury compensation solicitor will be familiar with the grades of whiplash injury and ensure that yours is correctly categorised so that how much whiplash injury compensation you receive and the level of physiotherapy costs you will be able to claim for are adequate for your injury. His expertise in the field of whiplash injury compensation will also be beneficial if you are approached by the negligent party´s insurance company with an offer of early settlement for your whiplash injury claim. These offers are usually inadequate for the pain and suffering you have experienced, but indicate that the insurance company is willing to settle.

Your whiplash injury compensation solicitor will be able to negotiate on your behalf with the insurance company to obtain a more realistic settlement, and also with multiple insurance companies when you sustain your whiplash injury in a multiple vehicle accident for which more than one driver is negligent. Other factors to a whiplash injury compensation claim – such as post traumatic stress, loss of earnings and temporary loss of amenity – will automatically be included in a swift resolution to your whiplash injury compensation claim.

No Win No Fee Whiplash Injury Compensation

Although whiplash injury compensation claims are the most common types of personal injury claim, there are many variables influencing how much whiplash injury compensation you will receive. Your best course of action is to discuss the circumstances surrounding your whiplash injury with an experienced solicitor.