It’s a common question for accident victims to ask when they seek our expert advice and quality representation – how much is my whiplash claim worth?
It’s actually a difficult question to answer correctly – the only way to value your claim for whiplash is with this combination:
- A medical report from an independent qualified medico-legal expert – normally a General Practitioner or an Orthopaedic Consultant for whiplash injuries.
- A fully qualified expert personal injury lawyer
Your lawyer will be able to maximise your claim based on the medical evidence they get from the expert. By making sure that you go directly to an independent specialist personal injury lawyer, you’re guaranteeing a maximum payout with their wealth of expertise and resources dedicated to you.
TIP: avoid insurers referring you over to lawyer. They will sell the claim on for a referral fee (which is anywhere up to £800), leaving you with a lawyer with far less money to spend on fighting harder for your maximum payout. You may also end up having a reduction from your payout to help them cover their costs and protect their profit margins.
What we can do is give you some guidance as to how much your claim could potentially be worth. Based on the JSB Guidelines (guidelines used by lawyers to assist when it comes to valuing your claim, together with the wealth of expertise a qualified personal injury lawyer offers), we can give you some guidance below:
- Minor Whiplash Injuries: £875 to £5,150
- Moderate Whiplash Injuries: £5,150 to £16,400
- Severe Whiplash Injuries: range from anywhere above £16,400 to £97,000.
TIP: when it comes to whiplash, it’s not just about the valuation. I’ve got the injury myself – and treatment is often something our clients need from the early stages. With a good personal injury lawyer, you’re not only guaranteeing a maximum payout, but you should be offered private medical care right from the outset of the claim – at no cost to you, whether the claim wins or loses.
Your whiplash injury can be banded in to one of the categories above depending on how long you suffer for, how severe the suffering is, and the degree of inconvenience it has caused you in your everyday life.
You are also entitled to claim for losses on top of your whiplash payout. If you have two weeks off work unpaid, you can claim back two weeks’ worth of lost earnings. If you pay out for any medical expenses, or have to travel to and from appointments for treatment, you can claim back allowances for these.
To make sure you get the maximum payout in the quickest possible time, go direct to an independent firm of specialist personal injury lawyers, working on a Genuine No Win No Fee basis. You should ensure to get:
- A Specialist Injury Lawyer – dealing only with injury claims, offering you a bespoke service and a wealth of quality and expertise.
- Genuine No Win No Fee – meaning you always receive 100% of your compensation; no deductions, no hidden charges. On A Genuine No Win No Fee, your layers legal fees are limited to whether they recover from the other side; meaning you cannot be charged for your claim. If it loses, you pay nothing – not a penny.
- High Service Levels – e.g. regular contact (e.g. every 14 days), private medical care from the outset, etc.
TIP: Avoid getting a lawyer through a claims management company. They are not solicitors – they will simply refer your claim over to a lawyer for a fee. As with the insurers, this will either be paid by you, or your solicitor, leaving them with less money to fight harder for your claim and less money to spend on providing you with a quality service.
For more information as to how much your whiplash claim could be worth, feel free to contact our expert team.
