Whiplash is the most common injury sustained in road traffic accidents and therefore our injury blog will focus particularly on how long it takes to resolve a whiplash claim for a road accident. Of course, if you have sustained whiplash in a way other than a road accident, the process may be a little different and therefore you should contact us directly to ascertain the best route in your particular circumstance.
Whiplash can be extremely painful and debilitating as it mainly affects the movement of the neck, back and shoulders. It is caused by the jolting action of your head being thrown forward and backwards at quick speed. This type of injury can lead to other losses such as loss of earnings and expensive medical fees and therefore claiming for compensation may be essential.
So how does the process work? Well, it is impossible to give an exact time on how long your whiplash claim will take as everyone’s circumstances are different and although we may hurry the process along unfortunately we are not able to force third parties to go at a similar pace.
In 2010 a new protocol was brought in to ensure these types of claims ran as smoothly and quickly as possible. This is referred to as the Road Traffic Accident Protocol (often referred to as RTAP).
First stage: All the information is collated on the claim notification form (CNF). This gathers all the information required to start the claim going such as accident dates and location and any injury details.
Stage 2– The CNF is then submitted to the third party electronically who have 15 working days to respond with their admission or denial of liability. So they have about 3 weeks to do so.
OPTION 1 – If the other side accepts liability it is a case of gathering medical evidence and seeking a settlement! This is of course the quickest and easiest way.
Option 2– If the other side deny liability this simply gives us the opportunity to fight for your claim! We review the case ensure we are certain it has good prospects (with advice from a barrister) and we continue to pursue. Of course this option means that the process could be longer.
Another aspect which will lengthen the claim process is when it comes to your injuries. If your medical report gives a long prognosis period it is likely that we will not seek a settlement until you are near recovery or fully recovered. The reason for this is because we would not wish to under settle your claim! If you are still suffering months down the line, your claim may be worth a lot more. In this circumstance however we can arrange private medical care and request interim payments to help out– so do not worry! We are just trying to get the best amount possible for you.
So if are suffering from whiplash and wish to make a claim- contact us today.
