After all, it is compensation for personal injury! The accident could be minor; a trip in the street for example. But the injuries could be more significant and if these injuries can be linked to the accident then the value of the claim could be higher. Equally there could be a very serious accident at face value, such as a head on road traffic accident collision. Despite this, the injuries sustained could be relatively minor.
Compensation is based on the nature, extent and seriousness of the Claimant’s injuries (and the effect of those injuries on the Claimant’s life).
To value personal injury claims, Solicitor’s consider the relevant guidelines.
These guidelines can give a rough estimate but they do not give any more than that. Perhaps more accurate is to consider past case law. This is looking at past cases where the injuries and effect on the Claimant’s life are similar. You should also note that an uplift would be made to bring the value in line with what it is worth at the time of settlement. For example, a case which is worth £2,000 in 1990 would now be worth quite a bit more than £2,000 nowadays. Basically inflation is taken into account when considering past case law.
It is difficult to say a maximum amount of compensation for whiplash as the injury can vary substantially in terms of severity. The more severe the injury and effect, the more the claim is likely to be worth. Most whiplash injuries are relatively minor but some can be severe. It is for a medical expert to decide the severity of any whiplash symptoms.
Most standard whiplash claims would probably settle for a sum between £2,000 and £3,500 as a rough guide. Other factors can affect the value, such as inconsistent evidence or litigation risks. Equally if your symptoms are classed as severe you could be looking at a substantially higher amount. Only a very small amount of whiplash cases tend to fall within the higher brackets of compensation and again your symptoms and injuries will be assessed by a medical expert. We endeavour to get you the maximum amount of compensation that you deserve.
There are never any guarantees with litigation and this is what we mean by the term “litigation risk“. Say for example the Defendant makes an offer to settle and the offer is just a little bit lower (say £200 lower) than our own valuation. If the offer is rejected and the case proceeds to trial, there is always a chance that a Judge could award you less than the offer. The result is that you can become liable for some of the costs in the case (if you failed to beat a Part 36 offer). These costs could wipe out your compensation in its entirety.
Therefore we will advise you when a settlement offer puts you at some risk. If an offer is wholly unreasonable then we would expect a Judge to offer you more compensation which means the cost penalties do not come into play.