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If you have been involved in an accident that was not your fault, and you have been injured as a result, you may have a claim for compensation.

Another term for compensation is ‘damages’ and there are two types of damages for which you can claim – these are General Damages and Special Damages. General damages is the compensation for your injuries – i.e. for the pain and suffering you have endured and the effects those injuries have had on your life.  Special damages are the quantifiable financial losses which you have suffered as a result of your accident – these will be the topic of the following blog.

There are many types of losses which you can recoup and claim back from the other side – I have listed some of the more common types below:
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If you have had an accident in Scotland, you may be surprised to know that there are variances between England / Wales law and Scottish law that could mean the difference between incurring a deduction from your compensation and not being charged at all.

In England and Wales, for most claims for compensation, your injury lawyer has the ability to recover all of their legal fees directly from your opponent. For example, if you claim for compensation from the insurance of the driver at fault for a car accident, your lawyers should have no problems recovering their legal fees straight from the insurance as well.

With a good injury lawyer, you will never have a percentage taken away, and you will never end up having to pay a penny if you win. These are things you should check beforehand as there are lawyers out there willing to charge, but you don’t have to be charged with the right lawyer!
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At The Injury Lawyers we recover our legal fees from the other side directly if we win your case.  If we obtain compensation for you, like we have in thousands of other personal injury cases for our numerous clients, like them, you will get to keep 100% of the compensation you are due.  So, if you are awarded £2,000 for your whiplash injury, you keep the full £2,000.  There are absolutely no reductions on your compensation made by us.

Sounds great – but there must be some kind of catch, right?

No! Even if you lose the claim, which is unlikely because we only ever take on claims we genuinely believe will be successful, we do not charge you a penny.  This is because at the beginning of your compensation claim we take out an After the Event Insurance policy which covers some of our costs should your case be unsuccessful – this way we can recoup some of our losses.  And when we win, we can recover our costs from the other side directly.  You will not have to worry about facing a hefty lawyers bill.
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At The Injury Lawyers we are expert injury lawyers with a vast amount of experience in dealing with personal injury claims having done so every day for numerous years.

We therefore realise that, as far as compensation claiming goes, road traffic accident claims can often be straightforward.  This is because it is often quite clear exactly who is at fault, and an early admission of liability if often forthcoming – meaning that we can get your claim settled in no time at all.

For example, if you are in a stationary vehicle, and someone collides at speed with the rear of your vehicle, and as a result you suffer whiplash, you have a great chance of winning your claim for compensation, as it is clear that the third party is at fault. Under the new road traffic accident protocol, you could have their admission of liability within two weeks or less of notifying them of your wish to bring a claim for compensation.
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There has been a lot in the news recently regarding referrals fees – or as Jack Straw described them, the insurers’ ‘dirty little secret’.  Here is a quick guide:

A referral fee is a fee which a law firm pays insurers upon agreement that their insured’s’ contact details will be passed to them where this person is likely due compensation having been involved in an accident whereby they suffered an injury through no fault of their own.  This fee can be anything in the region of £200 to £1,000!  As such, this has seen the advent of claims management companies, or middlemen, who make their money from buying insured people’s contact details and selling them to law firms for profit.  This has been happening for approximately 20 years, believe it or not.  Further, as the BBC has reported today, the ‘racket’ goes further than just referral fees – It may involve cold calling or texting potential accident victims who have not provided their mobile numbers to any of them directly.
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A hot topic in the news recently has been the issue of referral fees highlighted by Jack Straw – the issue of insurers selling their customer’s information to law firms for profit.  Now, you may be thinking – what has this got to do with the amount of compensation I will get for my whiplash claim? Well, if you read on, you’ll see that it may have everything to do with it!

Relevance…

If you haven’t caught this latest news, I will give you a brief outline:

A constituent of Jack Straw had an accident and was subsequently bombarded with texts and calls for offers to take his claim on. Upon being notified of this, Jack Straw made a bid to find out how these various companies got his constituent’s personal information, including his mobile number. Jack Straw met with two major insurance companies who admitted to selling their customer’s information for profit. This has created much controversy, and has been reported in newspapers as a ‘racket’ and even against the spirit of data protection.
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It seems apt right now to write a blog on the actions of our insurance companies being slammed in the media. I say this as it is has been widely reported in recent days that insurers are selling information on to personal injury referral agencies and law firms for profit.

It is Jack Straw which has spurred on this issue and highlighted the conduct of our insurance companies after one of his constituents reportedly had an accident and was swamped with personal calls and texts to take on his claim; despite the fact that he was not even injured.

In response to this, Jack Straw, in a bid to discover how these companies had got hold of his constituents details, including his mobile telephone number, uncovered the fact that it is indeed insurance companies that had been selling on customers information.
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The Injury Lawyers: Proud to never pay insures, claims companies, or other companies money for claims; all of our clients come directly to us, meaning we can dedicate all of our resources on to our fantastic service, and fighting tooth and nail for a maximum payout!

How do you make a claim for whiplash? Here is the best advice on what to do, and what to avoid.

What to Avoid
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Legal Expenses Insurance, Motor Legal Protection, and the practice of insurers allocating you a solicitor after a road accident is a topic we regularly cover as an independent firm that refuses outright to get involved in this practice. We have been advising people about the downfalls of letting your insurers refer a solicitor to you for years, and it now transpires that former Justice Secretary Jack Straw has done some investigation into the matter, and has spoken out against what he has labelled as the insurers industry dirty little secret.

Following complaints from his constituents, which Mr Straw followed up aand he has publically brought to light and blasted what he has termed as the “huge racket” of insurers passing on details to personal injury lawyers for extortionate fees; a practice we have been speaking out against for years. The BBC and The Guardian are currently reporting on the matter as we speak (http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9524000/9524476.stm), (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jun/28/jack-straw-insurance-customer-details).

The reports confirm that Straw has said that “the practice had driven a surge in no-win, no-fee claims this year which put up premiums – all with the insurers’ knowledge”. We often see the insurers complaining that personal injury claims are driving up premiums – as you can see, it’s the insurers themselves that are akin to this apparent problem.
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At The Injury Lawyers, we have a vast amount of experience in dealing with whiplash claims – and that is why we can say with confidence that we fight tooth and nail to get you the best possible amount of compensation.

Causes

We tend to see whiplash as a result of road traffic accidents more than anything else. This is because whiplash is caused by a sudden jolt to the head which thus causes the neck to move beyond its normal range. The impact felt from a car crash can have this jolting effect on the neck causing damage to muscles and tendons in that area.
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