What is whiplash? How does it affect you? How can you make a claim for it? These are three of the primary questions that people ask about whiplash claims and whiplash injuries. So – Here’s a little advice to help you out!

Whiplash Explained

Whiplash is a general term used to describe the damage to muscles, ligaments and tendons, normally in the neck, back, and shoulders area, from the areas being stretched beyond their normal range of movement. The stretch occurs from a the fast back, forwards, or sideways movement caused normally from a collision or a harsh brake in a vehicle, or even from slipping over and falling fast, or a fall from height.
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A whiplash injury is normally caused after a road accident – it can also be caused after a slip or a fall, however. Basically, anything that involves your neck / head being jolted forwards, backwards, or sideways quickly can cause a whiplash injury. It’s called whiplash for a reason – imagine an actual whip hitting a tree. It flies forward at speed, cracks the tree, and whips back. It’s this sharp movement that normally causes the injury.

When a whiplash injury occurs, your muscles and ligaments are stretched beyond their normal range of movement. This can lead to several symptoms that sufferers will endure; the below are all classis symptoms of a whiplash injury:

• Pain in the neck, shoulders, and all over, or just particular sections of, the back.
• Reduced movement and stiffness in the affected areas.
• Sleeping difficulties caused by the pain.
• Headaches – sometimes drowsiness, dizziness, and even vertigo in some cases.

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Making a claim for compensation for an injury which you have suffered through no fault of your own, but through the negligence of a third party, is relatively straightforward.  Some of you reading this may have been led to believe that a claim can take years on end and may think that it is not worth pursuing.  Well, the reality is that although some cases can take a couple of years, others can be settled within a matter of months.  In fact, if you instruct a quality injury lawyer who offers a quality and speedy service, your claim should be progressed at every available opportunity, and your claim can be done and dusted in no time at all.

Personal injury claims are governed by the Pre-Action Protocol for Personal injury claims.  Your specialist injury lawyer will firstly collate all your accident details from you, and then produce a Letter of Claim containing all these details which is forwarded to the negligent third party.  Under the protocol they are allowed a period of 21 days in which to respond to this Letter of Claim.  Once they do this, they are allowed a period of 3 months to investigate your claim. 

Now, before you think ‘3 months!?’ – It is important to note that this is the maximum period of time they are allowed to investigate your claim.  If their investigations only take 3 weeks, they can admit liability after 3 weeks, and your claim can be settled much sooner.  So really it depends on how proactive and efficient the other side are at dealing with your claim, and how much fight your lawyers have in them to chase up the other side.
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Sadly, road traffic accidents are a frequent occurrence on our roads.  Often it is just the motor vehicles involved that are damaged, and then it is a matter for your insurer and the other party’s insurer to sort it out.  Granted, it can be a huge inconvenience.  However, people often get injured in road accidents too.  It is not purely vehicles which are damaged.  If you have been involved in a road accident which was not your fault, but the fault of a negligent third party driver, and you have been injured as a result, then in all likelihood you may well have a claim for compensation for the injuries that you have suffered.

Making this claim for compensation is actually pretty straightforward.  Before April 2010, it could take a matter of months for your claim to be dealt with and settled; now, under a new protocol for low value personal injury claims which arise from a road traffic accident, your claim can be settled in only a matter of weeks or just a few months.  Unlike the previous protocol where the other side could take a period of around 4 months to investigate your claim, under this new protocol, they have a period of only 15 business days to admit or deny liability for your accident once they have received notice of your claim.

The first step is to complete what is know as a Claims Notification Form.  This is a straightforward document in which your personal details and other accident details are required.  Don’t worry if you do not like forms – at The Injury Lawyers, our quality injury lawyers are always at your beck and call to give you a hand.  Once this is completed, the claim form is submitted online to the other side’s insurer.  They then have a period of 1 business day to acknowledge receipt and commence their investigations.  During the next 15 days, they will come back to your injury lawyer with an admission or denial of liability.
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Whiplash can be a condition which is underestimated by those who have never experienced it. This may be due to the fact that it is not so plain to see as a broken bone or a laceration to the skin. At The Injury Lawyers, we take the exact opposite approach, and treat whiplash with the seriousness it deserves, as our clients tell us on a daily basis the devastating effects that it has on all areas of their lives.

In order to discuss the symptoms of whiplash, you need to firstly address the causes of the condition. Whiplash is caused by a sudden jolt to the head and neck, which in turn causes the neck to move beyond its normal range. This movement causes muscles and tendons in the neck to be damaged; thus leaving the person with symptoms that I will outline below.

The symptoms of whiplash tend to become apparent between 6-12 hours (or even more) after the accident has taken place, and then can increase in severity for up to a week.  Whiplash is experienced by different people in different ways – I have gone onto list the more common symptoms below:
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If you are reading this blog, you may have been involved in an accident, and you may well be suffering from whiplash, and are sat at home wondering how much your claim could be worth! With compensation claiming, there are two heads of damages – these being General Damages and Special Damages. I will discuss each one in turn in the following blog.

General Damages

General damages is compensation which you can claim for your injuries. A solicitor will place a value on your General damages by looking at a number of factors:
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If you have been injured in an accident which was not your fault, and you believe you have a potentially successful claim for compensation, it is important that you have an expert injury lawyer on your side.  Only this way will you be able to obtain the maximum compensation that you deserve in the shortest possible time. At The Injury Lawyers, we are experts in the field of personal injury claims, having dealt with thousands of cases over many years, and getting our clients the maximum compensation they deserve.  Here is a quick guide as to what you should be looking for in an injury lawyer:

You must keep 100% of your compensation

If you do not receive 100% of the compensation which has been agreed for your accident, this is the same as having your claim under-settled.  If your lawyers are to take even a penny away from your compensation, you are undercompensated.  At The Injury Lawyers, we do not believe in charging our clients for our services whatsoever.  That is why we work on a genuine no win, no fee agreement, which means that we will never charge you for our work.  Before you instruct an injury lawyer, please have a good read through their paperwork.  You must make sure that you keep all of your compensation, and that you are definitely not being charged any lawyers fees. 
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How do you recover from a whiplash injury? What’s the best course of treatment to aid you with a faster recovery? What do you do!?

If you are currently suffering from whiplash, I have some potentially bad news for you:

• Whiplash is a much more complicated injury than most people think
• Whiplash recovery is difficult to predict; most victims’ suffering gets worse before it gets better
• Whiplash can not only cause pain and stiffness in the neck, shoulders, and back: it can also cause headaches, dizziness, pins and needles, and even sickness and vertigo in some cases.
• There is no magic cure for whiplash!

So – what can you do? You can aid your recovery by firstly seeking advice from your GP, a walk in centre, or a hospital, and you can help to speed up your recovery by getting treatment from a physiotherapist, or chiropractor, or an osteopathic expert if your symptoms warrant their intervention.
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Recently, I have heard some fairly worrying stories from client’s who have been shopping around for Law firms to instruct for their personal injury claims. These stories have included:

‘‘x’ law firm have said they will take 25% of my compensation upon winning my claim’.

‘‘y’ law firm said that if it goes to court and I lose I will have to pay the court costs’.
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If you have a personal injury claim it is advisable to bring the claim with a law firm using the no win no fee system. By doing it this way, it means that there is less risk to you in having to pay your solicitors costs, which can run into thousands of pounds.

In saying this, you must read the no win no fee agreement through fully, as many law firms still place a large onus on the clients to pay their costs in certain situations.

At The Injury Lawyers, win or lose a claim, we  do not charge our costs – i.e. the time we have spent on a case, to our clients, which is reflected in our genuine no win no fee agreement.
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