What kind of compensation can you anticipate if you have a whiplash injury?
The worth of a settlement might vary greatly. You should expect to receive more compensation if your whiplash injury is severe.
For example, a minor to moderate whiplash injury can result in a settlement ranging from $2,500 to $10,000.
A more severe case of whiplash, on the other hand, may necessitate significant physical treatment and massage therapy to restore your body’s function. A compensation of up to $30,000 could result as a result of this.
After a car collision, certain neck injuries involve damage to the vertebrae, ligaments, nerves, muscles, and other components of the spine, in addition to whiplash. If your neck injury is more serious than soft tissue damage, you could be looking at a payout of more than $100,000.
Finally, auto insurance settlement compensation for whiplash injuries vary greatly based on your circumstances, location, the severity of your injuries, and a variety of other factors.
How much is the average whiplash settlement?
You can obtain “typical” settlement sums for whiplash on several websites if you do some research online. These figures appear to range from $2,500 to $100,000 or more on average. While the true average may or may not fall within this range, the reality is that the average whiplash settlement amount is irrelevant.
What matters is how much compensation you are entitled to for your whiplash injury. This value is entirely dependant on the specific circumstances of your situation. As a result, while average settlement amounts can offer you an estimate (although a range of $2,500 to $100,000 isn’t much assistance), they have no bearing on determining damages in a vehicle accident claim.
Do insurance companies pay out for whiplash?
The reforms, according to the government, are intended at reducing the “unacceptably high number of whiplash claims filed each year,” with over half a million filed in 2019/20 alone.
As a result, insurers will be able to lower auto insurance costs, with the government claiming that insurers have promised to pass the savings on to their customers.
Excessive whiplash claims are expected to save £1.2 billion each year, implying that policies might be reduced by an average of £35.
A system for whiplash compensation is included in the modifications, which implies a defined amount of compensation is handed out.
Insurers are also forbidden from providing whiplash payments unless they have medical evidence of the injuries.
Is it worth claiming for whiplash?
The cost of your automobile insurance may be affected if you file a whiplash injury claim. In fact, regardless of guilt, any claim you make can result in an increase in your premium. Even though you’ll be claiming for a whiplash injury from someone else’s insurance company rather than your own, you may have to pay more for vehicle insurance in the future.
Is there a minimum speed for whiplash claim?
If you were engaged in a low-speed incident, such as when a vehicle crashed into the back of you while you were stopped at a traffic light, it may appear that you were unscathed at first. Perhaps your vehicle had little or no damage, and your primary emotion is relief that the situation was not more serious.
Is it possible to sustain a whiplash injury during a low speed collision?
When one car collides with another, the impact of the collision causes the driver’s or passenger’s head and neck to be flung back and forth abruptly and forcefully.
The soft tissue and ligaments of the neck are stretched beyond their usual range of motion as a result of this. Whiplash is entirely conceivable, and indeed very common, at low speeds since the neck damage is caused by the fast, abrupt impact of the accident.
Pay attention to any unusual feelings you may have following a low speed collision
It is crucial not to assume that you are undamaged after a low-speed collision, often known as a Low Velocity Impact (LVI). The reason for this is that whiplash symptoms do not usually develop immediately after a collision, and might take several hours or even days to manifest.
Whiplash symptoms include neck pain, stiffness, and discomfort, restricted movement, nausea, and disorientation when they first develop. If you have any of these symptoms or have any other reason to believe you may have had a whiplash injury, you should seek medical assistance from your doctor as soon as possible. Strong painkillers, light mobility exercises, and, depending on the severity of the injury, a course of physiotherapy will be recommended.
How speed has a bearing on the type of injuries you are likely to sustain during an accident
The type and severity of injuries incurred are inextricably linked to the speed at which a collision occurs. While whiplash can occur in both low-speed (up to 5 mph) and moderate-to-high-speed incidents, moderate-to-high-speed collisions are more likely to result in other injuries such as fractured bones, brain injuries, and concussion.
How is whiplash settlement calculated?
For minor injuries like sprains or whiplash, the multiplier for your vehicle accident compensation calculation is normally 11/2 to 3 times the amount of medical expenditures. More serious injuries, such as shattered bones or ruptured disks, have a multiplier of three to five times the amount of medical expenditures.
An automobile accident or serious injury that tragically leaves you in a wheelchair, or with disfiguring scars, or even the death of a loved one, is usually multiplied by 5 times; however, an automobile accident or serious injury that tragically leaves you in a wheelchair, or with disfiguring scars, or even the death of a loved one, may be multiplied by up to 10 times.
It is advisable to obtain legal advice from a reputable personal injury attorney in order to receive the greatest amount of insurance payout from the automobile accident insurance or other insurance companies.
Should I accept First whiplash offer?
Before submitting your request for compensation to the other party, your personal injury lawyer will consult with you to determine an appropriate amount of compensation. This amount is based on your situation and what other similar compensation payments have been made in the UK recently. A document titled “Guidelines for the Assessment of General Damages in Personal Injury Cases” is published by the Judicial College. If your offer is within the agreed-upon range, your lawyer may advise you to accept it.
Before deciding on an appropriate amount of compensation, some issues must be answered. These are some of them:
- What is your prognosis for a full recovery and when do you think you’ll be able to do so? Is it likely that you’ll be in pain for months, years, or even your entire life?
- What have your lost wages, travel expenditures, medical charges, and other out-of-pocket expenses cost you as a result of your injury?
- Who was responsible? Even if you were not at fault, insurance firms frequently make initial offers that specify joint liability.
The Importance of Evidence
Your lawyer will interview with any witnesses to your accident to help verify and validate your version of events, in addition to your post-accident medical records and police report (if the police attended the scene of your accident). They may also arrange for an independent medical evaluation, depending on the severity of your injury and prognosis, as well as a description of the impact it has had on your life.
Without evidence, a claim can be reduced to your word against the other party’s, making it more difficult to refute if they claim you were at least partially responsible for your injuries. The more compelling your original case, the more quickly your claim will be handled and the higher the sum you will receive.
Receiving an Unsolicited Offer from an Insurance Company
We occasionally get calls from persons who have been in an accident recently. They have not yet had the opportunity to obtain legal counsel, but they have been approached by the other party’s insurance company with a settlement offer. The question they’re asking is whether the initial, unsolicited offer is reasonable and acceptable. In almost every case, the answer is “no.” An insurance company will not give you money unless they believe it will benefit them financially if they have to pay you less later.
In such circumstances, we’ve partnered with personal injury attorneys to secure a far larger settlement for the client.
How is an Offer Received?
To be legally binding, any offer of compensation must be made in writing, detailing the amount and any deductions, such as those for divided liability. It’s known as a “Part 36 offer” since it complies with the Part 36 Civil Procedures Rule 1998. You have 21 days from the time the offer is made to decide whether or not to accept it. If you accept a Part 36 offer without first seeking legal counsel, you risk invalidating your contract, especially if you have a conditional fee agreement or are utilizing an insurance policy to cover your legal expenses.
How much should I settle for after a car accident?
Medical bills, property damage invoices, rental car fees, and other damages can add up quickly after a car accident. Worse, when someone is critically injured, they are unable to work, making it incredibly difficult to pay costs. This sometimes leads to the inquiry, “What is the average California automobile accident settlement?”
Most reported instances in the United States settle for between $14,000 and $28,000, according to data from across the country. The average salary is roughly $21,000 per year. So, how does this affect your situation? Nothing, to be honest. Because each and every scenario is unique. We’ve handled injury cases ranging in value from a few thousand dollars to millions of dollars. There is no such thing as a magic number.
An insurance company will approach you shortly after a car accident and attempt to settle the situation even before it is evident how much harm a person has sustained. The insurance company normally offers to pay the outstanding medical bills and maybe a few hundred dollars extra in many circumstances when customers were offered settlements before a lawyer was involved. The main issue with accepting such an offer is that it can take anywhere from 8 months to several years for someone to fully recover from an accident. In a case involving serious injuries, future medical expenditures are a huge concern. If you accept an insurance company’s first offer, you will be required to sign a release stating that no future medical costs would be reimbursed.
The first step in hiring a vehicle accident lawyer from our firm to handle your case is to document your injuries and damages. If there has been lost work, we collect medical bills, records, property damage estimates, police reports, and employment data. We may calculate an approximate range of value for your case based on all of this information and in-depth discussions with our customers about their real injuries.
Settlement value is influenced by a variety of factors, including the following:
Speaking with an attorney is the best approach to determine the value of your case. In many circumstances, you may not even require the assistance of an attorney. You won’t need a lawyer if you merely have a bill for an ER visit or a family doctor appointment, as well as minor damages to your vehicle. However, if there are serious injuries or a death as a result of the accident, a lawyer is required to investigate the matter. Our firm provides entirely free consultations, so there is no charge to speak with us about your situation.
Can you claim whiplash 2021?
The whiplash revisions of 2021 entail a slew of changes to the law governing personal injury claims arising from motor vehicle accidents. The reforms openly benefit motor insurance firms by lowering compensation judgments and eliminating the ability to recoup legal fees in the vast majority of traffic accident cases.
Will my claim be affected by the 2021 whiplash reforms?
- Whiplash injuries were sustained (see ‘What constitutes as a ‘whiplash injury?’ below).
- You were either a driver or a passenger in a vehicle (this does not include motorbikes and scooters).
- Your injuries are worth less than £5,000, and your claim is worth less than £10,000 (see ‘How do I know if my injuries are worth less than £5,000 or not?’ below for further information).
If I meet these conditions, what do the whiplash reforms mean for my claim?
The whiplash reforms make a number of modifications to how a claim is handled, but the following are the most noticeable ones:
- Your compensation award will almost certainly be lower than it would be in an unaffected suit; and
- You will not be able to hire solicitors or other legal counsel to assist you in bringing your claim.
A ban on ‘pre-medical offers of settlement’ in affected lawsuits is another change brought about by the regulations. This means that settlement offers cannot be made until a medical report on your injuries has been received.
What counts as a ‘whiplash injury’?
Whiplash is a soft-tissue injury of the neck, back, or shoulder, according to the reforms. This encompasses the following body parts:
- Sprains, strains, tears, ruptures, or smaller injury to muscles, tendons, or ligaments; and
- Soft-tissue damage that occurs as a result of or is linked to a non-whiplash injury. A broken arm, for example, will surely cause soft-tissue damage around it, but it will not be considered a whiplash injury, even if there is muscle damage at the shoulder.
How do I know if my injuries are worth less than £5,000 or not?
This is an excellent question. There is no way to know whether your injuries are or will be worth less than $5,000 if you are currently experiencing symptoms.
The £5,000 barrier, however, is a high one, and the vast majority of whiplash injuries will be worth less than that.
For a whiplash injury to be worth more than £5,000, a medical expert would have to believe that the injury had endured for more than two years and, more importantly, that the symptoms over that time were caused by the accident. This is uncommon for a soft-tissue injury, especially when a medical expert considers any past aches and pains you may have had in the injury’s area before to the event, as well as any symptoms that may be predicted as a result of natural aging.
Having said that, you very probably won’t have this degree of detail when analyzing your injuries at the start of the claim. At the time of writing, government guidance indicated that the Official Injury Claim site will assist claimants in determining the value of their injuries.
What is the Official Injury Claim portal?
Along with these improvements, the Official Injury Claims Portal was established to allow claimants without legal assistance to file their claims. If your claim fits the criteria for a whiplash injury claim (see ‘Will the 2021 whiplash reforms effect my claim?’ above), you must file it through the Official Injury Claim system.
The portal is an online system that allows you to submit claim details, gather medical documentation, and connect with the motor insurers from which you are claiming.
If a claimant is no longer eligible to continue, they can exit the Official Injury Claim process. For example, if the insurers you’re suing deny that their insured motorist is at fault, or if evidence shows that your injuries are more serious than you originally assumed.
Why can’t I instruct Truth Legal to help me with my claim through the Official Injury Claim portal?
Legal costs in whiplash injury lawsuits are no longer recoverable thanks to the whiplash legislation. Unfortunately, Truth Legal is unable to assist with these claims due to financial constraints.
Legal fees are frequently covered by a No Win, No Fee Agreement in non-whiplash personal injury cases. This structure ensures that in the event of a successful claim, the majority of legal fees can be recovered from the responsible party (typically their insurers), and a small portion of the claimant’s compensation award can be deducted to cover the remaining legal fees. The Agreement, as its name suggests, does not impose legal fees if a claim is unsuccessful.
A No Win, No Fee Agreement is not conceivable in a whiplash claim since legal expenses cannot be levied to the culpable party or their insurers.
Similarly, while compensation amounts for whiplash claims are substantially lower, it would not be financially feasible for a claimant to cover their own legal bills. Bringing a successful personal injury claim involves a great deal of effort and technical knowledge. A claimant would almost certainly spend more than they would be compensated.
What if I have suffered whiplash injuries and non-whiplash injuries?
According to government instructions, if a whiplash injury occurs in conjunction with another injury, the claim can still be handled through the Official Damage Claim process (as long as the total injury value is less than £5,000). The tariff will still be used to value the whiplash injury portion of the claim, with the non-whiplash injury amount being determined by a court if the parties cannot agree.
What if I have suffered psychological symptoms?
Within the whiplash injury tariff, there is a provision for so-called “mild psychological injuries.” The statute enacting these reforms makes no distinction between what the word covers and what it does not. However, most psychological symptoms that do not support a formal diagnosis of a recognized mental disease such as PTSD, for example are likely to be included.
If you have sustained one or more mild psychological injuries, a different column on the tariff will compensate you by increasing your injury compensation somewhat (see the tariff table below).
What is the tariff used to value whiplash injuries?
Whiplash injuries are now appraised according to a new tariff that was implemented as part of the revisions. The amount of compensation is determined only by the length of time the damage lasted and whether or not psychiatric symptoms were present.
In ‘extraordinary circumstances,’ courts have now been given the discretion to raise an award under the tariff by up to 20%.
These statistics are meant to recompense you for the pain and suffering you’ve had as a result of the injury, as well as the impact it’s had on your quality of life. If you’d like to compare this tariff to how non-whiplash injury claims are evaluated, our in-depth legal guide to road traffic accident claims has a section on how this works.
Do whiplash injuries sustained in other kinds of accident (not road traffic accidents) come under the new regime?
No, the whiplash reforms of 2021 only apply to car accidents. This means that whiplash injuries sustained as a result of a slip, trip, or fall, or as a result of a workplace accident, for example, will be unaffected by the modifications.
What kinds of road traffic accident claim are not affected by these changes?
Personal injury claims brought by vulnerable road users were exempt from the 2021 whiplash changes. This means that if you were harmed in a car accident as a result of:
The whiplash reforms will have no effect on your claim, and Truth Legal will be able to assist you. This is true even if you were injured in the accident by whiplash. Furthermore, the compensation award tariff for whiplash injuries will not apply.
Where can I get further information?
Unfortunately, many questions about how this new method will function remain unresolved as of this writing. The government has released its own FAQ on the whiplash measures, although it is ambiguous on several areas. More information is planned to be added to the Official Injury Claim website in the near future.
Can a whiplash claim be refused?
Yes, if you fail to produce sufficient proof of your injuries or that the accident was not your fault, your whiplash claim may be denied. If the insurance suspects the event was staged or you overstated how badly you were harmed, your claim may be denied.