whiplash claim info needed

blueye

hi i had an accident today someone drove in to the back of my car while i had stopped at 30mph i went to hospital and the doc said i have whiplash i work as a community carer, i wont be able to work this week can i claim my wages that i would have earned along with the money to repair my car? do i have to tell my insurance company that i want to claim for whiplash?

pandora205

Some years ago I had a similar accident and my car was written off. I was advised by the police (who were actually responsible for the accident, so everything was done by the book!) to ask for a reference number from the hospital as my insurers would need it.

My insurance company took care of everything. I hadn't planned to claim for the whiplash (which resulted in a few days in agony, not taking children swimming etc. and a week off work) but their solicitor put in for this anyway. I had to have a medical, which was several months later when I had no symptoms at all, so I was surprised to be awarded over £1000.

space_rider

My daughter was in a car that collided with a tree driven by her friend. She got whiplash and within a week of the accident she was contacted by a no win no fee solicitor. She had pains for around 3 months and was awarded £1800. I also claimed for helping her to get dressed, wash her hair etc for the 3 days that she was in severe pain. She too had a medical and was still having symptoms.

dacouch

Was the tree driving on the wrong side of the road and how do you drive a tree

blueye

how do i know if its bad enough to claim? im not in agony just have a strong burning down my neck which is now across my sholders too but i can walk and turn my head a bit

space_rider

dacouch wrote: »

Was the tree driving on the wrong side of the road and how do you drive a tree

Lol, that`s what happens when you don`t use commas!

space_rider

blueye wrote: »

how do i know if its bad enough to claim? im not in agony just have a strong burning down my neck which is now across my sholders too but i can walk and turn my head a bit

My daughter was mostly in pain from the seat belt and being thrown against the car door, on the day of the accident. The shoulder and neck pains were worse the next few days.

blueye

should i go to my gp and ask for an x-ray

huckster

blueye wrote: »

how do i know if its bad enough to claim? im not in agony just have a strong burning down my neck which is now across my sholders too but i can walk and turn my head a bit

Believe me, you would know if you had whiplash. It was so painful it brought tears to my eyes and I could not turn my head. It was certainly more painful than when I broke my ankle. I had to have a neck collar on for about 2 weeks and my neck took several years to get back to normal. This neck injury was caused playing Rugby.

Most people that try to claim for Whiplash on Insurance, don't really have it. They will start to feel symptons once they think about the money they might be able to claim.

Insurers are facing an increasing number of such claims and this is pushing the premiums up for everyone. Therefore Insurers are now trying to clamp down on this by making the process more difficult. My sister had a crash a few years back, causing her an injury to a knee and neck, as well as two of her children also with whiplash. The 3rd party Insurers made the process longer, wanting several medical opinions and it ended up in court. The court decided to award payments to the three of them, but it did take over a year.

My advice therefore is only to proceed with the claim, if you are willing to have further medical assessments and ultimately discuss your injury in court if it gets that far.

Horace

blueye - if you attended the hospital and they have diagnosed whiplash then you would need to tell your insurers this, I can remember when I had some idiot slam into the side of my car (he had bull bars which caused more severe whiplash to me), I got in touch with the RAC and they got me a no win no fee lawyer. I claimed for loss of earnings - I was a temp at the time and had thankfully kept all my payslips going back 3 years so they couldnt say that I had just started when temping was my permanent job. I also claimed for trips to speak to the solicitor and trips to a private specialist where I had MRI scans etc - this was arranged by the solicitor. This was back in 1995 and I got £1000 interim payment and £7500 when the case ended my solicitor claimed his costs of £4000 which were paid separately and not out of my compensation. Despite doing all the exercises required by physio - I still suffer from the effects of the accident even now in that if I stand for longer than 5 mins that my back siezes up and I am extremely stiff. I seem to recall that I claimed for loss of enjoyment too because the injury to my neck meant that I could no longer turn my head sufficiently to be able to ride my motorbike.

You will need to contact your GP after 7 days anyway to get a note. Contact your insurer and contact a no win no fee lawyer too.

clb776

I had a car accident 2 years ago and it still hurts, in my opinion the money I got was not enough to compensate me for the agony I face everyday...the medical stated that I would be fit within a year...I AM NOT!

Just tell the truth, how it hurt etc, they will decide how much you will get, and you can claim for any loss at all..work etc...your solicitor will help you!