A Month Has Passed Since My Accident And I Have Not Been To See My GP. Can I Still Make A Claim For Whiplash Injury Compensation?

If you have been involved in a road traffic accident that was not your fault and believe you have sustained a whiplash injury, you may be able to make a claim for whiplash injury compensation. However, if you have not been to see your GP to seek advice regarding your injuries you may be wondering if you are still able to make a claim. There may be many reasons why you have not yet visited your GP about your suspected whiplash injury – you may have been ‘playing down’ your injury and hoping that it gets better without medical intervention (this may not be proving to be the case), you may simply not have had the time around work and family commitments to visit your GP, you may be living in a new area and not yet be registered with a GP or you may have been meaning to make an appointment with your GP since you became aware of the injury but have not yet quite got round to it. This article looks at why it is important to seek medical advice for a suspected whiplash injury, what you should do if you have not yet done this, and whether you are still able to make a claim for whiplash injury compensation if you have not been to see your GP.

Seeking medical advice after an accident, even a minor accident, is incredibly important. As soon as you suspect you may be suffering from a whiplash injury you should seek medical advice from your GP or local Accident & Emergency department so that you can receive advice on how to best treat your injury. A delay in the correct course of treatment for your injury may lead to complications and may ultimately mean that you take a longer time to recover from your injuries that you would have done had you undergone, for example, some gentle mobility exercises or a course of physiotherapy.

Attending upon your GP or local Accident & Emergency department after an accident in which you have sustained a whiplash injury is also important as it helps to evidence the occurrence of the accident. That is to say, following your appointment or attendance in A&E, there will be in existence a record in your medical notes referencing the date, time and circumstances of the accident as well as a description of your injuries. In any subsequent claim for whiplash injury compensation these medical records can be extremely helpful in evidencing the fact that you were injured in the accident and that, as a result, you saw fit to seek medical attention for your injuries.

If, for example, a month (or even six months) has passed since your accident and you have not yet been to see your GP about your injury, you should make an appointment as soon as possible to do so. It is important for your GP to be able to rule out anything more serious than a whiplash injury and to advise you on an appropriate course of treatment for your injury if you are still experiencing symptoms.

You may still be able to make a claim for whiplash injury compensation if you have not been to seek medical advice for your injury. During the course of your claim your solicitor will arrange for you to be examined by an independent medical expert who will examine you and talk to you about your injuries and symptoms before preparing a report detailing the same.

Our expert Loyalty Law solicitors specialise in whiplash injury claims and are here to reassure you about making a claim even if you have not yet been to see your GP. Call us today on 0800 142 2775 for a free, no obligation consultation.