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How long does a whiplash claim take?

So you have been injured in a car or other road accident and you have suffred a whiplash injury. You have decided that you are going to pursue a whiplash claim and the question you now need to be answered is "How long does a whiplash claim take?” The purpose of this article is to explain what needs to happen before you commence with your whiplash claim and to give you some guidance on how long it will take to make your claim.

Step 1 - Instruct A Solicitor

The first thing to do is to choose a specialist whiplash claim solicitor to help you with your claim for compensation. You should find a solicitor that has many years of experience in whiplash claims and has good feedback from clients that have been happy with the service that they have provided. This will give you a better chance of having a solicitor that can deal with your claim efficiently and as quickly as possible.

Step 2- Collecting The Evidence.

The next stage is for your solicitor to obtain all of the details from you and put together your claim. He will need to obtain the details of the other driver involved in the accident, and then contact the other driver’s insurance company.

Your solicitor will also obtain statements from other witnesses to the accident to confirm that it was not your fault so that your claim will proceed as quickly as possible.

Once he has obtained the evidence about who is responsible for the accident, your solicitor will also need to collect evidence confirming the extent of your whiplash injury and the details of all losses and expenses you have incurred as a result of the accident. This period usually takes 2 to 3 months and will involve you attending a medical examination with a general practitioner or an orthopaedic surgeon. The examination will usually only take up to one hour and the medical report is sent to your solicitor within a few weeks of the appointment. Therefore, by this time, assuming you have been able to provide your solicitor with all the documentation confirming your losses and expenses, you can in theory settle your claim. This might be as little as 8 to 12 weeks after the date of the accident.

Step 3- Valuing Your Claim

Once your solicitor has the medical report and details of your losses and expenses, he will provide a value of your claim giving you a bracket of a few hundred pounds (for example £2000-£2500). This will be the amount of compensation he expects the insurance company to pay to settle your claim.

He will usually send all the evidence to the insurance company and request offers in settlement of your claim.

Step 4- Medical Complications

If you have not fully recovered from your injury and you require further treatment your solicitor might advice you to wait until you have completed that treatment beforesettling your claim. The reason for this is to ensure that you have fully recovered as once you accept an offer in settlement of your claim you can not return if your injury deteriorates. This might add a further 3 to 6 months delay (or longer if your injury is extremely severe) but you can still choose to settle the claim earlier even if your solicitor advises against doing this. However, it is not advisable to ignore the advice of a specialist whiplash claim solicitor.

Step 5- Receiving Your Compensation

Once you have agreed an amount for your whiplash claim your solicitor will request your settlement cheque from the insurance company. This should be received within 2 weeks of the agreed settlement date so should not add a significant delay to your claim.

Summary

You can see that whiplash compensation claim can be settled in as little as 3 months, however for many reasons this period can be extended to 6 months or occasionally 12 months or even more. If your injury is not severe you can expect to settle your claim within 12 months from the date of the accident.

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