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Whiplash Claims Guide

If you have been injured as a result of being involved in a vehicle collision, especially where the vehicle you were travelling in has been hit from behind, you may be suffering from pain in your neck and back as a result of the accident. If you are experiencing these symptoms it is probable that you are suffering from whiplash. So, what exactly is ‘whiplash’? How can your whiplash injury be treated? How long will it take you to recover and how much compensation will you receive if you make a whiplash compensation claim?

This guide will provide the answers to these questions and Loyalty Law solicitors can answer any more queries you may have and provide you with the advice that you need immediately and without cost.

Identifying a whiplash injury

A whiplash injury is a soft tissue injury to the neck caused by the neck suddenly and forcefully being thrown backwards and forwards, or from side to side, usually as a result of a road traffic accident. Whiplash injuries vary in severity and the time it takes to recover can range from days to years (though most people make a full recovery from a whiplash injury within a few weeks or months of sustaining the injury).

What are the symptoms of whiplash?

The symptoms of whiplash can include the following:-

• Stiffness in the neck;
• Tenderness in the neck;
• Restricted movement in the neck/head;
• Stiffness and tenderness in the back;
• Headaches;
• Dizziness;
• Pins and needles in the arms/hands.

The symptoms of whiplash do not always appear straight away and may take up to two days to become noticeable.

Treatment

As soon as you become aware that you may be suffering from whiplash after a road traffic accident, you should seek medical treatment immediately from your GP or from an Accident & Emergency Department.

To ease your pain and discomfort you can treat your whiplash injury by applying ice to the area (wrapped in a towel or cloth rather than applying directly to the skin). After initially resting the injury, as soon as you feel able you should gently exercise your neck by slowly moving it from side to side, and backwards and forwards. Painkillers may help to ease the pain and for more severe whiplash injuries it may be necessary to undergo physiotherapy or osteopath treatment. If you are able to pursue a claim for compensation for the accident which caused the whiplash injury, you will be able to claim for the cost of private treatment. Loyalty Law solicitors have relationships with a national network of treatment providers and can provide you with private treatment, the cost of which will be recovered as part of your claim.

Compensation

Whiplash injuries range in severity and accordingly the length of time it will take you to recover, and the amount of compensation you receive, will depend on how badly you have been injured.

As a guide, you may receive the following amounts of compensation for your whiplash injury:-

Minor whiplash injuries where recovery takes place within one year	£750 - £2500
Minor whiplash injury where recovery takes place within 2 years	£2500 - £4250
Moderate whiplash injuries (where symptoms persist for more than two years and the future prognosis is uncertain)	£4250 - £7750
Severe whiplash injury where pain and suffering will continue indefinitely	£7750 - £13,750

Your losses and expenses

In addition to your claim for pain and suffering (called your ‘general damages claim’), you will be able to claim compensation for all of your losses and expenses which may include the following items:-

• Any lost earnings as a result of the accident;
• Lost overtime;
• Medical expenses;
• Private medical treatment;
• Additional transport costs;
• All other expenses incurred as a direct result of the accident.

Replacement car hire

If you are not entitled to a replacement vehicle under the terms of your policy and you ask Loyalty Law to help you, one of our solicitors will be able to provide you with a replacement vehicle at no cost to you. This will be included as part of your claim for compensation.

Our service for you

If you are using a solicitor for the first time, or have not used a solicitor for a long time, how do you know which solicitor is going to provide you with the best service? Whilst everyone can assume that they all have a basic level of legal knowledge that means they should be able to help you with your whiplash injury claim, how can you be confident that they really are the right solicitor to help you with your injury claim?

With Loyalty Law, you do not need to worry. We have carried out the pre-approval and ensured that not only are the Loyalty Law solicitors efficient and confident in their specialist areas of law, but they also provide a friendly and helpful service.

The cost of our service to you

The cost of our service for you is completely free of charge. Our solicitor members see us as a finding tool to help them locate excellent new clients just like you. Therefore, they pay a membership fee to be a part of Loyalty Law. However, that membership fee is not passed on to you in any way, shape or form and does not deteriorate from the level of customer service that you can expect. If a solicitor does not constantly meet the high levels of customer service that our customers demand and deserve they will be removed from the Loyalty Law scheme.

In addition to Loyalty Law not making a charge for our connection service for a specialist solicitor, our solicitors will speak with you free of charge and explain your legal rights and all funding options to you.

Why Choose Loyalty Law For Your Whiplash Inury Claim?

All Loyalty Law solicitors are checked and vetted to ensure that they meet our criteria in the following ways:-

• Before they can start working for you, they are interviewed by our managing director, a solicitor himself (although no longer practising). He is quickly able to assess whether they have the legal skills needed, but also whether they are easy to speak with on the telephone and will give you the service that you deserve.
• At the end of every accident claim, we carry out an interview with each client to ensure that they have been completely satisfied with the service provided. This ensures that not only does the solicitor start off by providing an excellent service, but through continual feedback they continue to achieve the right levels of service for you. It means that people like you are constantly monitoring and providing feedback on the service and is one of the reasons why we believe that you should ask Loyalty Law to help you find the right solicitor.

Make A Quick Road Accident Enquiry?

Why not make a free enquiry now by contacting us in one of the following ways to find out if and how much you can claim (no cost and no obligation to proceed, we are here to help):-

1. Arrange for us to call you back – » Click To Request A Call Back.
2. Call us free on 0800 142 2775 between the hours of 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm on Saturday and 8am to 5.30pm on Sunday; or
3. Provide us with some details and one of our Loyalty Law solicitors will be in touch with you – make a Quick Enquiry now.