The term whiplash can be loosely used to describe a number of injuries, including damage to the soft tissues around the spine, wrenching of the spine, damage to the ligaments in the spine, and in severe cases damage to the mechanical structure of the spine.

Whiplash injuries aren't limited to the neck, and often lead to associated problems in other parts of the spine, and the shoulders. 

The types of injury sustained range from minor sprains to the catastrophic, but regardless of the severity of your injury it's important to ensure you receive the right advice, investigations and treatment so you have the best possible chance of making a recovery. 

Why use Access Legal from Shoosmiths?

We have a wealth of experience dealing with whiplash compensation claims, and with clients who've suffered the whole range of whiplash type injuries, including all the associated problems that can arise.

Over the last 20 years we've forged partnerships with treatment providers and medical examiners, who can help you get the right assessment and treatment at an early stage, often at no direct cost to you.    

There's a separate page on our website which deals with the more serious spinal cord injury claims, while this one will deal with less serious whiplash injuries.

Important things to consider

You should always visit your GP after suffering a whiplash injury.  They may be able to refer you for treatment and/or further investigations, and whilst we may be able to arrange these privately as part of the claim, this isn't always guaranteed.  It's therefore a good idea to get the GP referral as early as you can.

From the whiplash compensation claim point of view, seeing your GP early shows that you're trying to help yourself and your recovery, and means there'll be early independent evidence of your injuries.  This can help when we're building up the evidence to support your claim, and all of this will normally help the successful pursuit of a whiplash injury claim.

Common whiplash injuries include:

• soft tissue injuries – tissues and muscles around the neck/spine are damaged causing pain, stiffness and restriction of movement
• wrenching injuries – the mechanical make up of the neck/spine is affected and sometimes pulled out of line
• injuries to the vertebrae and discs – sometimes discs can be prolapsed, or the spaces between the vertebrae can be impacted.  This can often cause severe pain, restriction of movement and other associated symptoms such as pins and needless in arms and legs, caused by pressure or irritation of the nerves running through the affected part of the neck/spine

There's a range of treatment available for whiplash injuries, but the most common are physiotherapy, chiropractic treatment and osteopathy.

It can often be the case that what works for one person may not work for another, so if you've had an accident, provided the treatment is working for you, any costs you incur can be included as part of a claim, and are normally recoverable from the negligent party's insurers.

In more serious cases, steroid injections and/or a surgical procedure may be needed in the affected part of the neck/spine.

As with any personal injury claim, we will look to obtain medical evidence in support of a whiplash injury compensation claim.  This will normally be from an independent medical expert who we'll instruct.

In more minor cases the report will often be prepared by a GP, while in more serious or long-term cases, an orthopaedic consultant will be used.  In cases where the symptoms last a long time, several reports may be required before settlement can be agreed. 

The medical expert will often comment on any further treatment needs and/or further investigations that may be required, and where appropriate we can assist you in following those recommendations so that no stone is left unturned in your bid to make a full recovery.

A common question with whiplash injuries is how long will my compensation claim take to resolve? Even when injuries appear relatively minor, they can take a long time to resolve.

It's even possible for simple soft tissue injuries to cause permanent injuries, and where this is the case it will often take two or more years to settle a claim, because medical experts will generally wait until the two year mark before they're willing to rule out further recovery being made.

Another common whiplash injury claim issue we deal with concerns the presence of pre-existing conditions.  In simple terms, many adults have some degree of degenerative changes occurring in their neck and back, simply as a result of the ageing process.

Thankfully, many of us will live most of our lives without ever suffering from the symptoms of these changes, but accidents can speed up those natural changes.  Often,  medical experts we instruct may want to see MRI (Magnetic Resonance Image) scans and x-rays to establish whether there was any relevant medical history, as well as reviewing notes and records from a client's GP, hospital and any treating specialist such as a physiotherapist.  Again, when this is necessary, the overall progress of the claim can be delayed because of the time it takes to gather all the information. 

What do I do next?

Contact us online or call us on 03700 86 86 86.  Our trained staff are available to discuss the details of your whiplash compensation claim with you, and make sure and to ensure that you are given the best possible advice at an early stage.

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