How is a whiplash claim valued?
Solicitors can use a variety of resources to value a claim for whiplash. Many of these I will list below:
1. Medical report: A medical report goes further than simply assessing your injuries – it can also contain the effects the injury has had on your work, social, and domestic life, as well as your hobbies. The medical report also gives a prognosis of when you are likely to recover from your injuries. This is key to helping your lawyer value your claim accurately.
2. Judicial Studies Board Guidelines: The JSB guidelines band neck injuries for the purposes of valuations – I have set out these bands below;
- Minor Whiplash Injuries – £875 to £5,150
- Moderate Whiplash Injuries – £5,150 to £16,400
- Severe Whiplash Injuries – up to £97,000
3. Skill, experience, and expertise of your solicitor: this is why it can be beneficial to choose a specialist personal injury lawyer with a vast amount of experience in dealing with whiplash claiming, as using this experience they may be able to maximise your compensation payout.
4. Case law: your solicitor may look at similar cases to your own which have settled already in order to value your claim.
Your compensation explained….
Compensation can also be called ‘damages‘. There are two heads of damage which you can claim; these being General Damages and Special Damages. I will go onto explain these below:
General Damages is compensation which you can claim for the injuries you sustained as a result of your accident. Your general damages claim covers:
- Pain and suffering: This is the pain caused by your injury. Psychological suffering is also considered in this category.
- Loss of amenity: Loss of amenity can cover a multitude of issues such as the effects your injury has had on many aspects of your life – at work, socially, and at home.
Special damages aims to reimburse you for the financial losses suffered as a result of your accident. These losses are quantifiable and are collated in a document known as a Schedule of Loss. I have listed some of the more common types of special damages you may see in a Schedule of Loss below:
- Loss of earnings – you may be entitled to claim this if you have been absent from work unpaid or on a reduced rate of pay due to your accident.
- Care and Assistance – if you have required the assistance of a carer as a result of your accident, a fee can be claimed for them.
- Treatment costs – costs of medical treatment for your injuries may be claimed.
- Other – Travel costs and prescription costs, for example.
