Whiplash is almost always in the news, and in the majority of circumstances it’s in the news for all the wrong reasons.
There is a negative stigma attached to making a whiplash claim that suggests it’s a bad thing to do, and this does put many people off the idea of making a claim for whiplash compensation. But one massive thing to note is this – unless you ever actually suffer a whiplash injury, you will probably never appreciate how serious it can be.
When you should make a claim
If you are the victim of an accident and you are suffering with pain in the neck, shoulders, and back area, it’s likely you have a whiplash injury. In this circumstance, you’re fully entitled and well within your rights to pursue a claim for personal injury compensation for any pain and suffering caused. The insurance that the driver at fault has should cover you for a claim.
So, you are well within your rights, which means you’re fully entitled to make a claim. Whether you wish to or not is totally down to you, but there is no reason as to why you shouldn’t.
When should I not make a claim?
If you are not suffering any pain, you shouldn’t make a claim for compensation. A personal injury claim is intended to provide you with compensation for any pain and suffering caused, so if you have no pain and suffering, you shouldn’t be trying to pursue a case.
Am I affecting insurance premiums?
It’s likely that the premiums for the driver at fault will go up, as this is a natural response to them being an increased risk to their insurer. But all this talk of premiums going up thanks to increases in whiplash claims is utter nonsense. Government reports from investigations found that it was referral fees from insurers selling claims to solicitors that were causing this – not genuine whiplash claims.
We were never involved in the buying or selling of claims – all our clients have come to us directly.
Despite this though, the government introduced reforms last April which resulted in lower legal fees for lawyers and accident victims now having to lose a percentage of their claim. Essentially, some of the cost of claims has been passed on to the victim. This isn’t fair at all.
A recent BBC article said that premiums had lowered by an average of £100 following the reforms, but the report actually goes on to confirm that it is believed they will only go back up again. Why? Because the number of claims hasn’t reduced – people are still claiming, they’re now just facing a loss themselves due to the reforms.
The accident victim losing a proportion of their claim is unfair and unjust – but the government have gone and changed it anyway having caved to pressure from the excessively wealthy insurance industry. That is a point in itself by the way – you’re not causing rises in premiums in general by claiming, you’re simply denting the vast profits of the insurance industry.
Am I contributing to the ‘compensation culture’?
No – and do you know why? Because the reports I mentioned above confirmed that there actually is no ‘compensation culture’ at all. It’s nothing more than a media fuelled myth aimed at trying to stop people claiming so the insurance industry can protect their profits by lowering claims. That in itself is nonsensical when you think about it because insurance is there to pay out in times of need.
Did you know that we get a fixed fee of £500+VAT from the opponent for most road accident claims? Most people’s insurance premiums are way more than that per year, and most people are not involved in accidents all the time. The losers in the reforms are the accident victims and the lawyers, and the winners are the much wealthier insurance industry.
So what’s the lesson?
The lesson is simple – don’t get suckered in to all the media fuelled myths about whiplash claims. If you are genuinely injured in an accident that wasn’t your fault, you’re fully entitled to make a claim for personal injury compensation.
If it worries you that there are people out there fraudulently claiming, you needn’t worry at all. People who try and stage accidents or fraudulently claim are commonly caught – here’s an example from the BBC of a staged accident where those involved were caught out thanks to the systems in place to prevent such things.
If you have a genuine injury and you want to claim, go for it!
