This is an informative guide to the eligibility criteria that must be met for you to potentially have valid grounds to make a car accident neck injury claim. Neck injuries sustained in a road traffic accident can range in severity from a case of mild whiplash to a severe fracture or, in the most extreme cases, fatal injuries.
Could I Make A Car Accident Neck Injury Claim?
You could be eligible to claim personal injury compensation for the negative impacts that your injuries have on your quality of life. As we move through this guide, we will look at how compensation could be calculated for a successful car accident claim. What’s more, we will set out the duty of care that road users owe to one another and how if this is breached it could cause an accident on the road.
Furthermore, we will discuss the steps you could take following a car accident, including the evidence you could gather to support your potential personal injury claim. Finally, we will look at the potential benefits of using a solicitor and explain how you could access their services without paying them upfront fees.
If you would like to make any enquiries, you can speak to a member of our team at any time. Our friendly advisors are available 24/7 to discuss your potential neck injury claim. What’s more, they can offer insight into eligibility without placing you under any obligations to further your claim with our panel of solicitors.
To get in touch, you can:
- Call our helpline on 0161 696 9685
- Contact us via our webpage
- Write to an advisor through the live chat window on this page
Select A Section
- Could I Make A Car Accident Neck Injury Claim?
- What Are Common Neck Injuries From Car Accidents?
- How To Prove A Car Accident Caused Your Neck Injury
- What Compensation Could Your Car Accident Neck Injury Claim Be Awarded?
- Could A Solicitor Handle Your Car Accident Neck Injury Claim On A No Win No Fee Basis?
- Learn More About Whiplash Injury Claims
Could I Make A Car Accident Neck Injury Claim?
To make a personal injury claim, it is important that you can establish the occurrence of negligence. This is defined by the following criteria:
- Firstly, a road user owed you a duty of care
- Then, they breached this duty of care
- This breach of duty resulted in you sustaining physical or psychological injuries, or both.
The duty of care owed by road users is outlined in Road Traffic Act 1988. All road users must navigate the roads safely, taking reasonable care to avoid causing damage to themselves or others. Alongside this, The Highway Code outlines rules and guidance for road users to follow, some of which are supported by laws.
A road user may be in breach of their duty of care if they:
- Drive a vehicle under the influence of drugs or alcohol
- Speed
- Don’t carry out the appropriate checks when reversing
When considering your eligibility to make a car accident neck injury claim, it is important to consider how the Whiplash Reform Programme could affect the way in which you bring forward your case. We will discuss this in the following section.
The Whiplash Reform Program
Changes to the way in which some whiplash injury claims are made were brought into force on the 31st of May 2021 with the introduction of the Whiplash Reform Programme. This means that if you are a driver or a passenger over the age of 18 and you have sustained whiplash injuries that have a value of £5,000 or less, your claim will be made via a different avenue.
However, if you have additional injuries alongside whiplash that bring the value of your claim over £5,000, you would make your claim in the traditional way.
All whiplash injuries are valued using the tariff in the Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021. This includes cases made via the traditional method where you have additional injuries.
If you would like to enquire further about how these whiplash changes could affect the way in which your claim is made, please speak to a member of our team.
What Are Common Neck Injuries From Car Accidents?
There are various neck injuries that could be sustained in a car accident, and they could range from minor and transient to very severe and life-altering. Below we will provide some examples of the neck injuries you could sustain in a car accident:
- Whiplash
- Fractures
- Soft tissue injuries
- Nerve damage
- Damage to the brachial plexus
- Cuts and lacerations
Please contact a member of our team if you have sustained neck injuries in a car accident caused by another road user breaching the duty of care that they owed to you.
How To Prove A Car Accident Caused Your Neck Injury
In the immediate aftermath of a car accident, it is important that you seek the appropriate medical care. Then, if the accident was caused by another road user breaching their duty of care and you want to pursue compensation for your injuries, it is important that you gather evidence proving negligence. Therefore, you could take the following steps:
- Get the contact details of any potential witnesses to the accident
- Obtain a copy of your medical records
- Acquire any CCTV or dashcam footage that shows the accident
- Take photographs of any physical injuries you sustained and of the accident scene
- Keep a diary of your symptoms and any treatment you undergo
We also recommend that you seek advice about making a car accident neck injury claim. You can do so by contacting our team of advisors who are available to talk 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
What Compensation Could Your Car Accident Neck Injury Claim Be Awarded?
There are up to two types of damages that you could receive for a successful personal injury claim: general and special damages.
Firstly, you could receive general damages to compensate you for the psychological harm and/or physical pain and suffering you have experienced as a result of your car accident injuries. To help them value this, solicitors and other legal professionals can use the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). Therefore, we have also used this document to provide the guideline compensation brackets in the table below.
What’s more, we have also included two entries on whiplash injuries, which have been taken from the tariff in the Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021.
Guideline Compensation Table
| Injury Type | Severity | Notes | Compensation Bracket Guidelines |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neck Injuries | (a)(i) Severe | Leading to permanent spastic quadriparesis or linked to incomplete paraplegia. | In the region of £148,330 |
| Neck Injuries | (a)(ii) Severe | Typically involving cervical spine disc damage or serious fractures, leading to disabilities of considerable severity. | £65,740 to £130,930 |
| Neck Injuries | (a)(iii) Severe | Injuries that cause dislocations or fractures or ruptured tendons and/or severe damage to soft tissues. These will lead to chronic conditions and permanent significant disability. | £45,470 to £55,990 |
| Neck Injuries | (b)(i) Moderate | Dislocations or fractures that lead to severe immediate symptoms and could require spinal fusion. | £24,990 to £38,490 |
| Neck Injuries | (b)(ii) Moderate | Severe disc lesion and soft tissue or wrenching type injury resulting in various problems, such as cervical spondylosis. | £13,740 to £24,990 |
| Neck Injuries | (b)(iii) Moderate | A pre-existing condition may be exacerbated and/or accelerated over a shorter period of time. | £7,890 to £13,740 |
| Shoulder Injuries | (a) Severe | Usually connected with neck injuries and entail damage to the person's brachial plexus. Injuries within this bracket lead to significant disability. | £19,200 to £48,030 |
| Shoulder Injuries | (b) Serious | Lower brachial plexus damage and shoulder dislocation, causing shoulder and neck pain, aching and further problems. | £12,770 to £19,200 |
| Whiplash Injuries | 2.(b) One or several whiplash injuries with one or several minor psychological injuries | The injury lasts longer than 18 months but does not surpass 24 months. | £4,345 |
| Whiplash Injuries | 2.(b) One or several whiplash injuries with one or several minor psychological injuries | The injury lasts longer than 15 months but does not surpass 18 months. | £3,100 |
Please consider the JCG figures as a guide. However, the whiplash amounts are fixed.
Special Damages
You could also be eligible to receive special damages to compensate you for the financial losses you have suffered due to your injuries. This could include past and future losses such as loss of earnings, travel expenses, care costs and housing adaptations. Although, it is important to note that you must provide evidence to support a claim for special damages.
This evidence could include:
- Payslips
- Travel tickets
- Receipts
- Invoices
If you would like an estimate of the compensation you could be eligible to receive if your car accident claim were to succeed, please speak to an advisor from our team.
Could A Solicitor Handle Your Car Accident Neck Injury Claim On A No Win No Fee Basis?
Road traffic accident solicitors could offer to work on your claim under a type of No Win No Fee agreement known as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). When choosing to enter into a CFA with your solicitor, you generally wouldn’t pay for their services at the following times:
- Upfront
- For the duration of time that your case is ongoing
- At any time, if your claim is unsuccessful
On the other hand, if your claim is successful, this would mean your No Win No Fee solicitor could take a success fee from the compensation. This is capped as a small percentage by the relevant legislation. Therefore, a solicitor could not overcharge you.
Contact Us
Speak to a member of our team to receive a free evaluation of your claim. If they find you may have a legitimate basis to bring forward a claim, they could connect you with a No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel.
To get in touch, you can:
- Call our helpline on 0161 696 9685
- Contact us via our webpage
- Write to an advisor through the live chat window on this page
Learn More About Whiplash Injury Claims
Below we will provide further sources for you to explore for more information relating to whiplash injury claims.
Guides from our website:
- I Was Hit From Behind In A Car Accident – Can I Claim For Whiplash?
- How Long After A Car Accident Can You Claim Compensation?
- Claiming If Another Car Hit You From Behind
External sources:
- NHS – How to get your medical records
- GOV.UK – Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)
- GOV.UK – Road accidents and safety statistics
Thank you for reading this article on when you could be eligible to make a car accident neck injury claim. If you would like to make any enquiries relating to the personal injury claims process, don’t hesitate to contact a member of our team.
Written by JO
Edited by MMI