How much can I claim for my Whiplash?

W hiplash is a type of neck injury caused by straining or stretching soft tissues of the neck. This happens after sudden violent movement of the head forward or backward or sideways. Symptoms of whiplash include neck pain, muscle spasms, neck stiffness, opera and lower back pain, headache and pain in the shoulders and arms. There is compensation for whiplash injuries, broken down into general damages and special damages. The extent of your injury is what determines how much compensation you can claim. It is advisable before making a claim to get a doctor’s medical report as this is to be used to calculate your compensation. Your injury will be graded on a certain scale, typically 0 to 4 depending on the pain and the suffering you are going through. 0 represents the least amount of pain, and these injuries clear up with minimal treatment. 4 represents serious injuries, sometimes featuring fractures and dislocations. These require extensive treatment, and they cause severe or long term pain. General damages claims mostly cover pain and suffering as well as effects the injury has on your day to day life, for example mobility while special damages claims, on top of general damages claims, cater for extensive treatment costs of injuries. It is crucial to employ the services of a good and experienced lawyer who will help you calculate the compensation according to your unique situation. Estimates of general damages ranges from £1000-£5000. Claimants in this category mostly recover within 3 months of injury occurrence. Special damages claims, whereby claimants are victims of serious injuries which can take years to recover from range from £5000-£9000, with permanent damage/pain claims going up to £16500.