By Stephen Bishop. Last Updated 14th May 2024. In this guide, we’ll discuss whiplash compensation payouts you could potentially receive if you have strong grounds to make a personal injury claim.
Many people assume that whiplash is a minor injury, but this isn’t always the case. Whiplash can have long-term effects on a person’s life.
Whether your injuries are major or minor, if the accident you were involved in was not your fault, you will be entitled to compensation. This is something we have many years of experience in, having helped hundreds of whiplash injury victims to get the maximum amount of compensation.
Read on to discover more.
Jump to a Section:
- How Much Compensation For A Whiplash Injury?
- Who Could Make A Whiplash Claim?
- Whiplash Compensation Payouts – Do I Need Evidence To Claim?
- Claiming For Whiplash – Time Limits
- Claiming For Whiplash – Can It Be Done As A Passenger?
- Get In Touch For More Information On Making Whiplash Claims With A No Win No Fee Lawyer
- Further Resources On Claiming For Whiplash
How Much Compensation For A Whiplash Injury?
How much compensation for a whiplash injury may be awarded to you will largely depend on how severe the injury is deemed to be and how it has impacted your everyday life. Usually, compensation for a successful personal injury claim can include general damages and special damages.
General damages are included to compensate you for the pain and suffering caused by your whiplash injury.
The table featured below includes some of the compensation guidelines from the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This is a document that may be used by those valuing your personal injury claim for general damages. It lists a variety of injuries, including numerous kinds of neck injuries, alongside guideline compensation brackets.
Please note that the table below should be viewed as a guide only. Also, the first and final two entries in the table are not taken from the JCG.
Injury type and severity Details Compensation amount
Multiple serious injuries and special damages If you have a valid claim for multiple serious injuries, including whiplash, then you may receive a payout that covers all injuries plus any related special damages, such as the cost of home care provisions. Up to £250,000+
Severe Neck Injury (i) The neck injuries in this bracket are associated with paraplegia that’s incomplete. In the region of £181,020
Severe Neck Injury (ii) Disc damage and serious fractures leading to disabilities. £80,240 to £159,770
Severe Neck Injury (iii) Cases in this bracket include a dislocation leading to permanent and significant disabilities. £55,500 to £68,330
Moderate Neck Injury (i) Cases in this bracket include a fracture or dislocation that needs a spinal fusion. £30,500 to £46,970
Moderate Neck Injury (ii) Wrenching or soft tissue injuries that cause several issues such as with movement or ongoing pains. £16,770 to £30,500
Moderate Neck Injury (iii) Injuries to the soft tissue with a long period of recovery £9,630 to £16,770
Severe Back Injury (ii) Cases will have special features such as damage to nerve roots. £90,510 to £107,910
Whiplash Injury Whiplash paired with psychological injuries that last more than 18 months but not more than 24 months. £4,345
Whiplash Injury Whiplash injuries that last more than 18 months but not more than 24 months. £4,215
Additionally, you may also be eligible to receive special damages. This head of loss compensates you for the financial losses you whiplash injuries have caused you to experience. For example, this may include:
- A loss of earnings,
- The cost of medical treatments.
- Travel expenses.
Evidence such as payslips and bank statements will need to presented when making a claim for your financial losses under special damages.
How Could The Whiplash Reforms Affect My Payout?
The Whiplash Reform Programme means that adult passengers and drivers need to make their claim in a different way if they have sustained injuries worth £5,000 or less. Also, any whiplash injuries they sustained will be valued differently.
If you are affected by the whiplash reforms, the whiplash claim amount you receive for your whiplash injuries will be valued in accordance with the tariff set out in the Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021. These are fixed amounts, some of which have been included in the table above.
Any additional injuries not included in the tariff will be valued traditionally.
To learn more, call our team on the number above.
Who Could Make A Whiplash Claim?
Road users, such as car drivers, owe a duty of care to each other to use the roads in a responsible manner and prevent causing harm. They should also follow the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the rules and regulations established in the Highway Code.
If a road user breaches their duty of care, by driving while drunk, for instance, and causes an accident you’re involved in, then this could lead to whiplash and other injuries.
You may have a valid case to claim whiplash injury compensation if the following applies:
- Another road user owed you a duty of care.
- This road user breached their duty in some way.
- You were injured because of this breach.
As an example, if you are stopped at a red light in your car and another car driver hits you from behind because they were distracted and not driving with due care and attention, then this could cause you to suffer a whiplash injury. You may be eligible to claim compensation for the injuries you have suffered.
If you would like to learn more about your eligibility to claim or ask other questions, such as how much compensation for a whiplash injury could be offered to you, contact our advisors for free today.
Whiplash Compensation Payouts – Do I Need Evidence To Claim?
To claim compensation for a whiplash injury you will need evidence regardless of whether you are claiming through the government portal or making a traditional personal injury claim. You will need to prove both that you suffered a whiplash injury and that it was caused by negligence.
As stated above, whiplash compensation payouts must now be claimed through a government portal if the injuries are minor. If using the portal, a medical assessment will be arranged as part of the process once liability has been agreed. However, if you are making a traditional personal injury claim, you might be required to attend an independent medical assessment. A solicitor could arrange this for you. Following your injury, you might have attended a hospital or seen a GP; your medical records could also support your claim.
Photographs you take at the scene of the accident, or of your vehicle could potentially show who was at fault for the accident. You may also have witness contact details, which your solicitor could use to get a statement. Dashcam, doorbell and mobile phone footage could also be helpful.
If you’re wondering, ‘how much is a whiplash claim worth?’ keep reading to find our compensation section and table. Alternatively, get in touch with our advisors for a free estimation of how much whiplash compensation you could receive.
Click Here To Learn More About Car Accident Claims
Claiming For Whiplash – Time Limits
There are times limits that must be adhered to when pursuing whiplash claims. A payout could be denied if the claim becomes statue barred. When claiming for whiplash, you generally need to start your claim within three of years of the accident that caused your whiplash or when your whiplash was connected to negligence. This is set by the Limitation Act 1980.
However, certain circumstances suspend the time limit. These include:
- A person under the age of 18 cannot represent themselves in legal proceedings. Claiming for whiplash could be done on their behalf by a litigation friend while the time limit is suspended. If they turn 18 and a claim for whiplash has not been started on their behalf, they will have three years from their 18th birthday to start one.
- A claimant lacking the mental capacity to claim whiplash compensation will suspend the time limit indefinitely. However, a litigation friend could claim on the injured party’s behalf. Should they regain their capacity, they will have three years from that date to start their claim.
Call our advisors to learn how to start a whiplash claim.
Claiming For Whiplash – Can It Be Done As A Passenger?
As mentioned above, passenger accident claims can be made for injuries suffered in car crashes. Each passenger needs to make a separate claim as each successful claimant will be awarded their own whiplash injury compensation.
If you’re wondering how to claim for whiplash as a passenger, much like with driver claims it will depend on the value of your injuries. If you suffered minor injuries valued at £5,000 or less, when claiming for whiplash, you would do so through the Whiplash Reform Programme. If you are successful, your whiplash claim payout will come from the Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021 tariff of injuries amount. We discussed further eligibility criteria previously.
Your injuries may be valued at higher than £5,000. If this is the case, you will need to make a personal injury claim. We look at how pain and suffering for a car accident can be valued further into this guide.
It is vital that you claim for the correct amount. This is because once your whiplash claim is settled, it cannot be reopened. Additionally, if you are including special damages in your claim, this may affect whether you go through the Whiplash Reform Programme or file a personal injury claim.
If you have any further questions about whiplash compensation, please call our advisors. All legal advice about your passenger accident claim is free. Furthermore, they can value your claim to help you decide which process is best.
Get In Touch For More Information On Making Whiplash Claims With A No Win No Fee Lawyer
If you are eligible to make a whiplash claim, one of the lawyers on our panel may be able to help you with your case. Furthermore, they may offer you a Conditional Fee Agreement. This is a type of No Win No Fee arrangement.
When making a claim with a No Win No Fee lawyer, you will not be expected to pay them anything upfront or during the process of your claim for their services. Furthermore, if your claim fails, you will not have to pay them for the work they have provided.
Should your lawyer succeed with your claim, you will pay them a success fee. This fee is deducted directly from your compensation award, and the percentage that this success fee can be is legally limited.
To find out if you could be eligible to work with one of the lawyers on our panel, you can contact our advisors. They are available 24/7 to offer you free advice and could help answer any questions you may have about whiplash payouts for successful claims.
You can contact them by:
- Calling 0333 000 0729
- Using our live chat pop-up.
- Or you can contact us online.
Further Resources On Claiming For Whiplash
Here are some further resources:
Also, some of our alternative claims guide could also be of use to you:
- Road traffic accident compensation claims
- How to claim if you were knocked off your bike by a car pulling out of a driveway
- Claim compensation for an accident when merging into traffic
- I got hit by a drunk driver, can I claim compensation?
Do you still have any questions regarding how much compensation for a whiplash injury you could claim? Or perhaps you have other questions related to whiplash claims? If so, you are welcome to contact Legal Helpline for advice. You can reach our advisors by either calling the phone number included in this guide, or by using our online enquiry form.
