What is whiplash - for Mr Cameron
With the recent report from the Parliamentary Transport Select Committee attacking the rise in whiplash claims in the last few years it appears to have led to certain sections of the media and other commentators arguing that whiplash is some kind of fictional injury. As anyone who has ever been involved in an accident and suffered from whiplash will tell you it is a very real and painful condition. It can have a debilitating effect on the sufferer and there is no form of treatment that provides a quick, or even in a small minority of cases, a complete recovery.
Put simply, in a car accident, whiplash occurs when a person moves their neck suddenly forwards and backwards in a movement that the body is not used to. The unusual force causes a strain injury in that part of the body which results in pain. In many cases the pain does not manifest itself for a number of hours post accident. The sudden movement that causes whiplash is present in car accidents when the impact of a collision causes the person in the vehicle to be thrown forward and back, or side to side, in a sudden violent movement. It is not necessarily the speed of the collision that causes the injury rather it is the unusual movement that inflicts the damage. Therefore a person involved in an a low speed car accident can develop the injury just as likely as someone in a higher speed accident.
Although it is not a condition that can easily be diagnosed, a person definitely knows when they are suffering with it. The Select Committee have advised that a claimant should be required to undergo more stringent tests than are currently required to prove a whiplash injury. At present, in the majority of cases, a claimant will be seen and examined by a medical expert, such as a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, who will then prepare a report detailing whether or not the claimant is suffering with whiplash and a prognosis for the length of time for recovery. It is on the basis of such a report that the claim is valued and settled. Sometimes a claim will settle without a medical report being obtained. This is a decision made by the insurance companies who make an early offer to settle a claim to a claimant before a medical report is obtained. This saves the insurers money as they are not then also having to pay the costs of the medical expert on top of the compensation.
As Claimant personal injury solicitors we always carefully advise our clients of the potential dangers of settling a claim without a medical report, and therefore a full diagnosis and prognosis of the injury, being obtained. We also fully support the rights of injured people to bring compensation claims for their pain and suffering.
We at PSR Solicitors are strongly against fraudulent claims and we only represent claimants who we are satisfied have been genuinely injured and we obtain the necessary evidence to prove this. We of course welcome attempts by the government to reduce fraudulent claims in this area and it will be interesting to see what extra checks the Select Committee recommend should be brought in to further evidence a diagnosis of whiplash.
If you have sustained a whiplash injury then do not be put off by claims in the press or by the insurers of their being large numbers of fraudulent claims. It is a cornerstone of English Law that if you sustain injury, whatever that may be, and for however long that may be, through no fault of your own, then you are entitled to claim compensation from the negligent party . If you would like further advise on this matter then please feel free to call PSR Solicitors where you we will be able to speak directly to a Solicitor with expert knowledge in this field.
