Whiplash can be an extremely restrictive injury and many will find it difficult to carry out normal day to day tasks such as housework, looking after the children and even working. However, all this can take its toll financially, particularly if the person in question is not entitled to statutory sick pay.
How to recover your money after whiplash
If this has happened to you, you will of course be very distressed about the situation you have found yourself in, especially if the accident was not your fault. But all may not be lost, as you might be able to recover the financial cost of your whiplash injury.
This will apply if another person can be held accountable for your accident, and in turn for your injury. For example, if another driver fails to stop or break in time and collides with the back of your vehicle, it is very likely your head will be thrown back and forth, damaging the soft tissue in your neck. This will lead to a series of symptoms that together make up a whiplash injury. Nevertheless, this accident will not be your fault, but that of the other driver. You will therefore have been injured as a result of another party’s negligence.
Anyone who suffers whiplash because of someone else’s actions will be entitled to claim compensation for the injury they have wrongfully endured. To do this, it is necessary to contact a specialist whiplash solicitor to discuss making a whiplash claim. If you are able to take legal action, your solicitor will handle the claims process on your behalf, ensuring you obtain the maximum amount of compensation.
What financial losses can you recover after whiplash?
Compensation for whiplash is intended to do two things:-
- Recompense for the pain, suffering and loss of amenity you have endured;
- Recover your acute financial loss.
Your pain and suffering is known as your general damages, and the amount of compensation you receive for this will be determined by the extent of your injury. Your acute financial loss is known as your special damages and will be a precise sum calculated by your solicitor. He or she will do this by writing down everything you have lost in a document called a Schedule of Damages. This can include:-
- Your loss of earnings;
- Money spent on treatment and travel to receive this treatment;
- Money spent on specialist equipment you now need;
- The cost of extra care and assistance you would not otherwise need. This might include paying someone to clean your house/do your gardening/look after your children.
It is important to keep any receipts that will help prove your financial losses. So if you took a taxi to the hospital, ask for a receipt and keep it in a special folder. Your whiplash claims solicitor will then be able to figure out the exact amount of money you have lost and incorporate this sum into your compensation settlement.
