Accident Claims Helpline - Whiplash

The neck, the back and the shoulders are made up of very sensitive muscles and delicate bones therefore these areas are very prone to injury and the smallest movements can cause pain or inflammation. The most common injury to these areas is whiplash; whiplash can be caused by sudden jerky movements.

Whiplash occurs when the head has been involuntarily jerked forwards or backwards. The severity of the injury depends on the harshness of the movement; the more severe the jerking movement, the more serious the injury.

Whiplash is a soft tissue injury which occurs in the neck, usually after the head has been jolted forwards (hyperflexion) or backwards (hyperextension) causing a sudden, unexpected extension of the neck muscles. This movement can be quite violent, depending on the cause of the accident and, as a result, whiplash injuries can vary greatly in severity, from a slight pain to disability. Your injury could also be a lot worse if the head was turned to the side at the time the whiplash injury was sustained.

Whiplash can come in many different forms, for example severe whiplash can include neck, back and shoulder pains whereas more minor forms of whiplash can include nausea, headaches and minor back ache. Most people do not even realise when they are suffering from more minor cases of whiplash.

The most common whiplash compensation claims are made for neck injuries sustained as a result of a road traffic accident.

Whiplash claims could be made after other causes of whiplash injury, including strong blows to the head and long-term, repetitive damage to the neck.

Neck pain, sustained as a result of a whiplash injury, may be present immediately after an accident, or can begin a few days afterward. It can last for minutes or a lifetime.

Some people make a quick recovery, but for others, the pain and restricted movement caused by a whiplash injury can be long-lasting.

The severity of your whiplash injury will dictate how much compensation you could claim. If the whiplash was caused in an accident that wasn't your fault for example a road traffic accident or a slip, trip or fall caused by somebody else's negligence, then you can claim compensation to help pay for any medication or loss of earnings.

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