Home
» Claims
» Whiplash claim

Whiplash Claims – How To Prove Whiplash And Claim Compensation

By Ian Morris | Updated June 12th, 2024

149 questions have been answered on this subject - ask us your question

Many who oppose the no win no fee personal injury claims process say that whiplash is a made up injury and abused by claimants looking for a quid or two. However, anyone who has sustained a whiplash injury knows the truth. Whiplash can cause serious pain, ongoing discomfort and prevent people living their life as usual. In some cases, people can suffer permanent injuries as a result. By seeking compensation with a whiplash claim, claimants can win a settlement to cover the pain and distress of their injuries, recover any losses (including lost wages) and access rehabilitation therapies.

Claims for whiplash compensation are usually an easy matter to resolve and can be settled within a short period, usually 3-6 months from the date a whiplash claim is started. But before you can win a settlement, you need to know if you actually have whiplash and a valid claim.

What is whiplash?

Most people think whiplash is simply a pain in the neck, yet it can be much more than that. Caused by the hyper extension of major and minor muscles, whiplash is a phrase used to cover injuries to the muscles and soft tissues around the spine, most commonly in the neck and shoulder region.

In minor cases, a person suffering whiplash is likely to have stiffness in the neck, a feeling of weakness and pain from simply supporting their head and perhaps discomfort when turning their head in one particular direction. These symptoms are painful and upsetting, but you should expect to recover within 4-8 weeks from the date of the accident.

In more severe cases, symptoms can last many months or indeed be permanent, and could also include pins and needles in the arms, a loss of sensation in the hands and fingers, severe headaches, loss of balance, lack of sleep, lower back and even leg pain. Of course, the more severe the symptoms, the greater the value of a settlement, should you be successful with a claim for personal injury compensation.

Most whiplash related injuries are caused in car accidents. However, whiplash can also be caused by slips on wet floors or tripping accidents. Indeed, any heavy impact that causes the muscles and ligaments of the upper spine and neck to be violently jolted from side to side, or back and forwards, is likely to cause a whiplash related injury.

How to make a whiplash compensation claim

The sooner you start your claim, the sooner we can help you make sure that you have the maximum chance of succeeding. We can run through an accident claim checklist, help you to make sure that you have reported the accident to the right people and give your whiplash compensation claim the best chance of succeeding.

No two accidents are the same and with this in mind, it is vital that you seek proper advice so that you know whether or not you have a viable claim. However, there are some basic pointers that can help you identify where you stand regarding the strength of a claim or otherwise:

Have you been involved in an accident that was not your fault?
Have you developed whiplash related symptoms – pain or stiffness in neck, shoulders or upper back?
Have you received medical treatment, seen a GP or been to A&E?
Has your doctor confirmed your injuries as whiplash?
Do you think that your whiplash related pain and discomfort will last more than a few days?

The above is nothing more than a basic guideline. Even if you answer no to some of these questions, you may still have a valid claim for whiplash injury compensation.

How to prove you have whiplash with medical evidence

As with all claims for personal injury compensation, whiplash claimants need to provide sufficient evidence to support their claim. In order to prove that you have suffered a whiplash injury, you will need to have a professional medical diagnosis made of the symptoms you are suffering with. This can be done by visiting an A&E department or by seeing your GP.

People injured in a car accident are often not sure what to do next after such a traumatic and upsetting event. Whiplash injuries can take a few hours or even a few days to become painful, so victims don’t always receive immediate treatment from a doctor or hospital. However, medical evidence will be needed to support a claim for compensation and prove to the defendant that you have suffered a whiplash injury, and it will also prove the severity of your injury.

It doesn’t matter if you have not already seen your doctor or been to hospital, you can still start your claim and we advise that you do just that – don’t delay your claim for too long as it could have a negative impact on the outcome.

How much compensation do you get for whiplash?

Every whiplash claim is different as a result of the injuries sustained, so it’s impossible to tell exactly how much compensation you could be entitled to without a medical assessment. In negotiating a settlement awarding whiplash compensation for your injuries, the following factors are taken into consideration.

How severe the whiplash injury is
Whether the injury prevents you from working
How much of an impact the injury has on your day to day activities
Whether ongoing treatment is necessary

These are the most important elements in assessing the value of your whiplash compensation claim, although there are many other factors to consider too. When the initial evidence has been collected your solicitor will be able to let you know the likely level of compensation you can expect for your injuries. Your settlement will not only cover your injuries, but expenses such as lost earnings, and car hire and repairs.

Your solicitor will gather all of the evidence necessary to obtain the maximum amount of whiplash compensation for you. Claiming can also allow you to access specialist rehabilitation therapies to help speed your recovery, all at the expense of the liable party.

Whiplash rehabilitation therapies

By the time people suffering from whiplash injuries contact us to start their claim for compensation, most have not had any rehabilitation therapy whatsoever, just the painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs initially prescribed to them. Many have been referred to their NHS physiotherapy provider, but with waiting lists often approaching 6 months, it can feel like it is not worth bothering.

By making a no win no fee claim for whiplash injury compensation, your solicitor can arrange a course of suitable rehabilitation therapies to help you recover more quickly from your symptoms. The costs for these therapies will be met by the insurers you’re claiming against, not deducted from your injury compensation settlement, and because they are privately funded access to the therapy will be fast. Appointments for treatments will be made at a provider local to you and at a time to suit you. Common types of whiplash rehabilitation therapy can include:

Physiotherapy
Osteopathy
Massage Therapy
Acupuncture
Personal training

See if you can make a whiplash claim

We understand that making a claim for whiplash compensation can be a daunting prospect. However, at Direct2Compensation we’ll explain the stages of our simple claims process and give you the confidence to proceed with your claim. Indeed, if you have any questions, you can contact us with no obligation. At Direct2Compensation we guarantee two things: Firstly, that we will never pressure you in to making a claim, and secondly, that should your claim fail, it won’t cost you a penny.

If you’re wondering about your situation, feel free to leave a question at the bottom of this article or call us on 01225 430285, or if you prefer, .

Lastly, if you are suffering from whiplash, the NHS website has some useful guidance available at https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/whiplash/.

149 questions have been answered on this subject - ask us your question

Comments & Questions

Read on for questions and advice about claiming, plus whiplash claim examples...

hello last year july 2023 my husband and i were stationary on a set of traffic lights i was the passenger we both had seat belts on heard a loud noise and a girl in a mini slammed into the back of us we were in a audi a4 I was shotforwards sideways bumped the back of my head on the side window my glasses flew off they were in the footwell I was hurt didnt know where I was I phoned my surgery to tell them I had hurt my neck and bumped my head on the back no cuts the receptionist told me they wouldnt look at me with a head injury and to go straight to A+E which I did told the Dr bumped my head and head went forward she shone light in my eyes ok she said also checked my neck soft tissue damage she said phoned my insurance they put me through to a no win no fee I have been for medical exam with their Drs the insurance company from the other side has made me an offer for my whiplash but do not beleive I bumped my head so will not offer anything for my headaches I feel insulted by this I am not a liar I did bump my head my solicitor has given them my response but they have not replied what can I do about this if anything

Not only have you been the victim of a non-fault accident, you are also another ‘victim’ of the shambollic and unfair soft tissue injury system for road traffic victims, set up by the Government – at the behest of the powerful insurance lobby as of 1st June 2021.

If your accident had happened before that date, you would have received a more substantial settlement for your whiplash injury and it would have been much easier to demonstrate that your headaches were as a result of the accident too.

The insurers have essentially been allowed to have their cake and eat it when it comes to soft tissue injury RTA claims. Not only is it no longer possible to recover legal costs in such claims (save for the most severe soft tissue injury matters – which are extremely hard to prove medically), but the amount of compensation that can be claimed has been drastically reduced and limited. The insurers promised that they would lower insurance premiums, but as we all know, they continue to increase them.

In your case, do you have any evidence within your medical records that shows you have reported headaches to your GP or other medical professionals as a result of your accident? If so, you should point that out to the defendants.

Hi i had a car crash over 2 years ago and i sustained whiplash. Other party at fault. I saw a medic as part of insurance and he prognosed my whiplash would be resolved by 8 months later. I had physio and they recommended further sessions which never happened as solicitor was inept and by the time they sorted it the date for physio came after the date the doctor said i would be fully recovered. A year after the crash date i sought treatment from an osteopath for the pain which has continued in the exact same place in my neck. After various issues with solicitor they finally organises for me to see another medic, this was 18 months after the crash. He recommended an mri which took place 4 months later. And 4 months later i have his report. The report states that the mri shows degenerative changes to my spine which were not caused by the crash. He states that the pain i am in is because if this. Not the crash and whiplash and that the onset of these degenerative symptoms would have been the exact same month the initial dr said my whiplash would have resolved. So basically one day in November my pain from whiplash goes and the next day i wake up with pain from spine degeneration! I have no history of shoulder or neck pain before the crash. An MRI wasnt taken after the crash. The pain i experience daily is the exact same place in my neck which i had after the crash, other than abate slightly this has not changed. My solicitor is saying she knows this is not the outcome hoped for and that all pain experienced over the past 20 months is not due to the crash, that without evidence to the contrary the doctors opinion will stand. I dont agree with the doctors report and don’t know what to do. Can i challenge his opinion given my history and no baseline etc? Do i have to consent to this mri report and opinion being shared with third party insurer. I need to respond to solicitors but dont know what to say.
Thanks.

This is a very frustrating situation in which you find yourself. Sadly, contesting the opinion of a medical professionals report in terms of a personal injury claim is far from easy. You could seek a further medical assessment, but you would be liable for the costs of the assessment (whether you succeed in your claim or otherwise – as you can only have a defendant cover the costs of one report) and there is also a risk that the 2nd Doctor will reach the same conclusion.

This issue is a common problem for people pursuing a claim after an accident. Prior to the accident, they are not in pain or discomfort and as far as they are aware, there is no issue. They then sustain an injury in an accident and develop long lasting or permanent symptoms which would appear to be due to the incident. However, a medical expert then decides that the pain the claimant is suffering from was brought on by the accident, but would have happened anyway due to age degeneration or ‘wear and tear’. Whilst this doesn’t end the claim, it does mean that the claimant will only be able to claim for the fact that the incident has sped up the process at which they would have suffered anyway.

As you can imagine, unless you had an MRI scan or similar on the injured area in the months before your accident to compare with the one taken after your accident, you are somewhat stuffed with regards to having any way of over turning the view reached by the medical expert.

Thats what I thought! Thank you for clarifying. It is very annoying!

I was involved in car accident in work van car went into side rear of work van, can I claim for whiplash?

Yes, you can make a claim. IMPORTANT: If your injuries include bone damage/lacerations or if the accident was on or before 31st May 2021, contact us immediately. Our Solicitors can act for you on a No Win No Fee basis.

However, if your accident was after 1st June 2021 (unless you have suffered a bony injury or laceration) you will be subject to the whiplash reforms. Effectively, these reforms mean that you can’t use a Solicitor (you can, but you can’t recover legal costs so a Solicitor would have to deduct up to 50% of any award to enable them to cover their costs. This is not something we would entertain as it is simply unfair on the client and it would be unethical to do so.

If you are subject to the whiplash reforms, you can now pursue a claim without legal representation via the official injury claim website. Unfortunately, whiplash settlement values have been reduced considerably by the insurers in their success in convincing the government to bring in these changes. Where settlement values for whiplash used to range in from around £1350 at the very minor end and up to £2-£3k in many cases, claimants will now receive around 1/4 of that amount.

Can I still drive my car with whiplash?

As long as your Doctors have not prohibited you from driving and you are safe to drive without presenting a risk to other drivers or pedestrians, you are able to continue to drive.

Can I claim if I have been attacked in the street and been left with whiplash?

If your injuries were caused by way of a criminal assault as would appear to be the case, you need to ensure that the incident is reported to the police (and that you cooperate with the Police in their investigations of the matter) and that you seek medical attention for any injuries sustained.

Our Solicitors can then assist you in pursuit of a No Win No Fee claim via the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority scheme for the victims of non-fault criminal injuries.

My step daughter was involved in a car accident as a passenger- she injured her arm and received whiplash which was verified by the GP. Unfortunately the driver of the vehicle she was in would not give her his insurance details. The police say the accident needed no further action. The police will not give info of the insurance- there is a case number and the name of the driver and police officer – how can she proceed to claim? She missed out on a job interview the following day because of her injury.

If the accident happened after 1st June 2021 and the injuries are of a soft tissue nature (i.e no broken bones or lacerations), your step daughter will have to pursue a claim via the official injury claim portal. To proceed with a claim, the claimant will normally need the vehicle registration details along with information about the accident location, date and time.

I had a car accident in September 2021, I was stationary (3rd car) but hit from behind 2 cars. Non at fault, my car has been fixed by 1st car insurance had paid.
I had whiplash and was signed off, had diazepam and zapain as my whole back was in spasm. I now have shoulder pains which is suspected a result of the accident.
I have thought about claiming whiplash- but 2 questions:
1) should I wait until shoulder is ok or claim while still struggling with it?
2) the 1st car was a previous colleague, would he be notified of my claim or would it be insurance company direct? I feel a bit guilty about claiming knowing the driver.

Given the new protocol for personal injury claims (for soft tissue injuries) arising from road traffic accidents which took effect as of the 1st June 2021, it would be prudent for you to gain a better understanding of the shoulder injury you have sustained. We say this as claimants wishing to pursue a No Win No Fee claim for soft tissue injuries after a car accident must now have injuries valued at £5000 to be able to recover legal costs (and therefore instruct a Solicitor on a No Win No Fee basis). Generally speaking, this means that claimants will need to have longer term injuries rather than the previous scenario where whiplash symptoms lasting for 4-6 weeks would suffice.

It would seem that you are likely to meet the new criteria given the ongoing injury problems you describe, but getting a formal diagnosis of the shoulder injury and an idea of recovery prognosis from a specialist would help you to establish and prove that the value criteria is met.

In terms of your former colleague being aware that you had claimed personal injury, this is unlikely to happen. The insurers have already admitted liability and resolved the vehicle situation. Therefore, should a personal injury claim be made in due course in which the injuries are consistent with the accident details on record, they will not question the matter or need to seek any statement from the drivers involved.

You have up to 3 years from the date of your accident within which you can pursue a claim. Our view is that as your injury symptoms remain present now, you are in a position to pursue a claim on a No Win No Fee basis.

Some weeks ago, I had my car parked in a Hospital car park, my car was parked in one place and I was sat in it. Next, somebody wanted to park their car in the parking bay next to me and whilst they were reversing into the parking bay to park their car into it, they reversed into my car and hit my car. Do you think I can make a claim for personal injury?

If the incident you refer to happened after 1st June 2021, you will not be in a position to instruct a Solicitor to make a No Win No Fee personal injury claim unless you were seriously injured. This is as a result of the changes in soft tissue claims for injuries sustained in non-fault Road Traffic Accidents as a claimant can no longer recover legal costs or previous claim values should their injuries be of a soft tissue nature and valued at less than £5000.

I’m a courier for an opticians and I was crashed into the back of by a car travelling at 65mph that pushed another car into the back of the car, causing me to have severe whiplash, with back and neck and movement related injuries. I’m now scared to drive alone and experience extreme paranoia in a vehicle.

Please contact us on 01225430285 or by using the start your claim page of our website. It is likely that our Solicitors will be able to act for you in pursuit of compensation for the physical injuries and psychological trauma caused to you in the accident you describe.

Does your car insurance pay for whiplash for yourself and passengers? Or do you need a solicitor?

The insurance of whichever vehicle was deemed to be the at fault party will be liable to compensate any injured persons.

I was passenger in my daughters car on my way home from work. We left the motorway via the slip road headed towards the roundabout where traffic lights regulate the traffic. The lights went green and my daughter was about to pull away, but we saw police lights and heard sirens from our right. She stopped to allow the police van come through safely and the car behind hit us doing approximately 40mph. My back hurt instantly across the middle but as I could walk and was likely in shock, I declined an ambulance. The pain became more severe and even lifting my right leg is difficult. I saw my chiropractor who referred me for X-rays which show a neck injury and that my spine, where I felt the instant pain, is crooked. My left shoulder is an inch higher now than my right shoulder when standing normally. My chiropractor says I am going to struggle to prove my spine curvature is from the accident. I know I was 100% not bent before and the pain is awful. I am 44 years old, he says my spine looks like somebody who has had a degenerative disease for 15 years, but as a previous patient he agrees I was not like this before, but without X-rays I have no proof. What can I do?

Was your accident scene attended by the Police? Did you present to a GP or Hospital with any pain or injury symptoms? Essentially, if we can demonstrate that you were at the scene of the collision and have had some form of medical attention (chiropractor notes would suffice) that will provide a good level of evidence to support your claim.

Hi, 2 weeks ago I was jsut about to start slwoing down on the aprroach to the end of my street when a car came flying round the corner too fast and too wide and veered into the drivers corner side of my car, as a result of breaking harshly and my foot still being hard on the brake and my hands/arm taut on the steering wheel, due to bracing for the impact, I suspect that I have whiplash across my shuoldrs and but also i’m feeling it in my wrists. But i’m discovering now 2 weeks later that i’m feeling deep aches and pains in both my hips, do you think that this could be related and down the car being hit? and are you able to add injury’s to a claim that were mentioned at the time

You should contact your insurers regarding the injury symptoms you have developed. It is quite common for soft tissue injuries such as those sustained in a car accident like the one you describe to not develop immediately, but to manifest in the days and weeks post incident as the muscle spasms become more obvious.

Hi,
I was driving along a national speed limit road at about 50mph when a car pulled out in front of me from a junction causing me to emergency stop. I have subsequently had neck and back pain. The driver didn’t stop but I got their car reg. I also think there was a camera on that road so potentially some evidence. I’m not sure if there’s much I can do? Thanks

If you can identify the vehicle and establish that they were definitely there (camera footage would likely be needed to establish this – or an independent witness), you could pursue a claim against the vehicle driver.

I was sat stationary at a roundabout in my car waiting to to turn right when a car ran into the back of me. I got out and the driver admitted liability. I asked the other driver to swap insurance details for the insurance purposes but he drove off. I got his registration number and phoned the police. I have a witness to the accident also. Today i have severe pain in my neck and back and my right thigh which was caused by this. I’m going to the hospital to get assesed to see if I’m ok. I’m unsure what to do next or if if I’m entitled to claim.

We can certainly help you make a claim. You have done the right thing in phoning the police and as you also have a witness, you are in a strong position. In due course, it would be sensible to make contact with your GP to arrange to discuss your symptoms and have the injuries noted on your medical records as that will help our Solicitors in ensuring that any settlement you receive is appropriate and commensurate with the injuries you have sustained.

My car was parked up with a passenger in back, a van caught side of my car scratching it no dents present, passenger says she has whiplash???
Van driver happy to pay for repairs without going through insurance which I’m happy to do but what about passenger can she pursue this?

It would appear that the passenger in your car will struggle to succeed with a personal injury claim given the lack of sufficient damage to your car. Although a collision of sorts has occurred, the insurers of the van in question will point to what is called ‘low velocity impact’ (LVI) in which they may not contest that an incident has occurred, but will contest that the force of the collision was consistent with causing a personal injury.

Hi, I was on the bus with my daughter and the driver braked hard has a car came out in the way and when I got home I am getting neck pains I have the bus ticket can I claim

Make sure that you report the injuries to the bus company and retain your ticket. Give the bus company as much information as you can regarding the incident with the other car causing the driver to have to brake to avoid a collision – list the date, time, bus route number and accident location.

It would appear that the cause of the incident is the 3rd party vehicle that pulled out on the bus and as such, a claim would likely be against them. In this case, the bus company may have dashcam/CCTV footage that will provide the details of the offending vehicle for our Solicitors to use to pursue your claim.

Hello,
I was involved in a car accident 8 weeks ago, initially I thought I was OK, but since then I am having a lot of neck, head and shoulder pain. I am being treated by a chiropractor weekly.
I have not claimed yet, but thinking I ought to I asked my GP for a medical report.
His diagnosis is “Muscular neck pain” no mention of whiplash, he does go on to say this is ongoing as I am still receiving treatment.
Will this vague diagnosis be enough or should I try to see another doctor?
Thank you

The diagnosis you’ve had is absolutely fine in terms of a claim for personal injury compensation.

A car reversed out of his driveway while I was in the road. I was in a vehicle also reversing out but I was in the road about to drive forward while my neighbour was still in his driveway .he then reversed out quite fast to be honest and hit the back of my car with the back of his car he admitted it was his fault . Since then I have stiffness in my neck and lower back left side only is in pain. Very stuff when moving

This is a claim we can help you to pursue on a No Win No Fee basis. We’ll need the accident date, location and registration numbers of the vehicles involved.

Driving a family car third party and someone has crashed into back of my car they are paying to get my car fixed not with their insurance company, but question is I have whiplash can I claim compensation separate with a solicitor?

Yes, we can help you to pursue a claim for whiplash compensation on a No Win No Fee basis.

We’ll need the 3rd party vehicle registration details along with the date and location of the accident.

Hi,I was a passenger in car accident a few days ago.The car i was in ran into the back of a stationary car.The driver and person in the back of our car were both fine,but I initially hurt my neck and right shoulder.That evening I developed pain all down my back ,both shoulders,pain and stiffness in my neck and a tingling sensation in my arms.The next day I went to my local A n E department as I was still in Los of pain.The doctor said it was a neck/shoulder sprain.I was wandering weather this still counts as whiplash and If I still had a valid claim?

You can make a claim and we can help you to do so. The fact that your Doctor has diagnosed you with a soft tissue injury to the neck and shoulder as a result of the road traffic accident you were involved in as a passenger should enable you to make a claim with success.