Claiming compensation for a whiplash injury is a very common accident claim in the world of personal injury. Road traffic accidents are very common and most drivers experience this at once in their driving lives. Whiplash is caused when the body is jolted forward very quickly and most of the time this is caused by a car driving into the back of your car while you are stationary at traffic lights or a round-a-bout. Around 20% of people who have been hit in the rear by another vehicle suffer whiplash symptoms.

The injury affects mainly the cervical (neck), thoracic (mid back) spine and shoulders. The most common whiplash symptoms are headaches, neck pain and stiffening of the muscles, shoulder pain and tingling. Quite often the symptoms are not immediately after the accident but a few days later.

If you are thinking about claiming compensation for a whiplash injury there are a few things you need to remember.

• As soon as the accident has happened you need to get the name and address details of the car that caused the accident. • Keep a note of when and where the accident including times. • Draw a picture to explain the accident in detail as soon as possible while your memory is fresh as you may need to provide this to the accident solicitor. • If there were any witnesses ask them for their details. • If you have any whiplash symptoms you should visit the nearest hospital as soon as possible. • Keep a note of expenses ecured due to the accident. This includes o how many times you visited the hospital and when o how many miles to and from the hospital o how many days off work was needed o keep a track of how many calls you made to your personal injury solicitor • Call a personal injury specialist as soon as you feel well enough. There are many about and they don’t have to be in the town of where you live or where the accident was.

If you remember all the points above it will make claiming for compensation a lot easier. You will be asked by your solicitor to fill out an accident claim form and this will ask you for details of the accident and any witnesses. It is quite easy to forget a simple thing which is why it is important to get as many details recorded as soon as possible.

Once you have got the claim rolling you may be asked to produce a list of expenses which is why keeping a record is helpful. If you ripped some clothing due to the accident you will be able to claim back cost of renewing it. And obviously the cost of fixing the damage to the car.

If you are worried about the legal fees of claiming compensation don’t be. There is now no win no fee agreements which were put into place so that everyone could claim compensation, not just the well off. With no win no fee, you will not have to pay a fee unless you win the case. The fee will come out of the losing parties insurance as will the compensation that you receive. You will also receive 100% of the compensation yourself; nothing will be deducted for costs or anything. If you loose the case there is insurance to cover your solicitors fees, but they generally wont work for nothing and will only agree to represent you if they believe they can win. This agreement really puts the worry out of pursing a claim. So many people don’t claim because they think it will be expensive and difficult. But it really is very easy. Your solicitor does all the hard work while you sit back and wait for your cheque. So if you’re suffering from whiplash as a result of an accident that was not your fault, find a personal injury specialist today. Carolyn is the webmaster of Accident Consult, experts in whiplash injury claims

CAROLYN CLAYTON