Whiplash is a very painful and disabling injury that most people associate with the rear-end shunt of two cars. It was not a new condition that appeared with the invention of cars however. Before it earned the nickname whiplash it was called Railway Spine because the most common way of sustaining it was on a train.
Before that it was just known as a sprain in the neck, which is basically what it is. The sudden jolting movement of your head sideways, backwards or forwards can stretch or tear the muscles, ligaments and tendons in your neck, creating a whiplash injury.
It is very easily sustained. It could be that you fall over and bang your head as you go down, or something could knock your head. Playing contact sports or falling off a cycle are typical ways to get a whiplash injury.
Finding Out How Much Compensation you May Be Awarded
To find out how much compensation you might be awarded for your whiplash injury, you could look at a whiplash claim calculator. The amount it will show can vary greatly from site to site, some sites showing purposely high figures to try and tempt you to use their services. There is an old saying that points out that the most expensive is not always the best, and this applies to these sites.
Purposely inflating the amount they tell you will be awarded will be a much bigger disappointment to you when the amount is much less. If you are quoted a more reasonable amount and get somewhere near to it you will be much happier.
Out of interest we looked at 18 different sites and the calculators for chronic whiplash varies from £9,250 to £87,500. If the amount you actually received was say £15,000, you would have been much happier if you had been quoted the lower sum. What you really need is a compensation calculator that is realistic, as being told you would receive a huge sum, in your head you had probably already spent that amount.
How The Amount Is Calculated
The amount you get does depend on the severity of the injury as a mild case of whiplash can heal in just a few weeks. Moderate whiplash will take a few months and chronic whiplash can take a very long time. Some sufferers never fully recover and are left with weaknesses in their back and neck. The impact this has on the life of the victim has to be accounted for when making a whiplash injury claim.
A good quality law firm that has many years’ experience in making claims, will take into account every aspect of the accident and your injuries to ensure that you get the maximum amount of compensation for your circumstances. The experience of having already handled countless claim will mean they have been able to hone the processes to keep your whiplash injury claim simple, quick and efficient, and keep as much stress as possible away from you.