Road traffic accident victims suffer whiplash across the country every day, and each victim is entitled to a claim. Despite the media-hype surrounding whiplash, if you have suffered a whiplash injury as a result of a road traffic accident that was not your fault, you could be entitled to personal injury compensation.

Whiplash is a soft tissue injury caused from a sudden, jolting movement, most often suffered in a car accident. It is the non-medical term used to describe the strain caused to the muscles, nerves and bones in the neck, and can even lead to depression and other stress-related illnesses for its sufferers.

‘backlash against whiplash’

2012 saw Britain branded the ‘whiplash capital of Europe’, and as a result, David Cameron sparked a ‘backlash against whiplash’. According to a House of Commons report on the cost of motor insurance, whiplash claims were said to be made more than 1,500 times a day. The head of Motor and Liability at the Association of British Insurers, James Dalton, said that the annual whiplash bill was £2billion, ‘adding an extra £90 a year to the average motor premium’.

However, further inspection of the Cost of Motor Insurance report found that these figures actually dated back to as far as 2004, with more recent figures from the Government’s Compensation Recovery Unit indicating that whiplash claims are in fact falling. This poses the question, is the ‘whiplash epidemic’ a legitimate concern?

If you have suffered whiplash or have suffered an injury as a result of a road traffic accident, and are looking to claim compensation, please contact us.