Claiming Compensation For Nerve Damage After A Car Accident

Experiencing nerve damage after a car accident could be life-changing. It may impact your ability to participate in daily activities and affect your overall well-being. In this guide, we provide essential information on claiming compensation for nerve damage after a car accident.

Our guide looks at what nerve damage is and when you could claim for it after a road traffic accident. Additionally, we share how the rules have changed when claiming for whiplash. We also discuss different examples of car accidents that could lead you to suffer nerve damage. You can also find information on the types of compensation which may be awarded and on the benefits of claiming with a No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel.

If you have any questions about making a claim or start the claims process, contact us:

Cars have been involved in a multi-vehicle pile-up.

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What Is Nerve Damage After A Car Accident?

The nervous system consists of two parts, the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system.

  • Central nervous system. This includes the brain and spinal cord. It is responsible for bodily functions.
  • Peripheral nervous system. This forms the rest of the nervous system and is involved in controlling your muscles and sensations, such as touch.

Nerve damage after a car accident could be caused by the impact of a collision. This could affect the nerves in various parts of the body. Nerve damage may be caused by parts of the body being compressed, crushing a nerve, direct trauma or the nerves being stretched.

Parts of the body which may be affected by nerve damage could include the neck, back (including the spinal cord or the lower back), the shoulders, the extremities or brachial plexus injuries.

Common Signs Of Damaged Nerves

The signs and symptoms of damaged nerves may be present instantly, within minutes or hours or may develop gradually over time.

Signs of damaged nerves could include:

  • Burning and shooting pain. This may be persistent and may radiate from the affected area to other parts of the body.
  • Tingling and numbness. This may be felt in extremities such as the hands or feet, showing damage to the sensory nerves or nerve endings.
  • Loss of coordination. Nerve damage may result in difficulty balancing or coordinating movements.
  • Muscle weakness. Damage to the nerves could cause difficulty controlling or moving muscles

Can Peripheral Neuropathy Become Serious?

Peripheral neuropathy develops when nerves in the body’s extremities are damaged. The symptoms that may be experienced will depend on which nerves were affected.

Whilst peripheral neuropathy is not usually life-threatening, it can become more serious over time if not properly treated. Over time, peripheral nerve injuries could cause symptoms such as those listed above. In more severe cases, or those which have not been treated could result in infections, cardiovascular damage and gangrene. Such cases could also lead to amputations.

The early diagnosis and treatment of a nerve injury is essential to prevent long-term or permanent damage, impacting your quality of life.

A solicitor from our panel could help you make your personal injury compensation claim for nerve damage after a car accident. Contact our advisors today to learn more.

Can I Make A Claim For Nerve Damage After A Car Accident?

To claim compensation for nerve damage after a car accident, it is essential that you can show negligence occurred. Negligence is when the following criteria has been met:

  1. Another road user, such as a motorist, owed you a duty of care.
  2. They breached this duty.
  3. This caused you to suffer an injury in a car accident.

All road users have a duty of care to one another. They must use the road in a way which minimises the risk of causing harm to themselves or others. To comply with their duty of care, they must adhere to the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the Highway Code.

To see if you could be eligible to make a road traffic accident claim, you can contact our advisors.

A crashed car is beside the road.

Do The New Whiplash Rules Affect My Claim?

The Whiplash Reform Programme changed the process for how whiplash claims are made. Now, if your case meets the following criteria, you will make your claim via a different avenue:

  • You were injured as a driver or passenger.
  • The accident took place in Wales or England.
  • You are aged 18+.
  • The injuries you suffered are valued at £5,000 or less.

Furthermore, the whiplash injuries suffered will be valued by using the tariff within the Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021. Additional factors you should be aware of include:

  • Additional injuries suffered will be valued in the traditional way
  • If the total value of your claim is brought above £5,000 due to your additional injuries, your claim will be made through the traditional route (though the tariff will still apply for the whiplash injuries.

Contact our team to find out how long after an accident you could claim for whiplash.

Examples Of Car Accidents That Cause Nerve Damage

Different types of car accidents could lead to a nerve damage injury. Below, we look at some examples of the types of motor vehicle accidents which could cause nerve injuries:

  • Rear-end collisions. These may cause whiplash injuries, damaging the neck and cervical spinal nerves. The sudden, jerking movement may lead to muscles, ligaments and nerves getting stretched or torn.
  • Pedestrian accidents. A pedestrian may be crossing the road and be struck by a car. This could cause nerve injuries in the legs or feet and maybe even paralysis.
  • Side impacts. Such accidents may happen at a junction or when merging or changing lanes on the motorway. Side-impact collisions could result in nerve damage or a pinched nerve in the sacral or lumbar regions.
  • Multi-vehicle accidents. A sudden stop on a motorway due to a leading driver failing to pay due care and attention could cause a multi-vehicle pileup. You could suffer impacts from various directions, which could compress the nerve pathways in your spine and cause motor nerve damage.
  • Car park accidents. A driver may fail to check their mirrors when reversing out of a parking space and reverse into your vehicle. The impact could herniate a disc in your spine, resulting in a compressed spinal nerve and chronic pain.

These are some examples of how you could suffer nerve damage after a car accident. No matter whether the accident you were injured in is listed above or not, you could make a claim if you meet the eligibility criteria set out in this guide. Contact our advisors to learn more.

A woman sits in a car which has had a side impact collision.

What Is Involved In A Nerve Impairment Compensation Claim?

There are certain steps you could take when making a compensation claim for nerve damage after a car accident:

  • Seeking medical care. You should seek treatment for your injuries as soon as possible.
  • Reporting the car accident. Any road accident in which someone is harmed must be reported to the police. In addition, if you were driving a vehicle, you must report the car accident to your insurance provider as soon as possible.
  • Gather evidence. This is an important step in being able to prove your claim. We will look at evidence you could gather in more detail below.
  • Consulting a solicitor and filing a claim. While you do not have to work with a solicitor, the benefits of doing so may include getting help with legal terminology and someone to communicate with the defendant and negotiate your compensation.

What Evidence Is Needed For My Nerve Damage Claim?

There are various types of evidence that could help prove your nerve damage injury claim. These may include:

  • Medical records. Your records will document your injury, treatment received and prognosis for future recovery.
  • A medical report. As part of the claims process, a personal injury solicitor from our panel may ask you to attend a medical assessment. This creates an independent medical report that may be used to prove your injuries.
  • Accident reports. This includes details of reports made to the police.
  • Witness contact information. You may collect contact information for anyone who saw the accident take place and who could provide a witness statement.
  • Photographic or video evidence. Photos may document the scene of the accident, damage to vehicles and visible injuries. Video footage may also show an accident taking place, such as from CCTV or a dashcam.

What Are The Time Limits For Claiming?

The general time limit in which to start a personal injury claim is 3 years from the accident date, as set out within the Limitation Act 1980. There are exceptions to this.

  • Minors. For those under 18, the time limit does not begin till their 18th birthday.
  • Reduced mental capacity. For individuals lacking the mental capacity to make a claim themselves, the time limit is suspended unless they regain this capacity.

A litigation friend may act on behalf of either of these parties whilst the time limit is not in effect.

Do I Need To Wait Until I Have Recovered From My Nerve Damage To Claim

You do not need to wait until you have recovered from your nerve damage to claim compensation. Whilst some claimants may recover relatively quickly, for others, recovery could take months or even years. As claims, however, must be filed within the time limit, it is important to do so as soon as possible.

In cases where claimants suffered severe injuries, filing your claim may also help you to access interim payments. These could help you to meet immediate medical expenses related to your injury.

To learn more about claiming compensation after a car accident, you can contact our advisors.

Compensation For Nerve Damage After A Car Accident

You may be wondering how much compensation for nerve damage after a car accident you could get.

There are two types of compensation which you could claim: general damages and special damages.

General damages cover your injuries, the impact they have already had on you, and how they will affect you in the future. This could include compensation for chronic pain and damage to the motor nerves.

Those involved in calculating compensation, such as personal injury solicitors, may use the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) to value general damages. This is a document which provides guideline compensation brackets for various types of injury.

You can find examples taken from the JCG in the table below, Please note that the first entry is not from the JCG. The final two rows come from the whiplash injury tariff.

Injury TypeSeverityCompensation
Multiple Severe injuries with special damagesSevereUp to £1,000,000+
ParalysisParaplegia£267,340 to £346,890
Back injurySevere (i)£111,150 to £196,450
Severe (ii)£90,510 to £107,910
Moderate (i)£33,880 to £47,320
Leg injuryLess Serious (i)£21,920 to £33,880
Hand injurySerious Injury to Thumb£15,370 to £20,460
Moderate Injuries to Thumb£11,800 to £15,370
Whiplash with Psychological InjuriesLasting 18 - 24 months£4,345
Whiplash InjuriesLasting 18 - 24 months£4,215

Special damages are awarded for financial losses suffered due to your injury. They may cover:

  • Medical expenses, such as those for medical treatment, surgery or medication.
  • Physical therapy and other types of rehabilitation.
  • Lost income and earnings.
  • Travel costs (related to attending medical appointments).
  • Care costs, both professional and at-home.

You must provide evidence which shows what losses you incurred, such as with bank statements or wage slips.

Get more information on claiming compensation for nerve damage after a car accident by contacting an advisor from our team.

Can I Make A No Win No Fee Claim?

If you have been injured in a road traffic accident and meet the eligibility criteria outlined in this guide you may be able to claim compensation. The solicitors who make up our panel could help you to do so on a No Win No Fee basis. They may do so by offering to handle your case under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).

What Is A Conditional Fee Arrangement

There are benefits to claiming with a solicitor under a CFA. This means that you will not need to pay for any work carried out by your solicitor before the claim starts or while it is in progress. There will also be no fees to pay for their completed work if you don’t win your claim.

If you do win, you will pay a success fee out of your compensation. This is a percentage of the compensation and there is a legal limit on what percentage a solicitor could charge.

How Could UK Law Help Me?

The solicitors on our panel could help you with:

  • Gathering evidence for your claim
  • Communicating with the defending party
  • Filing your claim within the time limit
  • Negotiating your compensation settlement

If you contact our advisors, they could assess the eligibility of your claim, answer any questions you may have and potentially connect you with a solicitor from our panel. To see whether you could claim compensation for nerve damage after a car accident:

A solicitor helps someone to claim for nerve damage after a car accident.

More Information

Find more helpful information on claiming for injuries caused by a car accident in these guides:

Additional resources:

Thank you for reading this guide on how to claim for nerve damage after a car accident.