Head-On Car Accident – How To Claim For A Road Traffic Accident

This guide will explain the process of making a personal injury claim if you have been injured in a head-on car accident caused by negligence. We will discuss how this kind of accident could occur and what duty of care applies on the road.

Additionally, we will examine the guidelines that are used by legal professionals when valuing compensation claims. These will give you an idea of how much you could be awarded should you make a successful claim.

Head on collision

Head on collision claims guide

Finally, we will discuss how claiming with one of our road accident solicitors could benefit you and your claim. We will also outline the advantages of No Win No Fee agreements.

Our expert advisors are available 24 hours a day to answer any legal queries you might have, free of charge. To reach them, you can:

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How To Claim For A Head-On Car Accident

You could be eligible to make a motor vehicle accident and injury claim if you were injured in a head-on car accident.

To claim compensation, you must meet three criteria. The first is that you were owed a duty of care, the second is that this duty of care was breached, and the third is that the breach caused you physical and/or mental harm. A breach of duty of care that causes injury is known as negligence.

All road users owe one another duty of care to act in a way that prevents themselves and others from experiencing harm on the roads. This means following the rules and guidelines set down in the Highway Code and adhering to the Road Traffic Act 1988.

If you can prove that negligence was the cause of your injuries, you may be able to claim successfully. To find out more about the duty of care on the roads and whether you have a valid claim, contact one of our advisors using the details above.

Head-On Car Accident Claim Time Limits

The Limitation Act 1980 outlines the time limits on claiming for a car accident. Typically, the time limit for starting a claim is three years from the date you were injured.

However, there are some exceptions to these limitations. If you are mentally incapable of pursuing your own claim, the time limit is paused indefinitely. The courts may appoint you a litigation friend who can act on your behalf in court while the time limit.

You will have three years in the event that you regain the mental capacity to make a claim if your litigation friend has not already claimed for you.

If you are under eighteen at the time you sustained an injury in a head-on car accident, the three-year period will not begin until your eighteenth birthday. A litigation friend can also act on your behalf if you wish to claim before you turn eighteen.

For more information on claim time limits, contact one of our advisors. They could confirm whether you’re within the acceptable limitation period for making a claim.

Causes Of Head-On Car Accidents

There is a range of factors which could combine to cause a head-on car accident. It’s essential that your injuries are caused by a breach of duty of care in order for you to claim compensation.

Below are some examples of how head-on car accidents could occur as a result of negligence:

  • A driver at a junction is not fully concentrating on the road. They pull out before the light turns green, and you collide with them head-on. You sustain a serious back injury and moderate PTSD from the accident.
  • A drunk driver swerves from their side of the road to yours, colliding with your vehicle head-on. Your cheekbone is fractured, and you receive lacerations to the face, causing facial disfigurement.

To find out more about when car accident victims may be able to claim compensation, contact one of our expert advisors today using the contact details above.

How To Prove Your Road Traffic Accident Claim

If you were involved in a head-on car accident, you must provide evidence that the accident was caused by another road user’s negligence in order to make a successful personal injury claim.

We have included some examples of evidence below:

  • CCTV footage of the accident. You may be able to request footage that you appear in.
  • Photographs. These can include pictures of the accident site and your injury.
  • Medical records. You should seek medical attention after an accident in which you’re injured.
  • Details of any potential witnesses so that a statement can be taken at a later point. 
  • A diary of symptoms. This could demonstrate how you’ve been impacted by the accident and your injuries.

It is important that you collect as much evidence as you can to support your claim. If you are struggling to locate evidence, this might be something that a lawyer could help with.

For more information about claiming, contact one of our expert advisors. If they feel you have a valid claim, they could connect you with a solicitor.

Examples Of Payouts For A Head-On Car Accident

If your personal injury claim is successful, you could be compensated under up to two distinct heads of claim. These heads of claim are called general damages and special damages. General damages are in place to compensate you for the mental and physical suffering and pain caused by your injury.

Lawyers calculate how much injuries could be worth using the Judicial College Guidelines, alongside your medical records and the results of an independent medical assessment. The figures in the table below are taken from these guidelines but are not guaranteed and should only be used to give you an idea of settlement values.

Compensation Table

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Injury Severity Guideline compensation bracket Notes
Leg injuries Loss of both legs (a) (i) £240,790 to £282,010 Both legs are lost above the knee, or one leg has been lost above the knee.
Leg injuries Severe (b) (i) £96,250 to £135,920 These injuries do not involve amputation but are as severe, e.g. extensive degloving of the leg.
Neck injuries Severe (i) In the region of
£148,330		 These injuries are associated with incomplete paraplegia or resulting in permanent spastic quadriparesis.
Neck injuries Moderate (i) £24,990 to £38,490 Fractures or dislocations that result in immediate symptoms that are severe in nature.
Back injuries Severe (ii) £74,160 to £88,430 Cases in this bracket will include injuries such as damage to the root of the nerve, bowel dysfunction, impaired mobility, etc.
Back injuries Moderate (ii) £12,510 to £27,760 This category includes many frequently encountered injuries to the back, e.g. soft tissue injuries, disturbance of ligaments, prolapsed discs, etc.
Hand injuries Serious hand injuries (e) £29,000 to £61,910 Reduction of the hand to half of the capacity that the claimant enjoyed before.
Hand injuries Less serious hand injuries (g) £14,450 to £29,000 Severe crush injury that impacts use of the hand, but does not impair function.
Whiplash injuries One or more whiplash injury with one or more psychological injury. £4,345 Effects last for more than 18 months, but not more than 2 years.
Whiplash injuries One or more whiplash injury. £4,215 Symptoms last more than 6 months but no more than 9.

The Whiplash Reform Program

On May 31st 2021, the way low-value injury claims are pursued was subject to changes. The Whiplash Reform Programme outlines the new way of processing claims valued at £5,000 or lower.

If you are over eighteen, have a low-value claim as outlined above, and were a driver or a passenger injured in a car accident, you will need to claim in a different way.

The compensation you could receive for your whiplash and low-value soft tissue injuries will be calculated based on a set tariff taken from The Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021. This tariff may also be used in claims that are made the traditional way.

To find out more about the Whiplash Reform Programme, contact one of our expert advisors.

Examples Of Special Damages

Special damages is the second potential head of claim that compensates you for any out-of-pocket financial costs that you have incurred because of your injury. This head of claim aims to return you to the financial state you were in before you were injured.

Special damages can compensate for:

  • Current and future care costs.
  • Travel to and from medical appointments.
  • Cost of medical care.
  • Current and future loss of earnings.

To discover more about what your compensation could consist of should your claim succeed, contact one of our expert advisors. They can provide you with free legal advice and may be able to connect you with a lawyer from our panel.

Why Choose UK Law For Your Road Traffic Accident Claim?

If you were involved in a head-on car accident caused by negligence and wish to claim, our panel of personal injury solicitors could work with you on a No Win No Fee basis. Our solicitors can offer you a type of No Win No Fee agreement known as a Conditional Fee agreement.

Typically, under the terms of this agreement, you:

  • Will not owe your solicitor any fees upfront for their services.
  • Do not have to pay any ongoing costs to your solicitor while your claim proceeds.
  • Will not have to pay your solicitor for the work they have done on your case should your claim be unsuccessful.

If you’re awarded a settlement, you will only owe your solicitor a small success fee. This will be deducted from your compensation and is legally limited to prevent overcharging.

How To Contact Us

If you need legal advice at any time of the day, our expert advisors are here to help. You can contact them with any questions, and if you have a valid claim, they may be able to put you in touch with one of the personal injury solicitors from our panel.

To reach them, you can:

Find Out More About Claims For Head-On Collisions

We have provided some links for further reading about head-on car injuries:

Some more of our useful guides can be found below:

Faulty Traffic Light Accident And Injury Claims

How Does The Road Traffic Accident Claims Process Work?

What Is The Minimum Payout For Whiplash?

Some useful external information:

How do I know if I’ve broken a bone? – NHS

Examples of reportable incidents – Health and Safety Executive

Road accidents and safety statistics – GOV.UK

If you have been injured in a head-on car accident caused by negligence and want more information about claiming compensation, contact one of our expert advisors using the contact details above.

Writer HG

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