A Guide To Making Neck Injury Claims
The pain, misery and expense created by neck injury can have a real impact on someone’s life. This can feel all the worse if the injury was caused by someone else’s negligent actions or inactions. This guide aims to help you understand more about making neck injury claims for personal injury compensation.
Key Takeaways
- You could have a valid compensation claim for even relatively minor neck injuries.
- You’re owed a duty of care in certain areas of daily life, which if a breach by those responsible causes physical, emotional and financial harm, you could be entitled to compensation.
- A time limit of three years normally applies for personal injury claims but you could still qualify to start one under the exceptions.
- You don’t have to deal with the claims process alone. The solicitors on our panel offer excellent services to eligible claimants via a type of No Win No Fee agreement.
So, if you need to launch a neck injury compensation claim and want to know more, please continue reading the free information and guidance below, or:
- Telephone the team on 020 3870 4868
- Click here to claim online
- Begin the conversation via our live discussion portal below.
Select A Section Of Our Neck Injury Guide
- Eligiblity To Make Neck Injury Claims?
- Neck Injury At Work Claims
- Claiming For A Neck Injury In A Public Place
- Can I Claim For A Neck Injury From A Car Accident?
- How Can A Serious Neck Injury Affect You?
- Time Limits In Personal Injury Claims
- How Much Compensation For Neck Injury Claims?
- How Can UKLaw Help Me?
- Learn More About Personal Injury Compensation Claims
Eligiblity To Make Neck Injury Claims
You could be eligible to start a neck injury compensation claim if you meet the relevant criteria. You need to show three points:
- A duty of care was owed at the time of the neck injury.
- The third party responsible breached this duty of care to you.
- You suffered harm as a result.
This forms a definition of negligence and can be the valid basis from which a personal injury claim is started. We’ll look at exactly what a duty of care is next, but if you have any questions about neck injury claims so far, our advisory team can help on the number above.
Types Of Neck Injuries
There are a wide range of neck injury types that can be minor or severe:
- Torn ligaments and muscles.
- Cuts and bruises.
- Soft tissue lacerations.
- Spinal fractures and cervical vertebrae damage.
- Herniated vertebrae (‘slipped’ discs)
- Trapped nerves and partial paralysis/sensation problems.
- Cervical spondylosis.
- Permanent disability resulting from the neck injury.
- Psychological suffering.
Your injuries could be a combination of these. Speak to our team for guidance on how to start a personal injury claim that covers everything.
Neck Injury At Work Claims
Legislation protects the safety of workers in the UK and is called the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HASAWA). It details the duty of care that employers have. This means that employers must take reasonable and practicable steps to prevent their employees (and visitors) from being harmed while working. A failure to properly apply this duty of care could give rise to a neck injury in the following way:
- An employer could fail to check the safety of tools or apparatus for employees. A broken ladder at work could cause an employee to suffer a fractured neck if it collapses and they fall.
There can be many other ways in which an accident at work could occur, if a breach in duty caused yours, please get in touch for a free claim assessment.
Claiming For A Neck Injury In A Public Place
The individual or organisation in charge of any area open to the public owes them a duty of care. This is detailed in legislation called the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957. It means those in control of these spaces need to implement necessary measures to reasonably protect the public from being harmed whilst lawfully using their facilities.
- With this in mind, legitimate grounds for a neck injury compensation claim could be when the occupier of a supermarket fails to attend to a spillage and a customer slips, trips or falls, suffering serious neck injuries.
Public place accidents can vary, so please call to chat about your case.
Can I Claim For A Neck Injury From A Car Accident?
All road users must exercise care not to cause injury and damage to other road users. To meet their duty of care to each other, they need to adhere to the rules and obligations detailed in both the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the Highway Code. Failure to do so could give rise to an accident and injury claim.
- For example, a road traffic accident could occur when an intoxicated driver hits another road user. This is a clear breach of duty of care and the driver would be liable for the severe spinal and soft tissue damage they caused.
What Is The Whiplash Reform Programme?
The Whiplash Reform Programme altered how whiplash and soft tissue injuries with a value of £5,000 or under are made. However, neck injury claims made in this manner must satisfy certain criteria:
- The accident must have occurred in England or Wales.
- Injuries included in the claim must be valued at £5,000 or less.
- The injured parties must be aged 18 or older and either the driver or passenger in a motor vehicle.
Drivers and passengers over 18 need to submit a claim like this through an alternative route. Any award made for whiplash will be subject to the tariff found in the Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021.
Whiplash and soft tissue injury claims that are still deemed to have a value of greater than £5,000 are calculated using the usual method (although the tariff amounts may also still apply). A solicitor from our panel could help direct your claim for whiplash appropriately. Get in touch to find out more.
How Can A Serious Neck Injury Affect You?
A serious neck injury can create significant physical and psychological problems for the sufferer. A few examples:
- Loss of mobility can make working or driving impossible.
- The constant pain and discomfort can make the person irritable or depressed.
- Strong painkillers can impact the person’s ability to focus clearly on their daily life.
- The possibility of prolonged treatments and surgery can delay full recovery and add to stress or pain.
The Financial Impacts Of A Serious Neck Injury
There can be monetary repercussions from a serious neck injury as well, such as:
- The cost of round-the-clock care (if very severe).
- Medication and treatment costs such as spinal cord therapies and prolonged physiotherapy.
- Lost income from an inability to work.
- Additional expense for help with childcare.
- The expense of making changes in your home to help you function, such as installing grab handles or creating wheelchair access.
Together, the physical and the financial issues can create severe disruption in your life. If you suffered this because of someone else’s fault, you could be eligible for compensation to help. Get in touch to learn more.
Time Limits In Personal Injury Claims
The Limitation Act 1980 states that a three-year time limit applies in which to make a personal injury compensation claim. This begins from the date of the accident and injury.
Can I Claim For Someone Else?
There can be exceptions to this standard time frame for two groups:
- The time limit is paused for those under 18 as minors cannot make a claim themselves. Either a parent or guardian could apply to be designated as a litigation friend to start a claim for them during this pause. Or they have 3 years to launch their own claim when they become 18.
- Time limits are subject to a freeze for those who lack mental capacity to manage the claims process themselves. Again, a litigation friend can be appointed to carry out the duties of the claims for them. Or the person can claim within three years starting from the date that their mental capacity returns.
Get personalised information about time limits for neck injury claims from our advisors by calling the number above.
How Much Compensation For Neck Injury Claims?
Neck injury claims that settle in the person’s favour can have an award made up of two main areas called general and special damages.
General damages are an amount that reflects the level of physical pain and psychological suffering the person endured as a result of the accident. It also takes into account permanent disability and significant overall impact on the person’s quality of life.
Those tasked with the calculation process might look at the medical evidence put forward as proof. Also, they often consult publications like the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) to see what cases in England and Wales were awarded in the past.
The JCG is a guideline only, but the excerpt below illustrates what it says for a neck injury. Also, the first line in our table is not from the JCG. Additionally, we’ve provided a few examples of the tariffs from the Whiplash Injury Regulations as the last two entries.
Compensation Guidelines
| Area of Harm | Severity? | Compensation Guidelines | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Several types of serious injury and special damages payment. | Severe | Up to £1 million plus | Instances where there are more than one severe injury and the person is awarded special damages for care, treatment and loss of income. |
| Paralysis | Tetraplegia/quadripledgia | £396,140 to £493,000 | Full body paralysis with the awarded affected by awareness, pain and life expectancy. |
| Neck | (a) Severe (i) | Approximately £181,020 | Cases of paraplegia (incomplete) and spastic quadriparesis that requires use of a 24/7 collar. |
| (a) Severe (ii) | £80,240 up to £159,770 | Serious damage and fractures to cervical spine discs. | |
| (a) Severe (iii) | £55,500 up to £68,330 | Dislocations, fractures or soft tissue damage, as well as ruptured tendons giving rise to chronic conditions. | |
| (b) Moderate (i) | £30,500 up to £46,970 | Severe immediate symptoms from dislocations and fractures that may demand spinal fusion surgery. | |
| (b) Moderate (ii) | £16,770 up to £30,500 | Soft tissue and 'wrenching' injuries and disc lesions that cause cervical spondylosis and limited movement. | |
| (b) Moderate (iii) | £9,630 up to £16,770 | The type of injuries that can accelerate or worsen a pre-existing issue within 5 years. | |
| Whiplash | A duration of 18 - 24 months. | £4,345 | Whiplash that includes psychological harm. |
| A duration of 15 - 18 months | £3,100 | Whiplash and psychological injury. |
The Financial Impacts Of A Serious Neck Injury
A secondary head of loss called special damages could apply. This takes into account the financial impacts of suffering a neck injury. To include monetary harm in your claim, you need to put forward documented evidence of the losses or expenses, such as:
- Any wage slips you have that prove a loss of earnings caused by the neck injury.
- The cost of physiotherapy, specialist equipment or other private medical expenses.
- Receipts and invoices that relate to the costs of changing your home and vehicle after a permanent disability.
- Evidence of care costs for people who looked after you.
- Travel expenses to essential appointments.
There can be numerous other financial impacts after a serious or even minor neck injury. To discuss yours in detail, reach out to advisors.
How Can UKLaw Help Me?
While you are free to represent yourself in a personal injury claim for compensation, it is sensible to see if an expert specialist solicitor could help. The ones on our panel offer an array of excellent services:
- They will gather supporting evidence and statements that strengthen your claim.
- They can liaise with specialists to obtain solid medical reports.
- Their expertise means a complete picture of compensation is put together – one that reflects both current and predicted losses.
- All the complicated legal jargon is explained.
- You can concentrate on your recovery, knowing that expert personal injury solicitors are striving to get you the maximum compensation that applies to your injuries and financial losses.
What Is A Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA)?
The solicitors on our panel regularly offer eligible claimants a way to access their excellent services through a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This version of No Win No Fee contracts usually means:
- No upfront solicitors fees apply.
- No solicitors fees apply as the claim advances.
- Should the claim be unsuccessful, no legal fees apply for work that the solicitors have completed on your claim.
- A claim that wins requires a ‘success fee’ payment. This percentage is deducted from the compensation at the end.
- Importantly, the amount deducted for the solicitors is capped by law. This guarantees the person claiming receives by far, the majority of their compensation award.
Interested in learning more about claiming neck injury compensation?
- Telephone the team on 020 3870 4868
- Click here to claim online
- Begin the conversation via our live discussion portal below.
Learn More About Personal Injury Compensation Claims
As well as details on neck injury claims, these other guides offer more useful information:
- This guide looks a workplace accident types you could claim for.
- Also, public liability claims if you slipped on a wet floor and injured your neck.
- Here we discuss the minimum payout for a whiplash injury.
External help:
- This NHS resource looks at neck pain with information about when to see a GP.
- Also, this government resource provides information about claiming Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), with information on the eligibility criteria and how much you could get.
- In addition to this, advice on when to call 999.
In conclusion, we value your time reading our guide about neck injury claims. Whatever the severity of your injury, call to see how personal injury solicitors could help.
