The most common injury sustained in a road traffic accident is a whiplash injury. This is caused by the vehicle in which you are travelling stopping much quicker than you do. The effect of this will be that your neck muscles are stretched and this will sometimes be aggravated by compression caused by the seatbelt. Whiplash injuries can be fairly minimal and recovery can take place within weeks or occasionally can be very serious and last for years and cause substantial loss of earnings and pain and suffering.

We would always advise you to seek medical treatment if you have had a car accident in which you sustained a whiplash injury. On some occasions, the pain will not manifest itself until the next day and it is important to seek treatment. However, providing the injuries are not serious you will usually be prescribed pain killers and have your recovery monitored. There is little that can be done to prevent whiplash type injuries as head restraints are not a practical proposition in motor vehicles. We have extensive experience in dealing with claims of this type and have recovered millions of pounds for thousands of clients over the years as we have consistently found that by far, the most common injury sustained in a road traffic accident is a whiplash injury.

• If the driver of the vehicle which caused the accident is uninsured then you will still be able to bring a claim against him or her. What can often happen is that the driver may think that he is covered by insurance but when a claim is made against him it is discovered that he has misrepresented or failed to disclose something to the insurance company who insure his vehicle. In those circumstances, you would still be able to claim against the driver and his insurers may well have to meet that claim.
• To be safe you should report the accident to the police within 5 days of the date of the accident. You must make a note of the time you made the call, the date, the name and number of the police officer you spoke to and most importantly, THE CRIME REFERENCE number.
• However, if someone is driving a vehicle with no insurance whatsoever, then there is an obligation on the MIB to deal with the claim brought by you. The obligation is again hedged with conditions and it is important that those conditions are complied with if you are to succeed in the claim. The MIB are able to refuse to deal with the claims if they are not properly conducted in accordance with their conditions which are weighted heavily in favour of the MIB. We will be able to advise you on request. The MIB will deduct £300.00 from all damages before making payment to you.
• We would strongly recommend that you instruct us in this type of claim due to the terms and conditions imposed by the MIB. Please note that if you are comprehensively insured, you will be obliged to claim your vehicle damage from your own insurance company.
• If you are bringing a claim against a driver who’s identity is not known then you will be obliged to bring your claim against the MIB. This is an organisation set up by insurance companies to deal with claims against untraced drivers. The rules with regard to the claims brought against the MIB are very strict and we are fully aware of them.
• Since 14th February 2003 it is possible not only to claim for injuries but also to claim for the damage to your vehicle, providing as a result of the accident, you have sustained personal injury, unless you are comprehensively insured when you will be expected to claim against your own insurance policy for damage to your vehicle.