The most common action taken in the UK County Court by compensation claim solicitors is a whiplash injury compensation claim. This injury usually results from a road traffic accident most often from a rear end shunt although it can also be caused by a frontal collision or by side impact. The injury is not restricted to car accidents and can occur following a serious fall or as a result of impact in a contact sport. The injury is caused by sudden stretching of the neck as a result of initial impact and subsequent stretching due to the body’s reflex reactions which in due course causes inflammation and pressure on the nerves thereby producing a stiff neck and pain. In a rear end collision damage is caused by the head initially rocking backwards to the limit of the necks flexibility and thereafter rocking forwards in a severe and over compensatory reflex reaction causing tearing and bruising to the muscles and in more serious cases causing disc and/or bone damage.
Because the muscles between the back of the head, neck and shoulders form a triangle, known as the trapezius muscle, the development of pain in any one of these sites can lead to pain on other locations. This is particularly so for rotational injuries. Also, the spinal region supplies nerves to many other sites in the body and therefore any form of damage or compression of these nerves can lead to pain in other areas, for example the 6th cervical nerve root in the neck predominantly supplies the thumb and index fingers of the hand, thus explaining the range of symptoms experienced by victims of the same injury.
Whiplash is now recognised to be a debilitating and painful injury, which can occur immediately or shortly following an accident. Latest medical trends lean towards maintaining mobility of the neck to facilitate speedy recovery and most compensation claim solicitors, as a result of their long-standing place in the personal injury market, have a wealth of medical experts they are able to call on to identify the problem and provide any treatment that is needed.
Awards of damages in a whiplash injury compensation claim can range from hundreds to thousands of pounds, depending on the nature, extent (considering pre-existing conditions) and duration of the injuries sustained. UK compensation claim solicitors , who deal with thousands of such claims every year, are able to draw on the most up to date knowledge and information to accurately assess the value of each individual claim based on its own facts, to ensure that each client receives a settlement without delay.
