Often referred to as a musculoskeletal disorder, neck injuries are fairly commonplace, whether from a workplace accident, a car accident, or even from simple slips, trips and falls. Due to the delicate nature of the neck area, this type of injury can be extremely serious and lead to significant compensation payments. Importantly, if you’ve suffered a neck injury due to somebody else’s negligence, you may be eligible to make a neck injury claim for compensation.

If you are interested in starting a neck injury claim, we are here to help. Initially, you’ll receive free legal advice if you call for a telephone consultation. There’s no obligation to proceed but, if your claim appears to be viable, we could connect you with one of our personal injury solicitors. To reduce any financial risk, they’ll provide a No Win No Fee service so you won’t pay for their work unless compensation is awarded.

To start the ball rolling right away, you can call free on 0800 6524 881 to speak with a claims advisor. If you’d like additional advice on how to make a personal injury claim first, please read through the rest of this guide.

Am I Eligible To Make A Neck Injury Compensation Claim?

If you’ve injured your neck, unfortunately, it doesn’t mean you’re automatically eligible to claim compensation. To stand a good chance of being compensated, you’ll need to show that:

• The party you’re claiming against owed a duty of care; and
• An accident/incident occurred because they breached that duty by being negligent; and
• Your neck was injured because of their negligence.

If you’re not sure whether you were owed a duty of care, don’t worry. If your case is accepted, your solicitor will know if this is the case. Examples here include that employers owe all staff a duty to try and keep them safe whilst working. Similarly, surgeons owe patients a duty of care to protect their welfare whilst operating.

At the start of the claims process, it is more important for you to show how your accident happened and what injuries you sustained. Therefore, we’ll look at evidence that can help with that in a further section.

Common Causes Of Neck Injury Claims

As mentioned above, neck injury compensation could be claimed if the incident that caused your injury was caused by negligence. Some examples include:

• Where you suffered delayed whiplash or other neck injuries after being hit from behind by another vehicle.
• If avoidable neck injuries were sustained because of medical negligence during surgery.
• Where you fell from a ladder because the proper safety equipment wasn’t supplied causing you to sustain neck injuries.
• If you weren’t trained on manual handling at work and as a result suffered a neck strain.
• Where you fell from tripping on a pavement because the local authority hadn’t maintained the highway properly.

It’s not always clear whether your injuries have been caused by somebody else. That’s one of the reasons we offer a free telephone consultation. If you call one of our specialists, they’ll review everything with you and let you know if (in their opinion) you have a valid claim.

Common Types Of Neck Injuries

In medical terms, a neck injury can relate to damage to the spine, bones, cartilage, ligaments, tendons, or surrounding muscles. Neck injuries where mobility may be restricted in the short, medium, or long term might also lead to an array of psychological injuries in the shape of anxiety and depression.

Below, we’ve listed some different types of neck injuries that might result in compensation where negligence is the cause.

• Minor neck injuries. These can be painful but a full recovery would be expected. They include whiplash-type injuries from damage to the tendons, muscles, ligaments, and soft tissue in the neck.
• Moderate neck injuries. These injuries can take more than two years to recover from. Injuries falling into this category include cervical spondylosis and prolapsed discs.
• Severe neck injuries. In this category, many injuries can be permanently life-changing. They can result in quadriplegia, paraplegia and other forms of paralysis.

If you’d like to check whether you can make a neck injury claim, please call our team for free advice today.

How Much Compensation Will I Get For A Neck Injury?

To determine how much compensation you’ll get for a neck injury, your solicitor will look at two heads of loss:

• General damages are based on how much pain and suffering you’ve endured because of your injuries. You could receive compensation for loss of amenity in this category too.
• Special damages are claimed if you’ve lost any money through not being able to work, or from damaged/destroyed property such as clothing, phone etc, or incurred expenses as a result of your neck injury. Examples of what could be claimed include compensation to cover loss of earnings, care costs, and private medical expenses.

During the claims process, an independent medical assessment will be needed. This will result in a report that details your neck injury and your prognosis.

Neck Injury Settlement Amounts

We can’t tell you exactly what your neck injury settlement might be worth as each compensation claim is unique. However, we can provide some settlement ranges using the calculator below. Please bear in mind that any compensation awarded for a neck injury will take in the expected recovery period, restrictions of mobility, and long-term prognosis.

• Those deemed to be relatively minor neck injuries, where a full recovery is expected within three months, could see a compensation amount of up to £2,450.
• Where the recovery period is extended to between three months and one year, and the neck injury has potentially exacerbated an existing condition, average compensation is from £2,450 up to £4,350.
• Neck injuries with a recovery period of up to 2 years which include the exacerbation of existing conditions can expect compensation from £4,350 up to £7,890.
• Moderate neck injuries can include fractures, dislocations, spinal injuries, soft tissue damage and have a marked impact on the person’s standard of living. Where the recovery period is no more than five years, although there will be a form of long-term damage, a compensation settlement could see £7,890 up to £13,740.
• Soft tissue damage of the neck which results in a significant limitation of mobility, long-term pain and extreme discomfort, with a recovery period in excess of five years, has historically paid out compensation from £13,740 up to £24,990.
• Dislocations, spinal fusion, chronic long-term pain, significantly reduced mobility and an inability to carry out common daily actions will attract the most compensation in the moderate range. This can vary from £24,990 up to £38,490.
• Severe injuries which may take in serious fractures/dislocations as well as soft tissue damage, leading to chronic long-term pain and mark disability will attract compensation from £45,470 up to £55,990.
• More serious neck injuries involving fractures/ damage to back discs leading to a high level of disability and long-term pain/ headaches will attract compensation between £65,740 and £130,930.
• The most serious neck injuries resulting in varying degrees of paralysis, long-term pain and suffering and reduced independence often attract compensation of around £148,330.

The figures above are based on the amounts listed in the Judicial College Guidelines. These figures are used by legal professionals when calculating settlement payouts for neck injuries.

Please be advised that compensation in a successful neck injury claim may vary due to the unique nature of each claim, and because the figures displayed relate to general damages only. Compensation for special damages, where applicable, will need to be calculated and added in by your solicitor.

Evidence To Support A Neck Injury Claim

Evidence is always going to be required if you’re going to win a neck injury compensation claim. It is needed to prove a) how your accident happened, b) who caused it and c) the extent of your neck injury and any other injuries. The types of evidence you and your solicitor could collect include:

• Witness information. This can be important if the defendant doesn’t admit liability. Your solicitor could use witness statements to help prove your version of events.
• Photographic evidence. Where possible, taking photographs at the accident scene can be useful. If you’re able to, this should be done before anything is removed from the scene.
• Accident reports. If you sustain a neck injury at work, on public transport, or on a business property, it will need to be recorded in an accident report book. Your copy can be useful as it will confirm the location, time and date of the accident.
• Medical evidence. It is important to have your neck checked and treated by a medical professional. If you decide to claim compensation, medical notes from the hospital, GP surgery or minor injuries unit that treated you could be used to prove the level of injury.
• Camera footage. Dash-cam and CCTV camera footage can be a useful way of proving what happened. Therefore, we’d suggest you try to secure footage before it is erased.

Any evidence you’re able to supply could really improve your chances of being compensated. Without sufficient material to prove what happened, a personal injury solicitor may not be able to accept your claim. Therefore, it is worth taking the time to collect as much as possible.

We are happy to review any evidence you may have available to support your neck injury claim, or explain what we can do to help obtain more evidence if needed. Therefore, please call our advice line today and discuss your options with an advisor.

Time Limits for Claiming Neck Injury Compensation

As you may be aware, personal injury claims have a 3-year time limit in the UK. This either starts from the date of your accident or from when the injury to your neck was identified. If you begin your claim too late, it could be statute-barred and you may miss out on any compensation you might be entitled to.

Therefore, we would suggest you get in touch as soon as possible. The sooner you begin, the more time there will be to collect evidence, arrange medical assessments, and complete other tasks before the end of your limitation period.

To check how long you’ve got left to claim or to ask any questions, please call today. We could help you claim if you’ve sustained a neck injury at work, in a car crash, following a fall from a height, or in any other scenario if somebody else’s negligence caused the injury.

Starting The Neck Injury Claims Process

The process of claiming compensation for any type of neck injury can be tricky. It will often require complex medical evidence. Essentially, you will need to convince the defendant’s insurers why their client was responsible for your neck injury. If you can’t, compensation might not be paid, or a lower amount than you’re entitled to might be offered.

It is our opinion that you’ll improve your chances of being fairly compensated if you have legal representation by using a personal injury solicitor. If your claim is accepted, one of our solicitors will work hard for you to try and secure as much compensation as possible. They’ll handle all negotiations and use evidence to try and counter any objections raised by the defendant.

As the claim progresses, you’ll be kept up to date and you’ll have the opportunity to ask any questions that you think of. If you are ready to begin a claim today, please get in touch on 0800 6524 881. Your claim will be reviewed immediately and we could ask a solicitor to begin working on it right away.

Remember, our solicitors provide a No Win No Fee service for any neck injury compensation claim they take on.