[Closed] Whiplash Claim

course she's trying it on - doubtful that there's much you can do about it, except stalk her at work & catch her playing murderball in her breaks or something

We had this, and also no damage to my wife's car.

Contact your insurance company and tell them that while you accepted blame, its not a blank cheque.

I had a huge row with ours once I'd heard that the 3rd party's passenger was going for whiplash, they were going to just settle.

I contacted the insurers today and they say they can't/won't do anything without the medical from her doctor. I explained that I was trying to save them money!

A friend has offered to stalk her at work (in case she recognises me) and try and film her doing something energetic. I think she's a financial analyst though so probably not much scope for murderball.

email her back saying how sorry you are to hear of her injuries and you hope she doesn't get too bored, what with being unable to do anything active and wearing a soft collar for work all day every day

... and that you hope she burns in hell

Had thought of a nice email:

Sorry to hear about your neck, funny how whiplash sometimes takes two weeks to appear, and you didn't mention it in your previous emails? Is it because of your fat head?

Not sure on success though.

Although I don't know much about whiplash so anyone had it from a very low speed accident?

My car (stationary, behind an RTC) was hit on the rear offside corner by an old bloke skidding in snow. Can't say what speed he was doing, but he stopped level with me, so presumably not that high? Felt fine at the time, bit of a stiff neck that evening, and worse the next morning. Fine the following day though. So I guess it doesn't have to be that hard? He was gutted to crash into the back of a parked police car!

Worth asking the petrol station if they've got cctv footage. Also, depending on the company you work for, it might be worth an quiet word with HR (if theyre helpful types) or her line manager: "I tried calling **** to make sure she was ok after i heard she had whiplash but didn't receive an answer..... though i was somewhat surprised given the minimal impact."

Also, depending on the company you work for, it might be worth an quiet word with HR

Why would HR / her boss be interested or get involved in something that happened outside work hours? It's up to the insurance company to contest it if they think it's worth their while, but I doubt they will. It's annoying, but it's between her insurance company and your insurance company.

I was about 6 foot from her and reversed back, just didn't see her, I'd guess the speed was 5mph tops. This was around 6pm and she didn't have her lights on (she probably should have done, it was pretty dusky at that time then), but I knew it was my fault really and felt pretty guilty. I'm kind of wishing I'd pressed on the 'no lights' front but not sure it would have made much difference.

She was very nice about it at the time, understanding and no hint of any injury. I know it can take a while to appear, but she'd jumped out of the car before I had.

I'm considering some sort of nicely worded email to her manager, need to find out how senior she is first as I don't want to piss off the wrong people.

jon1973:

I guess the hope would be that the manager would email back with a little surprise, and say they didn't realise there was anything wrong.

Surely if you're injured enough to try and claim a few grand for it (guessing the amount here) then people you work with should notice something about it?

I see what you're getting at, but I still think they'd distance themselves from any issue outside the workplace. If it's not impacting work (like she's taking time off sick) they I can see them doing anything.

I see what you're getting at, but I still think they'd distance themselves from any issue outside the workplace. If it's not impacting work (like she's taking time off sick) they I can see them doing anything.

I went into the back of somebody at literally 2mph. He claimed for whiplash (but he could still work - as a grave digger according to the documents recieved).

Went to one of these "no win, no fee.. if you win, other party pays our fee" companies. He had a hire car for 2 weeks (to repair a crack in the rear bumper???!!)....

Spoke to my insurers, saying it was outrageous - to save them money! - but they said expected payout would be around £8-10k

I felt quite sick!! £10k!!

Obviously joking here as I have slightly higher moral standards, but what would happen if I suddenly discovered whiplash? Would the insurance company listen more?

It makes me pretty angry, I know she's not short of cash, as our company pays pretty well and I think she's been here a while. Wouldn't most people value their conscience at more than this (relatively) small payout?

xiphon: How did they justify £10k? Isn't it costs, missed work and a bit for compo?

TBH I can't see me getting anywhere with the insurance company as the people on the end of the phone probably care as much about their employer's bottom line as I do.

@edsbike

The company he went to (an 'accident management' company) are quite a scam.

The solicitors he used, the car hire company he used, the repair garage he used, the car parts suppliers, etc - all fall under the same parent company. (it's amazing what a bit of googling can do!)

So if the hire car company invoices them for £500 per day, the costs get passed onto my insurance company. Same goes for the 'admin' costs for each step of the way (charging for phone calls, letters, photocopying, etc).

Complete scam, but 100% legal until the Gov clamps down on it...

xiphon: "Spoke to my insurers, saying it was outrageous - to save them money! - but they said expected payout would be around £8-10k"

Crikey after reading that I had acid reflux and vomited inside my mouth ...

😯

I recoiled at this thread and now my neck hurts, my life is ruined. Please send me the details of your insurers.

Maybe she's got whiplash...

Mind you it's the no.1 blag for car accidents. If she's got any sense she'll keep her claim under 5k so it's cheaper to pay out than defendfor your insurance company.

Either way you are screwed, look where you're going next time

This may have been mentioned, but surely it's misuse of company information? She is accessing details of you that are not related to her job. Wouldn't be allowed in our place.

Does the insurance cover for accidents on private property?

I've always been lead to believe if it's not on a public highway then the insurance company don't want to know.

elzorillo - a petrol station forecourt is a public road as far as the law (well, the law relating to insurance at least) is concerned.

The annoying thing about mis guided claims for accident compensation, push up the charges for the rest of us, as well as the one she is claiming off, she has obviously been told to claim by a freind etc, and now sees a nice little earner to spend on a holiday etc.

I presume you have already reported the accident to your insurer.

Might be worth taking photos of the area of damage to your vehicle and emailing them in. also worht ringing the garage to see if there's cctv footage. Impress upon the insurer that it requires investigation. However don't get your hopes up. At a possibility of settling for £3-4k without an investigation, or likely £10k with, and with a 95% chance of losing, it's an economic no brainer.

Essentially, whiplash is *so* easy to claim for. her solicitors get to choose their "pet" medical expert, who uncritically writes down everything she says and then presents it to your insurer, who will not have a leg to stand on, and are forced to settle. The alternative is they investigate, it goes to Liverpool or Birkenhead County Court via her "northern based solicitors", and the bent judges there just not only find against you/your insurer, but then make an improbably large compensation and legal costs order - as if they don't, then the solictors would take their business elsewhere, and the courts, who earn out of court issue fees paid by solicitors end up £10'000's of pounds down per week, potentially leading them to lay off staff and or close.

Basically, judges in England and Wales, especially on the Northern Circurt, are as "dishonest/bent" as they can be and remain totally unaccountable for their actions.

Are you reading this, Doyle, O'Neill, Travers and others?

Insurers will no doubt pay out something, probably less than £1000 to her because it's simply cheaper to do that than to have a lawyer go to court and incur the court costs when they undoubtedly lose as whiplash is very hard to detect and very easy to fake.
You'll lose your no-claims bonus unless it's protected and she'll be using the works computer to book her next holiday while you do overtime to pay for your increased premium.
"Come the revolution" the no win scumbags and those who ambulance chase all the police reports will be lined up against the wall and I'll be there, waiting, with an itchy trigger finger...

The irony is that the insurance companies are fanning the flames of this whole 'no win, no fee' gravy train but selling your details to solicitors when you have an accident. Then they ramp up your premium and blame the rise of 'no win, no fee' personal injury claims.

They need to make the referral fees illegal.

Not read all posts but I thought you could only get whiplash from a rear end shunt. i.e. it would be more likely you would have got whiplash as you reversed into her.

That makes sense, but the OP doesn't say whether he hit the front or back of her car, just that he was reversing.

Obviously joking here as I have slightly higher moral standards, but what would happen if I suddenly discovered whiplash? Would the insurance company listen more?

A friend has offered to stalk her at work (in case she recognises me) and try and film her doing something energetic. I think she's a financial analyst though so probably not much scope for murderball.

you'll probably find the total claim was about £10k after the solicitor took their fee. It's a licence to print money.

usual bolleaux on here from armchair lawyers.

yossarian - Member

If she's got any sense she'll keep her claim under 5k so it's cheaper to pay out than defendfor your insurance company.

whats £5k ?? why does £5k matter (I know the answer - it doesnt)

as fopr jujuuk68 - WTF !! bet you think man never landed on the moon as well. Utter pap.

jon1973 - Member

The irony is that the insurance companies are fanning the flames of this whole 'no win, no fee' gravy train but selling your details to solicitors when you have an accident. Then they ramp up your premium and blame the rise of 'no win, no fee' personal injury claims.

They need to make the referral fees illegal.

Are most people aware that insurers sell PI claims to solictors for anything up to £800 a pop. Most insurers are so inept at dealing with anything to do with claims that they are their own worst enemy.

As for solicitors costs ....are people aware that fixed fees (£1350) were introduced in April 2010 for all claims between £1k-£10k) -probably not.

And if anyone tells you they got £10k for a just a whiplash injury they are lying. (just the injury)

All these claims ... bloody insurance cheat she is. 🙄

Just hope that the money she is going to cheat does not bring her bad luck ...

Margin? I actually deal with Stage 3 Ministry of Justice Portal claims, and 90% of my litigation workload are litigated at those courts. Do you think it's just coincidental? The reaons PI has gone banana's is that those specif northern courts are where a lot of whiplash is litigated, and the solicitors "shop" for the best courts, and for the last 10 years, Liverpool and Birkenhead have been "encouraging" solicitors to use them, by means of fabourable judgments.

No one really cares, the claimants are delighted, no one feels "sorry" for insurers or makes the links to higher premiums, and those who are being sued don't need to atend court as liability is already admitted and so ncd is already lost - it's seen as "victimless" by the corrupt judges we have.

If I could get a bit "technical" on some of the abuses and breeches of CPR that the court allows and lets three or four specific local legal firms get away with, you'd be amazed.

Indeed, you won't find anyone in the ambit of PI claims disagreeing with me, so feel free to insult me, but you simply look ignorant.

Few points:

I reversed into her, the back of my car hit the front of hers, pretty much straight on. It was pretty minor, my first reaction was that I'd mounted a curb that I hadn't realised was there. Not a chance she could be injured unless she already had a weak neck. There was no visible damage to my car (Mk4 Golf) but there was to hers (old Ford Puma).

It all makes my blood boil but doubt there is much I can do about it other than hope it doesn't hit my premiums too much. I'm loathed to do much at work for fear of irritating the wrong people or giving the wrong impression. May have a quiet word with my manager about getting emailed at work about it.

Good to see some support against this kind of behaviour. Obviously some whiplash claims are legit, but not this one. A friend from work suggested at the pub tonight that we should time leaving work to be just in front of her then slam the breaks on. Tempting given the circumstances but definitely not the right thing to do.

It won't be 10k it will be more like 3k, my Daughters car got rammed off the road on a roundabout by an old codger drifting lanes pushed her up the arco and straight into a lamppost , both my daughters were in the car and both received whiplash injury payment but the had pics of the seatbelts imprinted on their chest and shoulders along with other minor cuts and bruises, payout ? 3k each
She also needs to keep going to doctors/physio etc for a year , I crashed into the back of a car full of bodybuilders and they all claimed whiplash even though their necks were bigger than my waist but failed to keep hospital appointments so it was thrown out

Jujuuk68 -

you just come across as a defendant representative with a chip on their shoulder.

I have run a litigated case load for 20 years , pre Wolfe, Pre MOJ so get technical if you want.

I am amazed at your public allegations that judges are bent/dishonest. Are you aware of your obligations under the Law Society/Solicitors code of practice. Highly unprofessional.

Are you really suggesting the extremely learned and professional judiciary is bent/dishonest.

Glad you aren't representing me.

(If our firm tries to issue out of Birkenhead or any other Court then we are told we are not allowed, we have to use local or the claimant's court.)

((I do hope those aren't judges you have listed in your original post)) tut tut

usual bolleaux on here from armchair lawyers.
yossarian - Member
If she's got any sense she'll keep her claim under 5k so it's cheaper to pay out than defendfor your insurance company.
whats £5k ?? why does £5k matter (I know the answer - it doesnt)

Margin walker - I spend a fair amount of time preparing defenses and paperwork against personal injury claims. That means I speak to a lot of insurers. 5k, in my experience, is around the level that a number of insurers that I speak to will consider that mounting a defence is pointless unless there is compelling evidence that it will definitely win. I'm sure you know how much it costs, and how long it takes, to defend a claim. Even one that appears to be totally invalid.

I think you're pretty much screwed, possibly with CCTV from the garage proving a very slow speed shunt it might be enough to frighten off the claim but still probably less hassle for the insurance company just to pay out.

Margin Walker - you just come across as being an apologist for the current system who has a £1350-cheque habit to justify

Are you really suggesting that the extremely learned and professional judiciary is taken in by (and happy about) the way this system currently operates - most particularly the, what, 95% of cases that never reach court ? I imagine they see personal injury lawyers and their "industry" in much the same way as the rest of us

Still, jujuuk68 - 😯 😯

The claim against my insurers was around £8-10k - this included all costs associated with the 'incident', not just what the other party got.

No idea what the other party got, but I feel they went about it the wrong way. Even phoned up their insurance company 3 days later, and they knew nothing about the accident!

the courts, who earn out of court issue fees paid by solicitors end up £10'000's of pounds down per week, potentially leading them to lay off staff and or close.

the extremely learned and professional judiciary is taken in by (and happy about) the way this system currently operates - most particularly the, what, 95% of cases that never reach court ?

If this happened to me I'd tell my Insurer in no uncertain terms that this is a fraudulent claim and you'd like the Police involved (they'd say why so over the top?) but it'd make your point clear that the whiplash is an attempt to defraud.

State in no uncertain terms you wont accept settlement etc etc- your premium will still go up however it'll drastically reduce the amount she has to spend on an holiday to Maguluf and spray tans.

I was in an accident recently. They make it very very, easy to say 'yes' I do have whiplash. I don't have whiplash. The insurers are both complicit in the way they sell details and pragmatic in the way that they won't contest things. Hopefully Jack Straw will sort everything out for us.

The judiciary, court system and legal profession wouldn't have the slightest f'ing idea how to address a significant decrease in the number of disputes which are settled without litigation. A one percent drop would be a 20% increase in litigation (if the anecdotal figure of 95% is accurate)

Dear god, I don't WANT them going to court, unless a few claimants and their briefs could be icarcerated as a result. I'm more interested in what we could achieve if there was a 50% drop in spurious claims for trivial or non-existent injuries

Was a witness to an accident last year, one of our work vans hit a parked vehicle with the driver sat in it.
The insurance came through claiming whiplash, my boss knew the driver of the other vehicle and low and behold they hadn't put in a claim for whiplash, it was just there insurance company trying it on, currently the two insurance parties are talking to each other about the issue.

Obviously she might be trying it on but...

a couple of months ago, I got hit head on by another car at around 10mph. I was stationary (It was a single track road and I'd stopped in time. She was going too fast and couldn't stop)

I got whiplash - nothing excruciating but it was uncomfortable and painful at times. I think in my case it may have been made worse because I had my head turned as I was about to look behind to see if I could reverse. It didn't stop me cycling a couple of times but my neck was pretty sore afterwards. The physio and doctors I saw both also were able to clearly identify the muscles that were in spasm (or whatever the technical term is) in my neck/shoulder.

Was a witness to an accident last year, one of our work vans hit a parked vehicle with the driver sat in it.
The insurance came through claiming whiplash, my boss knew the driver of the other vehicle and low and behold they hadn't put in a claim for whiplash, it was just there insurance company trying it on, currently the two insurance parties are talking to each other about the issue.

Over on Pistonheads a drivers empty/parked car was hit. Several times his insurer asked if he'd like to put in a claim against the other insurer/driver for whiplash. Crackers isn't it.

It seems to me that while the other driver may or may be trying to pull a fast one, we [u]do[/u] know that the OP reversed into another car without bloody seeing it.

The witchhunt with the suggestions of following her around and trying to subborn HR, approach her boss etc seems a bit misdirected.

We were in the front of a concertina-type crash, with the rear car coming off worst just over a year ago. Minor damage to the rear bumper.

We are *still* getting automated calls from parasites saying we should claim for personal injury. Once I managed to get through to the idiots who were calling and told them to stop immediately, that we were OK and didn't want any more calls. Needless to say they didn't.

The "anecdotal" figure of 95% is genuine blue-sky proactive bullshit on my part

With my cynical hat on, you've caused say £600 worth of damage to her car (it can probably be fixed for £150 by a bloke with skill or using a bumper from the scrappy - but at insurance company prices its £600)... ...her insurers have said but your car is only worth £500 so its written off.

She then goes to buy a new car and discovers that £500 gets you SFA. She needs another grand just to get something she considers equivalent to the car you destroyed. Whiplash is a good way to get that grand, plus cover some of the inconvenience, car hire / taxis etc whilst sorting it all out.

If you looked behind you whilst reversing (and you can't have been reversing that slowly for two bumpers to hit and cause significant damage) this wouldn't of happened. Be grateful there wasn't a child walking across the forecourt.

Or you could probably have done the 'old fashioned' thing of (1) exchanging details properly at the scene of an accident so she didn't need to look you up on the work computer (2) suggesting she gets a quote from a local garage to fix it and then you decide if you want to have your insurer pay out or just cover the cost yourself. You'd probably be down £150 quid then (probably how much your premium will go up by this year alone!).

I'm not suggesting fraudulent insurance claims for whiplash are a good idea, but given they offer paltry payouts for write offs it perhaps evens the score a little. Lets face it your colleague was just minding her own business waiting to get petrol when you drove into her, causing her a whole load of grief.

I admitted full liability for the accident, it was my fault, I had a quick glance in the mirror but didn't notice her because her car was close and it was pretty dark.

It wasn't 'significant damage'. There is literally no mark on my car whatsoever. Her bumper has a split in the middle where it folded a bit and the plastic fixings broke at either end.

I have no problem accepting the blame for the incident and the related increase in my premiums, just loathed to take an extra hit for someone else's greed.

Be grateful there wasn't a child walking across the forecourt.

Y'see - it could have been a child's face - how could you!

There is literally no mark on my car whatsoever.

Fortunately the other driver didn't make the expected whiplash claim but he did admit his driving left lots to be desired (boring story but I accept I was at fault, but the other driver really didn't help matters).

Wow I totally agree with Poly. When I was rear ended on the way down for a nice weekend in London I spent almost a week of constant phone calls, 2 days off arranging, dropping off and picking up courtesy car/my car. A visit to A&E, increased insurance premiums and of course one ruined weekend. All because a lad saw me making swift progress and decided to follow me (his words) and then rear-end me on a roundabout as he was (presumably) abit too excited.

As a consequence of the repair not feeling right/car the same again I sold my beloved MX5.

We are *still* getting automated calls from parasites saying we should claim for personal injury

I get these too. but I haven't been in an accident!

Your point is?

Just correcting poly's assumption that there was significant damage.

I'm not trying to justify my inattention. My fault, but these things can happen.

The insurance companies don't help themselves, they're the ones that usually sell on your details to the ambulance chasers

The same number keeps offering me compo. I sent STOP then called them. Stopped for a while....then started again!

The insurance companies [s]don't[/s] help themselves, they're the ones that usually sell on your details to the ambulance chasers

The same number keeps offering me compo. I sent STOP then called them. Stopped for a while....then started again!

...and now they know there's a real phone at the end of the number - expect more texts and calls

I would be very careful concerning you and her working for the same company especially if you are in the senior position. Imagine how that could be played out if if she wanted to. The accident wasn't her fault, your a man using your senior position in work to harass an older, ill, frail lady. I'd report the e-mail to hr at work pointing out that it was out of work, nothing to do with work and as such it is completely unprofessional to approach you in that way.

It might seem a bit ott but you already know she is dishonest enough to put in one false claim. Better to protect yourself.

whiplash is caused by unrestrained motion of the head ending suddenly by the neck.
As you reversed into her the headrest on her seat would have prevented this from happening, her head would have been stopped from moving backwards by the headrest prior to her neck having to do anything, thus preventing any neck injury.
If you hit her side on or from behind her head can move rapidly until restrained by her neck once her body is held in position by a seatbelt.
She's scamming the system as most personal injury claims are these days and your insurer are unlikely to do anything.

you already know she is dishonest enough to put in one false claim.

Burls72- a very very good point.

Have I missed a post along the way or is that just an assumption?

The whiplash claim is obviously false. You can't get whiplash at that speed, especially when hit by someone reversing into the front of your car. In other countries you can't even claim for whiplash under a certain speed which is well above walking speed.

Got a phone call from some ambulance chasers yesterday, "I believe you've been involved in an incident in the last 3 years" only thing I've been involved in is a couple of pretty minor incidents on my bike, wonder who gave them my details - reckon it must have been one of the drivers insurance companies.

(told him to get lost btw)

BTW why did she email you through work to get your details? Did you not stop at the scene? If so you are on dodgy ground already.

An interesting one. I was actually knocked off my bike two weeks ago and my initial reaction was that as long as the driver pays for my bike and helmet (written off) I wasn’t too badly injured and wasn’t going to bring a PI claim. But actually 2 weeks on my back injury is seriously limiting what I can do and I’m considering adding the injuries into the mix. As others have said, the payout for the bike and helmet themselves are unlikely to cover the actual amount of money and time I spend sorting it out, nor do they take account of the days when I’ve been in tears about it, the fact that I’ve found it really hard to get out on the bike again because of the fear, the fact that I’ve been unable to run and have missed two races I’d entered and all the rest of it.

As it happens I work for a large law firm that does a lot of claimant PI work (although I’m not a PI lawyer and we often make fun of the ambulance chasers upstairs) so they will act for me. Some of the partners doing RTA work owe me a favour or two. The only other people with full details are the police (I have details of the driver but she didn’t ask for mine and I didn’t think to give them to her). I haven’t attempted to make a claim on my home insurance for damage to the bike so no insurers are involved at my end and because I’ve gone straight to the people here to get advice I haven’t involved any claims management companies either.

So I was rather surprised to get a call from a claims management company yesterday saying that I might be entitled to compensation for injuries in my accident. I’m now trying to get details from them about what (if any) details they have and how they operate. What I got from them on the phone is that they get details from price comparison websites and if you say you’ve been involved in an accident as part of getting an insurance quote this flags you up and they give you a call. All very well and good apart from the fact that I’d never been in an accident before this one, and I haven’t got any insurance quotes in the last 14 days. And if I had, with it not being a car accident I wouldn’t have declared it.

I *think* that it’s entirely speculative, and they just get hold of names and phone numbers but no information about accidents then try to do some fishing to see if there is anything but I’m doing a subject access request to find out exactly what they know and where they get it from. Interestingly despite me getting stroppy with them yesterday about it they’ve tried to call me again today. I missed the call, but if they call back I’ll be making them squirm again…

Did you give your details to the Police Officer(s) if they attended?
Sounds like they didn't?

Or (more likely) at the hospital?

I *think* that it’s entirely speculative, and they just get hold of names and phone numbers but no information about accidents then try to do some fishing to see if there is anything

I think most people already knew that TBH - along with all the PPI chasers

Yeah, I'd always assumed it was speculative but the timing just makes me wonder which is why I'm trying to trace what information they have and where it's from rather than just ignoring it.

Well my local A&E has wall to wall huge 'right to money', 'have you had an accident' claims Solicitor signs the whole way round. I imagine the Hospital Manager knows what hes doing and someone somewhere is looking at the hospital computer and tipping off for commission..

nwilko - Member
whiplash is caused by unrestrained motion of the head ending suddenly by the neck.
As you reversed into her the headrest on her seat would have prevented this from happening, her head would have been stopped from moving backwards by the headrest prior to her neck having to do anything, thus preventing any neck injury.

Depends what direction he hit her from. If he reversed into the front of her car, moving her car backwards, her body would have moved back, leaving her head to move forwards (relatively) and be stopped by her neck. Your example only works if she was hit from behind.

If she was stationary she may also not have been sitting square and right back in the seat
Getting something from the glovebox maybe?

She's probably milking it but you can't say with any sort of certainty

Got a phone call from some ambulance chasers yesterday, "I believe you've been involved in an incident in the last 3 years

Could easily just be a cold call. "I believe you've been in an accident" - "nope" - "sorry, our mistake, bye." Law of averages, someone's going to say yes eventually.

Yeah, I'd always assumed it was speculative but the timing just makes me wonder

Could easily just be a cold call.

Just for those interested, I've received two emails since this thread asking if I need a no win, no fee lawyer for my accident. They specifically mentioned STW. @rseholes.