Lud the same happened to my stepson. No visible damage to cars and all drivers and passengers fine. He even phoned them later to check they were okay and they were. Next day he checks again and they had all gone to hospital. It will have cost the insurance a fortune - the car damage claim was for at least £2000! And then the whiplash.
The other issue is insurers holding out settling claims. My brother nearly got killed when a boy racer hit his Fiesta at the rear, overturned it and the fuel tank ruptured. The exhaust was cold so the fuel did not ignite. It took about 18 months to get payment for a car worth £900! Lawyer fees on both sides came to about £30k!!! And due to a mix-up my brother incurred storage charges for the write off that ran into many hundreds.
Edited by rtj70 on 14/11/2008 at 23:09
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Just to put the other side for a second...
A man drove in the back of me while I was sitting at traffic lights when I had my Polo a few years back. I was fine apart from a seatbelt bruise that day, but the next morning I couldn't move my head or arm without serious pain. It hurt just to sit still.
The painkillers I had to take turned me into a zombie, so I couldn't attend my part time job or university. The courtesy car I was given was rubbish and drank much more petrol than my car normally would. To a student, that matters!
In the months between the collision and the other insurance company settling, I had to renew my insurance, and because there was an outstanding claim my premium was over a hundred pounds more, that I was never able to get back and had to pay the higher premium for a year, even when the claim was settled.
Six months later my neck cracked again and I was in more pain, more time off work and more time off university. And I had to pay for public transport because I couldn't drive. I still get twinges now, 6 years later, but luckily I get sick pay now, so ironically I would be less likely to claim now that when I was at university.
So, in some cases, where someone has cost you financially through no fault of your own, there's justification in claiming. I would never have thought of doing it though, but the company who sorted out the insurance claim, courtesy car and everything did it automatically as soon as they asked the question about whether I had needed to see a doctor.
I feel no guilt for claiming. The man that drove into me should have been looking where he was going. I'm only disappointed I couldn't take the money directly from him instead of from his insurance company.
Edited by PoloGirl on 14/11/2008 at 23:27
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I got hit from behind on a slip road on the M6 near Birmingham. The car didn't look badly damaged, but was a write-off. I felt fine at the time, but a few hours later, at home, started to feel neck pain. Went to hospital and was given a neck collar and painkillers.
The insurance co. automatically put in a whiplash claim and I had to have an separate examination for neck injury. Got a £4k payout.
That was 13 years ago and I still suffer with neck pain if I tip my head back or turn it to the right. On balance I'd rather not have had the £4k and not have had the whiplash!
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I got whiplash from driving at low speed over a pothole in the road. I claimed for £1200 damage to my suspension and tyres in court and won. The whiplash (or at least the painful neck) only lasted 10 days, and I didn't want the hassle of claiming for that - I healed, but the car didn't. I have been in much more severe crashes and not had any neck discomfort at all, so it must just be luck of how your head is at the time of impact, I was just turning my head to look right at the time of driving over the worst pothole ever. You can nod your head, you can rock it side to side, but if you turn your head to the side, you will find your neck is twisted up and you can't rock or nod it much in any direction.
Edited by Hamsafar on 15/11/2008 at 11:58
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High time this scam was stamped on.
To set the record straight, I don't think every whiplash claim is dishonest, obviously. There are genuine cases, as other posters indicate.
But in 45 years of driving, which has included one or two impacts, I have never suffered anything resembling it. I don't believe the woman who claimed against my daughter was even slightly injured. And as other posters have indicated, some at least of these claims are utterly fraudulent. In fact since the authorities have noticed, a lot of them must be.
One of these posts mentions two adults and two children making such a fraudulent claim, and all going to hospital to back it up. One cannot help wondering what effect the parents think it will have on their children, making them take part in a mean-minded, manipulative petty financial fraud. I feel very sorry for such children, and am nervous about having dealings with people who have been brought up like that.
Are they a majority yet in our country?
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>>making them take part in amean-minded manipulative petty financial fraud. I feel very sorry for such children and am nervous about having dealings with people who have been brought up like that. Are they a majority yet in our country?
I know what whiplash is, and how it is caused, but is it one of those strange medical conditions which doctors can't diagnose easily, if at all?
Like the other old favourite of the skiving classes, the 'bad back'?
I recall many moons back having a co-worker who had many days off due to a 'bad back'.
He was greatly suprised when he was told his services were no longer required, as it was obvious that carrying boxes around was part and parcel of the warehousing job, and if he was incapable of doing so because of his 'bad back' then obviously he had chosen the wrong career...
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well I agree with pologirl. I was struck by a car whilst stationary in a traffic queue in the outside lane of a motorway by a vehicle travelling inexcess of the speed limit. It still hurts years later & it only takes a sudden movement to trigger off excess pain etc. I would rater of gone without the accident. Major whiplash can be quite debilitating for years & years. No matter how big a pay out its never enough to cover losses & change of life style
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As an NHS receptionist I get people walking in with 'whiplash' , usually after being rear-ended. Some times they just want to be checked over but it is almost invariable that however they feel, their condition will worsen over the next 48 hours as bruisning and swelling sets in. One man walked in with his head very very slightly tilted down to one side - he was off in an ambulance within 15 minutes, strapped to a spinal stretcher and with his head/neck immobilised - query broken neck! Never mind the insurance claims, at least get it checked out by a professional!
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Well said, Lud. My neighbour braked heavily on the motorway to avoid an obstacle, then was nudged from behind by the following driver. He claimed whiplash even though unhurt - because "he might as well"!!! Even went to hospital to get it on record, wasting a few hours of NHS time as well. What kind of example are they setting to their kids, these people?
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because "he might as well"!!!
Sad indeed, Bazza.
Armitage, while I have every sympathy for those who are genuinely hurt in collisions, I often wonder how many aren't given the proper treatment at A&E because the medics on duty are blasé after witnessing scores of chancers who 'might as well'.
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There was a story a few years ago about a bus which was involved in a collision in Liverpool. When the police arrived the bus was packed, which surprised them as the accident happened during a normally quiet time of day. Everybody seemed to be complaining about back and neck injuries. One of the police officers announced to the passengers that they would be checking the buses CCTV footage to determine who was sitting where when the collision occured.
Thirteen people immediatly got up and left the bus.
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Robin Reliant as you say there was a story of people getting onto the bus after the accident and claiming injury. Unbelievable.
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I had a big crash a couple of months ago where a car crossed the central reservation of a dual carriageway and hit my car, we were both doing around 60mph. After a bit of the car rolling over and a lot of noise I got out and was fine other than a few small cuts from flying glass. The paramedics checked me out, put me in a neck brace and took me to hospital where they said I was fine.
As I left the hospital I took a taxi back home and the first thing the taxi driver offered me was a card for an accident solicitor!
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On a related subject, and noting the ENCAP testing regime is about to be revised, is there any testing of the effects of rear end collisions? Photographs of the test always show a front end impact, and there is mention of side impact and pole impact tests. Given that there must be a reasonable percentage of rear impacts (see posts above), also that children are in the rear of car, there seems to be very little "cushioning" structure in the typical mini/supermini-sized cars or the cars with a third row of seats.
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'Darren, tell the man where your neck hurts.'
'It hurts here, where Dad punched me up the throat when I quoted George Washington and said I could not tell a lie.'
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To be fair the article I read in one of the other rags was just saying that they need to cut out the "false" claims... I think we are all agreed that there are plenty of them (the article said around 20%!!) so something needs to be done, whilst also protecting the genuine cases... it seems its costs us on average £66 per policyto fund these claims!
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I'd never heard of whiplash until "No win, no fee" came about.
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one of the other rags was just saying that they need to cut out the "false" claims...
No problem about weeding out fraudulent claims and then taking them to court for attempted fraud. However, HJ's news item, which is probably a press release from the ABI, fails to mention "fraud".
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The article I read goes into more detail and quotes from a "report" by the Insurance Fraud Bureau... its in the Mail if I'm allowed to say that?!
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Would it not be easier to just get rid of lawyers????
They are the root of all the claim society, breaching human rights etc that we now have.
Wonder how long it will be before jail is seen as a breach of their human rights as well???
(Spot the bravery - I don't think PU is about tonight) :)
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Get away back to X factor dancing thingy!! :)
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Oh yes I am.
Supervising us via your blackberry while chasing an ambulance PU?
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We can't chase them any more, only follow.
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