Relatively minor neck injuries are quite common in many types of accidents. They result in pain, discomfort and stiffness that might take a few weeks or months to dissipate. Other neck injuries result in long-term suffering and, in many serious cases, can be life-changing. However, whatever type of neck injury you’ve sustained, if the accident that caused it resulted from somebody else’s negligence you may be eligible to make a neck injury claim for compensation.

We’re ready to help if you’d like to discuss your options. You can call our team now on 0800 652 1345 to begin or continue reading the rest of this guide to find out more first.

Types of neck injuries you could claim compensation for

Our personal injury lawyers could help you to claim compensation for a neck injury of any severity. That means they could help with:

• Minor neck injuries.
  Where the soft tissues in the neck (ligaments, tendons, muscles etc) are strained, sprained or torn. Although these are fairly common neck injuries, they could cause you months or even years of pain and mean you can’t work or carry out your normal daily activities. You might also find our page on soft tissue injury claims beneficial.
• Moderate neck injuries.
  This category includes injuries like cervical spondylosis, prolapsed discs and similar conditions that result in permanent or ongoing pain. It is possible that, even after treatment, your symptoms could last for a few years.
• Severe neck injuries.
  This category includes life-changing neck injuries. Paraplegia, quadriplegia and other forms of paralysis linked to neck injuries are possible and will affect many aspects of the claimant’s life. In the worst cases, there will be very little chance of recovery and all aspects of their life will be affected.

If you suffered a whiplash neck injury, you might like to consider reading our updated whiplash compensation claims page.

Can I claim compensation for a neck injury?

Our solicitors would like to help with every case that comes their way but, realistically, they can only take on neck injury claims that have a reasonable chance of success. To verify whether this is the case for your claim, they’ll try to ascertain whether:

• You were owed a duty of care by the defendant in your claim; and
• Because of their negligence, an accident occurred; and
• You sustained a neck injury from that accident.

If you believe that your claim meets all three criteria, you could be entitled to compensation. You shouldn’t be too concerned about proving a duty of care as this is something your solicitor will clarify when your neck injury claim is initially reviewed.

Neck injury compensation payouts

While the guidelines for neck injury compensation payouts are exactly that, not set in stone and not legally binding, they are used on a regular basis by the courts, solicitors, and insurance companies to calculate personal injury compensation payments. The figures are calculated by the Judicial College which takes into account historical cases.

• Minor neck injury – Soft tissue injuries are the most common type of neck injury often referred to as whiplash. The duration of the injury and pain can last up to 3 months and attract compensation awards of up to £7,890.
• Moderate neck injury – Moderate neck injuries such as dislocations or fractures. The level of compensation for what would be considered a moderate neck injury takes into account the severity, amount of pain, length of time the injury lasts, and level of recovery. Compensation guidelines for a moderate neck injury can range from £7,890 to £38,490.
• Severe neck injury – This type of injury takes into account the severest forms of neck injury, i.e a badly broken neck, resulting in permanent disability with the most severe including conditions such as paraplegia, spastic quadriparesis and paralysis. Compensation awards for severe neck injury are expected to range from around £45,470 to £148,330.

It is worth noting that the above payments refer to general damages only.

Common accidents that cause neck injuries

Neck injuries are possible in almost any type of accident. We won’t provide details of each of them here but we will list some of the more common accidents that could lead to a neck injury compensation claim. Please don’t be put off from enquiring about a claim if your injury isn’t listed here. Instead, use our live chat service or give us a call to check whether you could be in a position to proceed.

Neck injuries from road traffic accidents (RTAs)

If you’re involved in an RTA caused by another driver’s negligence and you sustain a neck injury, you may be able to claim compensation from their insurance policy. Negligence in RTAs can include dangerous driving, careless driving, speeding, drink-driving or road rage amongst other things.

Cyclists, motorcyclists and pedestrians are perhaps more likely to sustain serious neck injuries in a car accident than other road users because of their lack of protection.

See our page on RTA claims.

An update on whiplash claims

Whiplash is a very common neck injury in road traffic accidents that lead to personal injury claims. However, the rules for car passengers or drivers who want to claim compensation for whiplash have changed. Since May 2021, low-value claims (under £5,000) can be dealt with through a government portal by the claimant.

We would suggest that you speak to one of our advisors to check whether one of our solicitors could help you or whether you should manage the claim yourself. This only applies to road traffic accident claims and not other types of accidents resulting in whiplash injuries.

Neck injury at work

According to the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, employers have a duty to take reasonable steps to protect staff welfare. That means you could claim compensation for a neck injury at work if your accident happened because:

• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) wasn’t provided by your employer when it should have been. See our PPE compensation claims page.
• You weren’t trained properly. See our inadequate training claims page.
• A faulty or poorly maintained piece of machinery caused your neck to be hurt. See our workplace machinery injury claims page.
• Safety procedures were not adhered to in your workplace because of a lack of supervision.

Amongst other things, workplace neck injuries can result from:

• Falling from height.
• Being struck by an object.
• Items falling on you.
• Manual handling.

If you’ve sustained a neck injury at work and would like to seek damages from your employer, please get in touch on 0800 652 1345.

Neck injury from a slip, trip or fall

While seeing somebody trip over and fall might seem quite comical from afar, these types of accidents can lead to serious neck injuries that are not funny in the slightest. You may be able to claim for a neck injury caused by:

• Wet floors caused by cleaning, leaks or spillages that have not been cordoned off with warning signs. See our wet floor injury claims page.
• Trip hazards that were difficult to see because of poor lighting.
• Council pavement defects such as potholes, raised slabs or missing kerbstones. See our council compensation claims page.
• Missing hand or safety rails.

If you’ve injured your neck following a fall, please call to find out if you could be compensated for your injuries.

Medical negligence neck injuries

Medical professionals have a duty of care to provide a reasonable level of care to their patients. While that happens in most cases, mistakes can happen. If a medical professional’s negligence leads to a neck injury (or makes one worse), you could claim compensation for your suffering. For example, you may be able to claim if:

• You suffered an avoidable neck injury due to mistakes during surgery.
• Your GP failed to get your neck injury checked by a specialist. See our GP negligence claims page.
• A doctor in a hospital misdiagnosed your neck injury after reading x-rays incorrectly.

Again, however you’ve injured your neck, if somebody else’s negligence led to your accident, you could potentially sue them for compensation. Arrange a free consultation today if you’d like to find out more.

How much compensation for a neck injury can I claim?

Neck injury compensation claims are usually based on how bad the injury is/was (general damages) and the costs you’ve incurred (special damages). Each claim is unique but, generally, you could be compensated for:

• Physical pain and suffering.
• Mental harm such as distress, depression, anxiety or PTSD. See our pages on psychological injury claims and/or PTSD compensation claims.
• Care costs to cover the time of professional carers or where a friend or relative has supported the claimant.
• Medical expenses including private treatment for your neck injury in certain cases.
• Lost income and future loss of earnings.
• Travel expenses.
• Mobility aids or adaptations to the home to give the claimant a better quality of life. This might include widening doors to provide better wheelchair access or installing hoists, wetrooms or lifts for more serious neck injuries.

Our solicitors always strive to try and make sure that a full and fair compensation payment is received.

Claiming compensation on behalf of somebody else

For more serious neck injuries, it may be possible for a partner, friend or relative to tackle the claims process on behalf of the claimant. The litigation friend process allows this to happen if the claimant is a child or does not have the mental capacity to manage the claim themselves.

Our solicitors can help you to get approved as a litigation friend and explain the process in more detail.

Providing proof for neck injury compensation claims

When you start a compensation claim for a neck injury, it’s more than likely that your solicitor will have to deal with the defendant’s insurance company. They might deny all liability for the accident and your injuries so your solicitor will need to convince them by providing supporting proof of your claim. This could include:

• Photographs of the accident scene. Ideally, these will show the aftermath of your accident before the root cause has been repaired, removed or replaced.
• Details of anybody else who saw the accident happen. Witness statements could help to corroborate your version of events.
• X-rays and other medical records from the hospital that treated your neck injury.
• Accident report forms to help confirm the date, time and location of your accident.
• Dashcam or CCTV footage of your accident occurring. Legally, you’re allowed to request this footage from the owner but you must act quickly as it’s usually deleted quickly.

Other medical evidence for your claim

Any compensation award for neck injuries is largely based on the severity of your injury and how it will affect you. As such, to help prove the extent of your injuries, you may need to see an independent medical expert which can normally be arranged locally for you by our solicitors.

They will examine you, discuss how your neck injury has affected you and read through your medical records. For serious neck injuries, this process may take some time. Once the specialist has reached a conclusion, they’ll prepare a report to set out your prognosis. The report will be filed with your solicitor and the defendant.

Neck injury claim time limits

If you want to file a compensation claim, you’ll have a 3-year time limit that would start either from the date of your accident or the date your neck injury was diagnosed. However, for claims involving children or a claimant who doesn’t have the mental capacity to claim themselves, the limitation period won’t apply until certain conditions are met.

We would suggest that you begin your claim as soon as you’re able to so that evidence gathering is easier and to allow ample time for your solicitor to complete their work.

For minor neck injuries, you could be compensated within around 9 months or less. However, as you might expect, for life-changing neck injury claims, the process could take many years while the full impact of the injuries is assessed. However, in these cases, interim payments might be made by the defendant if they’ve accepted liability. These payments could help to cover loss of earnings, care costs or private medical treatment. See our page on interim payments in personal injury claims.

No Win, No Fee neck injury claims

We strongly believe that you’ll have a stronger chance of being compensated properly for your neck injury if you’re represented by a personal injury solicitor. If your neck injury claim is accepted and you wish to proceed, you will be sent a Conditional Fee Agreement (commonly by email) to sign.

The CFA will explain what your solicitor will do for you and confirm that:

• You don’t have to pay your solicitor for their work in advance.
• You won’t pay for their work unless you are compensated.
• You’ll only have to pay a success fee of a set % of your compensation if your claim is won.

If you’d like to find out whether a No Win, No Fee solicitor from our team could help you, please call today.

Start a neck injury compensation claim today

Our specialist advisors are ready to help if you’ve decided to take action. Simply call us on 0800 652 1345 today for a review of your case along with free legal advice.

If there are grounds to continue, we’ll appoint a solicitor from our team. They’ll review everything in more detail and represent you on a No Win, No Fee basis if you both agree to work together.

Thanks for reading our guide on neck injury claims, and if you have any further questions about the claims process, please contact us today.