To ask if you'd accept this?

[pinklite]

A couple of months ago I had car accident which wasn't my fault. My car was written off and I suffered with whiplash and back pain as a result of the accident and am still struggling very badly with anxiety. I have considered seeing my GP as I'm constantly having irrational thoughts about bad things happening to myself and my family, as the accident made me realise that I'm ultimately not in control of other people's actions which could cause harm. My sleep has also been affected and even though it's been a few weeks, I still replay what happened in my head almost every single day. Not to mention I'm now really anxious driving anywhere.

My solicitors have been in touch and have put forward a quote of £1.5k. Is this about normal for incidents like this or should I expect more?

what do you mean by a quote? An offer of settlement from the other driver’s insurers, or an idea of what they think your claim is worth? Have you told them you have ongoing psychological symptoms? Are you seeking treatment for it?

No, it's a first offer which is expected to be rejected but your solicitor has to pass it on.
I had an RTA 30 years ago with whiplash and I think I got more than that even then no psychological issues either

I’d say thats about standard to be honest for whiplash/back pain, I’m assuming as you haven’t yet been to a GP about the anxiety there is no official record of it and so that won’t be being considered? I used to work for an insurance company and typically there’s just a list of all injuries with a cost beside them, that would be about right for the issues you’ve mentioned

You need a medical opinion. What is the offer in relation to?

I've had a medical which was arranged by my solicitors. She then wrote a medical report with the prognosis for the above symptoms and referred me for anxiety management but I haven't heard anything further about that

Whiplash alongside non-whiplash injuries

Sounds about right. What did the expert say about your anxiety?
Soft tissue injuries are worth fuck all these days.

Google it too, range is from £240 to over £4k depending on severity

She said she could refer me but also suggested visiting my GP if it's really severe to be prescribed something to help

Just really not sure what to do and I only have until tomorrow to accept/reject

That seems incredibly low. I got £10,000 for a broken nose and written off £1000 car 30 years ago.

No I wouldn't be accepting of that as your solicitor should be guiding you accordingly.

For reference I had a minor read end shunt...i had a courtesy car for 10days while mine was fixed. Off sick for 2 days with headache and neck pain. 8 physio sessions for neck pain, had to have a link dependant physical with a rtc expert consultant and just been offered 3.7k which my solicitor has stated is low

People will be on telling you what they got 5 years ago or whatever and it's irrelevant because the law has changed and there is a fixed tariff.
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2021/9780348220612#:~:text=%C2%A34%2C345.&text=(b)where%20a%20person%20suffers,that%20injury%20or%20those%20injuries.

The claim value my solicitors sent across was made of 2 parts, whiplash and non whiplash. I'm aware the whiplash bit is on a tariff and is non negotiable, it's the non whiplash part which I'm disputing

I believe they have now changed the way the process for compensation works for car accidents. What people got a few years ago is now fairly irrelevant and it's not the same as it was,

If you turn this one down I believe it can go through to a fairly lengthy process which can take months if not years to conclude: a friend just won a case from 3 years ago where she was hospitalised but there was still a lot of appeals and a lot of proof required of her injuries

@Just1234 Yeah, I wanted to avoid dragging it out longer if that makes sense don't want it to be going on for months/years!

77% of drivers will be involved in one or more RTAs in their lifetime. I understand that your first one can be a bit of a shock but you don’t need to dwell on this.

Think about how lucky you are not to have any serious injuries, accept the offer, and then put it all behind you. I don’t think prolonging negotiations will be helpful to your recovery.

You could hold out for more money, but you need to weigh up if you’ll actually end up with more. More money may come with more time, more money spent on solicitors so that takes a chunk from your award anyway, and actually that doesn’t sound too low anyway so you could take it further and still end up no better off

I'd reject it as they are bound to come back with more.
Dk how much though.
Definitely see the GP about anxiety etc. if you get meds from them or a referral to therapy it could count in your favour as evidence towards the claim.

That seems very low. I got £3k about 20 years ago for a whiplash.

It has all massively changed since then, the average for whiplash in 2024 is around £600.

Unless you've been diagnosed with an actual condition, like specific phobia or situational anxiety, the non-whiplash bit is also worth very little.

Your solicitor should have told you what your injury is worth, take their advice. They've seen your medical evidence and there's a reason you hire a professional.

I had a very similar accident to you, my car was write off as someone went into the back of me. It was just me in the car, I had some whiplash and also anxiety as I had a history of using anti depressants. I was made to go and see a psychologist who wrote a report. I got 10k in compensation and also reimbursed for the cost of the car that was wrecked. You deserve a lot more than 1.5k.

This was in 2020 and I didn't actually get the money till 2022 because of issues with the other guys insurance, I used one of those no claims companies who deal with no fault crashes and they paired me up with a solicitor, courtesy car etc

This is irrelevant to the OP though. The rules all changes on whiplash claims from May 2021, so your case in 2020 falls under the old guidance.