Car accident compensation please help!

[Matteblack]

18 months ago I was hit by an HGV when stationary in my mini. It was a rear end shunt into me as I was queuing to join a roundabout. He just didn't stop.

Although it was a fairly low speed collision, due to the size disparity betweeb us there was damage to the car and it felt like being hit by a missile. It made my head ring! I went straight to hospital with ringing in my right ear and neck pain and was given painkillers.

My bumper had to be replaced and I was diagnosed with whiplash and tinnitus by my GP afterwards. I fully expected to get better with time but it just hasn't happened.

18 months later and I am now on antidepressants, I struggle to work my usual hours because the position my neck needs to be in is now very uncomfortable. I take painkillers (codeine) most days and I cannot sleep well at night because the tinnitus seems worst then when it's quiet. I take amitryptaline every night to help me sleep but often I'm awake until the early hours. I am exhausted and miserable.

I had had an operation on my neck to remove lymph nodes the year before the accident so my neck area is weak and I think this has exacerbated things - I had never had neck pain before the accident and now it always feels stiff and tight.

I am self employed and am having to cut down my hours because the neck pain makes long hours difficult and I am constantly exhausted due to poor sleep. I tattoo women's faces for a living so this is not a job that can be done when you are tired or in pain!

I am desperate to see an ENT but because of covid my solicitor (who said she would arrange this) is hardly working and I can't get hold of her. I feel so low I am starting to feel like there's no point to anything.

My GP knows I have had thoughts of suicide because I just feel like this accident has robbed me of my future.

Whenever I have looked online it says that whiplash with tinnitus claims are well known to be mostly fraudulent so now I'm worried about even pursuing the claim but I am desperate to get some help so now I feel stuck.

What should I do?

Stop looking online.
Be more assertive with your solicitor. You need treatment/referral. What are they doing?

If you want an ENT for treatment you need referral via your GP. The ENT report in your claim is purely for valuation purposes (the experts in claims have a duty to the Court, not you. Unlike your treating experts whose duty is to you as their patient). While an expert in a claim may recommend treatment, and it can be quicker to get private treatment via an interim payment / the other side arranging it, you really need to get the ball rolling via your GP in the first instance.

You have a duty to mitigate your loss (minimise financial losses and length of injury), and seeking timely treatment is part of that mitigation.

Have you seen your GP about the tinnitus since the accident? For this kind of thing it helps to have a paper trail.

Not all tinnitus claims are deemed to be fraudulent, some are though as it's an invisible injury. It all depends on each individual case. Your solicitor should warn you about the risk of being found to be fraudulent, if she feels it's appropriate.

Go and see your Gp and get your solicitor to pull her finger out. They're all working normally so don't believe any bull she's isn't working much.
If she is being crap get a new solicitor.

This is a difficult one, whiplash and tinnitus is usually a small claim/minor injury but suicidal and loss of earnings is a big claim, thr two don’t usually don’t go together. You need a better solicitor if it’s the latter with medical experts. I guess you’re with a small local firm struggling with Covid.

Judges do have at the back of their minds whiplash may be fraudulent, but due to the size disparity in the vehicles it will likely be taken as real claim, ...But if it’s just whiplash and tinnitus it is likely you need to be realistic about any small payment you’d get, 18 months is a long time for that to go on, and a judge may cap it, based on what the experts say caused it.

If it’s a bigger claim, suicidal, loss of earnings etc, you need to get your solicitor on it, it’s slow work, you will need reports from different medical experts, orthapeadic surgeon, ent, therapist etc.

You need to speak to your solicitor here about what you’re actually claiming and what’s involved.

@Bluntness100, no, they aren't usually a small claim. That is a very specific term where - currently - personal injury damages are below £1,000.00. This goes up to £5k in May for RTAs.

It also isn't just about the disparity of the vehicle sizes. If you're claiming for an injury which is ongoing at 18 months, it's expected that you'll have sought medical treatment for that injury. If you haven't, the Defendant will be asking the Judge to find that it's either a) not that bad as you've not done anything about it or b) fraudulent. The last thing you want is a fundamental dishonesty finding. Your solicitor has the evidence needed to assess your claim's prospects of success and the - potential - risk of an FD finding. If they sleepwalk you into FD, they're negligent.

OP, if you're not happy with your solicitor, you're free to change firms. And contrary to PP's belief, some solicitors (at large firms) have been furloughed (very publicly) during the pandemic. You can be furloughed for childcare reasons as well.