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Tesco Insurance Claims Guide – How To Claim Compensation For Whiplash

Within this guide, you will learn about the legal process of making a Tesco car insurance personal injury claim. The single caveat being that for this guide to be of use to you, the negligent driver who crashed into you would need to be insured by Tesco car insurance. We will look at some of the legal aspects of making a claim, and try to show how certain decisions will affect the level of compensation you receive.

If you have other questions that this guide hasn’t covered, please speak to a member of our claims team on 0800 073 8804. They are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. One of our friendly advisors will answer your questions, and also explain how we could arrange for a personal injury lawyer to process your whiplash claim for you.

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A Guide To Tesco Car Insurance Whiplash Claims

This comprehensive guide to making a Tesco car insurance whiplash claim should provide you with all of the information and advice you need to decide what to do about your own claim. We begin this guide by looking at what whiplash is, how it is caused, and what the symptoms are.

Whiplash compensation claims against Tesco car insurance guide

The middle part of this guide offers some help and advice for dealing with the claim before it goes to court. We look at whether or not it is a good idea to accept an initial or pre-medical settlement offer. We also look at which insurance provider the claim should be made against. Additionally, we cover the concept of split liability claims.

The final part of this guide is focused on the financial aspects of making a claim. We have not included a generic personal injury claims calculator on this page. Instead, we have added a table based on UK judicial guidelines that shows possible amounts of compensation for a range of injuries. You will also find a list of some of the more frequently seen kinds of damages that could make up a settlement. Finally, we explain how No Win, No Fee claims work and will show why this kind of fee structure could lower your exposure to financial risk when making your claim.

If you have any questions at all about the information in this guide, the claims process in general, or the service we offer, please speak to a member of our claims team. They will provide you with the answers you need, and help you to begin moving forward with your claim.

What Are The Signs And Symptoms Of Whiplash

In this section, we intend to answer the question: ‘what is a whiplash injury?’ We go over symptoms, causes and treatment. The reason why whiplash is so common for victims of road traffic accidents is because it is known as a nonspecific injury. What this means is that whiplash can be caused by general damage to the neck, muscles, ligaments, or vertebrae. No single injury can be pointed to as causing the pain and suffering; it is a combination of potentially several injuries. This is what we mean by whiplash being a nonspecific medical condition. Typical symptoms of whiplash can include, but are not limited to:

  • Spasming in the muscles of the neck, shoulders and arms. This may be accompanied by pins and needles or numbness.
  • Neck pain which can range in severity from trivial to severe.
  • Stiffness of the neck, or having difficulty moving the head side to side, up and down or back and forth.
  • Nonspecific headaches that can range from minor to serious.

Whiplash has, in the past, been used as a basis for fraudulent compensation claims. Therefore, it is important that you can prove the extent of your injuries. If you speak to our claims team, they will explain why having an independent medical examination is required so that a solicitor can value your claim accurately. The NHS has published some excellent information about whiplash and its causes, symptoms and treatment.

When Should I Claim For Whiplash On My Own Insurance?

In this section, we will answer the question: ‘can or should I claim for whiplash on my own insurance?’ In general, insurance firms deny policyholders the ability to claim for any injuries that they themselves were the cause of. Therefore, if you are injured in a road traffic accident that was your fault, you would not be able to claim for whiplash under your own insurance.

You would, of course, be able to claim for whiplash against another road user’s insurance if they were the cause of the accident. There is one set of circumstances where you will claim against your own insurance, and this is called a knock-for-knock claim. We will explain what this is in more detail in a later section.

Insights Into Whiplash Claims Against Insurance Companies

Part of the answer to the question: ‘how do you claim for whiplash injury?’ is that you need to make sure that you do everything possible to a) ensure your chances of a claim being successful are as good as possible, and b) maximise the level of compensation you receive. There are several facts that you should take on board at this stage, and these are:

  • In general, people who accept an early or pre-medical settlement receive significantly less compensation than people who follow the claims process to its end.
  • Securing the services of a specialist accident and injury solicitor can increase your chance of making a successful claim.
  • If you are offered an early or pre-medical settlement, it is a good idea to take legal advice to find out if this would be a recommended course of action in your case.

We understand that making a compensation claim is something most people are not familiar with. We can provide the kinds of help and advice that you need to navigate the claims process, and maximise the amount of compensation you receive. Speak to one of our claim advisors, who will begin to advise you on how best to proceed with your claim.

Split Liability And Knock For Knock Whiplash Claims

The cause of some accidents is clear cut. One party is obviously responsible for causing the accident. Other accidents are not so easy to assign blame for. In some accidents, one party will be responsible for causing the accident, but another may have contributed to it in some way. This is what we term split liability personal injury claims. In this situation, the claimant’s legal team will negotiate with the defendant’s legal team, and a level of liability will be agreed on. This level of liability, expressed as a percentage, will be used to calculate the overall level of compensation the claimant receives.

There is a further set of circumstances where both parties share the blame. This is what is termed a knock-for-knock claim. Each party is seen as equally liable. In this case, both parties will make a claim for their injuries against their own insurance policy. This is generally the only time that insurers will allow a person to claim on their own insurance for an injury they have sustained in a road traffic accident.

If you are unsure whether your own case could be a split liability or knock-for-knock claim, talk your situation over with our claims team. They will be able to advise you about this.

Should I Always Take An Insurance Company’s First Offer?

If you need to make a Tesco car insurance accident claim, you may find that Tesco responds to the claim very quickly, admitting liability and offering an instant settlement. Tesco will try to minimise the amount of compensation that they pay to claimants. They will offer a low-ball settlement in the hopes the claimant accepts it, rather than risk not getting any compensation at all if they make a full claim using their own personal injury solicitor. If you are offered an instant settlement, you may want to consider the following:

  • There is no pressure to accept the offer. You can rebuff it and then proceed to make a full claim using your own accident and injury solicitor.
  • In general, the time limit for making a claim is three years from the date of the accident (although this can differ in some cases). Therefore, you have time to consider your claim and make sure you make the right choices.
  • It is generally not a good idea to accept any settlement before you have had the seriousness of your injuries evaluated by a medical professional.
  • Tesco may send you one or more documents, asking you to sign and return them. Do not sign anything until your solicitor has looked the documents over for you.
  • Tesco may have said that they are willing to provide you with legal help to resolve the claim. There is nothing to say you cannot turn down this offer and engage your own solicitor.

If you have been offered an instant settlement by Tesco, we can help you evaluate whether it would be a good idea or not to accept it. Call our claims team and explain your situation to a financial advisor. They will provide the help you need.

Should I Accept A Settlement Offer Before I See A Doctor?

As we mentioned in the section above, when it comes to Tesco injury claims the insurer is going to do everything possible to pay the least compensation. This could include offering a settlement before medical evidence has been submitted. This is called a pre-medical settlement. In general, the average whiplash claim is higher for claimants who do not accept a pre-med settlement. However, in some cases, such as those where the claimant has actually suffered a very minor injury, taking the pre-medical settlement might be a good idea. 

There are quite a few facts that you won’t have uncovered at the stage of a claim where a pre-med settlement is offered. This includes:

  • The actual extent of your injuries and what the prognosis for a full recovery is.
  • Whether recovery and recuperation will be protracted.
  • Whether you will have to pay for some kind of private medical treatment such as physiotherapy.
  • Whether you may be left with a disability that will lower your life quality in the future.

It is very hard to put an accurate value on a claim without knowing these kinds of facts. A pre-med settlement is therefore often on the low side. Additionally, a pre-medical settlement will not make a provision for certain types of damages, such as:

  • Wages/salary lost due to taking time off work.
  • Reduced working prospects due to a long-term disability.
  • The cost of private medical care.
  • The cost of hiring help around your home, or a nurse to care for you.

As you probably now realise, in most cases, it does not make sense to accept a pre-med settlement. If you have received this kind of an offer, you may like to talk it over with one of our claim advisors. They will be able to help you decide whether to accept the offer or not.

Tesco Insurance Whiplash Compensation Calculator

It is very hard to come up with an average amount of compensation for whiplash. This is because no two claims are the same. However, this table below should be able to give you a rough idea of how much you might be able to claim. These figures have been taken from the Judicial College Guidelines, a legal publication used by solicitors and the courts to value claims. 

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Type of Injury Severity Compensation Range Details
Neck Injury Minor (iii) Up to £2,300 This compensation range is for soft tissue damage with full recovery within 3 months.
Neck Injury Minor (ii) £2,300 to £4,080 This compensation range is for soft tissue damage with full recovery within 1 year.
Neck Injury Moderate (i) £23,460 to £36,120 This compensation range is for fractures or dislocations that might need spinal fusion.
Neck Injury Severe (iii) £42,680 to £52,540 This compensation range is for dislocations, fractures and severe soft tissue damage which leads to severe conditions, extensive treatment and significant disability of a permanent nature.
Shoulder Injury Minor (i)-(iii) £2,300 to £7,410 This compensation range is for painful soft tissue damage to the shoulder where full recovery is made within in less than two years.
Shoulder Injury Moderate (c) £7,410 to £11,980 This compensation range is for soft tissue damage which takes over 2-years to recover from and also injuries like frozen shoulder.
Shoulder Injury Serious (b) £11,980 to £18,020 This compensation range is for shoulder dislocations or brachial plexus damage which results in movement loss with pain in the shoulder, neck and elbow.
Shoulder Injury Severe (a) £18,020 to £45,070 This compensation range is for brachial plexus damage which leads to significant disabilities.

If you would like to receive a much more accurate estimate of the level of compensation that your claim might attract, then please speak to our claims team who will evaluate a compensation payout for whiplash for you.

Other Damages Included In Compensation Payouts For Whiplash

If your lawyer is successful in processing your personal injury claim, then the settlement package you receive may be made up of two heads of claim: general damages and special damages. The potential value of general damages has been outlined in the section above. Here’s a bit more about each one:

  • General damages: paid for physical harm and suffering, taking into account:
    • Long-term or permanent disabilities, either physical (such as paralysis) or due to brain damage.
    • Painful recuperation, if the claimant will take a long time to recover fully, requiring repeated medical treatment and therapy.
    • Psychological harm such as post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, or the development of new phobias.
    • Mental anguish and trauma at the time the incident took place, and also whilst receiving painful and traumatic emergency medical care.
    • Pain and suffering at the time of the accident, and also whilst receiving painful emergency treatment.
  • Special damages: paid for non-physical hardship and monetary losses. It can include:
    • Loss of life quality if the claimant will have to live with a disability, lowering the quality of their life.
    • Loss of future earnings potential, if the claimant will not be able to pursue their career, or work as effectively as before the accident, leading to a loss of lifetime earnings.
    • Loss of current earnings, if the claimant had to take time away from work due to their injuries, and they lost out on their salary/wages.
    • The cost of any private medical treatment the claimant was forced to pay for.
    • The cost of hiring a nurse to take care of them at home or a carer to perform daily maintenance tasks at home.
    • The cost of travel tickets and fuel, if the claimant had to travel to have their medical condition treated, or to deal with any aspects of the compensation claim.

If you would like to know what kinds of damages might make up your compensation settlement, you can speak to a member of our claims team who will be able to give you an indication of which might apply in your own case.

No Win, No Fee Claims Against Tesco Insurance

By using a No Win, No Fee solicitor, you will be reducing the financial risk that can be associated with making a compensation claim. You won’t need to pay any fee to have the solicitor start on your claim, or during the time they are processing it. If the claim isn’t a success and you don’t receive any compensation, then you still pay no fee. However, when the solicitor does receive a compensation payment for you, they may seek a small contribution toward their fees. This is known as a success fee and would be deducted from the compensation awarded. Success fees are legally capped and will be agreed in writing with you before the claim begins. Speak to one of our claim advisors if you have additional questions about making a claim under a No Win, No Fee agreement.

Talk To Legal Expert Today

If you believe you have a valid reason to claim against Tesco car insurance for whiplash, then we want to hear from you. Contact our claims team any time, day or night, every day of the week on 0800 073 8804. A claim advisor will evaluate your claim and tell you how to proceed.

More Information About Whiplash And Claims

These external links could provide additional useful information:

National Institute Of Health And Care Excellence Info About Whiplash

Nhs Information On Neck Pain

Information About Whiplash Claims Reform From The Motor Insurers Bureau

These additional guides may also be useful to you:

 

Written by Wheeler

Edited by Billing