Hastings Direct Insurance Claims Guide – How To Claim For Whiplash

Whiplash, especially whiplash caused by road traffic accidents, is one of the most frequently claimed injuries in the UK each year. This guide to making a Hastings Direct whiplash claim will provide you with all the information and advice you need to approach your own claim from a position of understanding.

Each personal injury claim is unique in some way, with its own specific circumstances and intricacies. Therefore, even though we have tried to make this guide as comprehensive as possible, it may not answer all of your questions. If this turns out to be the case, you can still have your questions answered if you talk to our claims team on 0800 073 8804. They will go over your whiplash claim with you, explain your legal options, and also tell you about how we can provide you with a specialist No Win, No Fee solicitor to process a claim for you.

Select A Section:

• A Guide To Whiplash Injury Claims Against Hastings Direct
• What Are The Symptoms Of Whiplash Injuries?
• Could I Claim For A Whiplash Injury From My Insurance?
• What An Insurance Company May Not Want You To Know
• Whiplash Claims Under Split Liability Agreements
• Should You Take The First Settlement Offered By Hastings Direct?
• Should I Take A Pre-Medical Offer?
• Hastings Direct Whiplash Injury Compensation Calculator
• Will I Get Other Types Of Compensation As Part Of A Whiplash Claim?
• No Win, No Fee Claims Against Hastings Direct
• Contact Us To Start A Claim
• References And Claims Guides

A Guide To Whiplash Injury Claims Against Hastings Direct

This guide provides free legal advice and information that relates to making a claim for whiplash against Hastings Direct after a car crash. We go over the personal injury claims process and look at some of the things you can do to ensure that you receive the most compensation possible. This guide begins with a basic overview of what whiplash is, how it is caused, and what the symptoms are.

The middle part of this guide explains part of the claims process, looking at how you should react to an offer of a quick settlement or a pre-medical settlement. We also look at the situation related to which insurance company you should claim against, and we also cover split liability and knock-for-knock claims in this part of the guide.

The last part of the guide discusses the financial aspects of the claim. You will find that we have provided you with a table that lists the range of compensation paid for several different injuries. These figures are based on the Judicial College Guidelines for valuing a claim. We have also published a list of some of the more frequently paid kinds of damages. Finally, we will take a look at how a No Win, No Fee solicitor could be able to help you claim the compensation you are eligible for, at a reduced financial risk.

Every claim is somewhat unique, with its own specific circumstances. Although we have tried to make this guide as comprehensive as possible, it may not answer all of your questions. If you have additional questions, a member of our claims team will be happy to provide the answers. Just give them a call on the telephone number near the top of this page.

What Are The Symptoms Of Whiplash Injuries?

In this section, we are going to give a brief overview of what whiplash is, how it is caused, and answer questions such as ‘what are the symptoms of whiplash?’ 

Whiplash is classed as a nonspecific injury. This means that the root cause of the problem is unknown and cannot be diagnosed. Whiplash is caused by the neck being put under short, sharp stress. For example, a passenger wearing a seatbelt in a car, and the car stopping dead due to an accident. The passenger’s neck will move forward and backwards rapidly. This can cause multiple symptoms that together, are termed whiplash. These can include:

• Spasming muscles in the arms and shoulders as well as other symptoms such as pins and needles or numbness.
• Headaches and eye pain. This can vary in intensity, for some people a minor annoyance, for others severely debilitating.
• Difficulty in moving the head and general stiffness of the neck.
• Pain in the neck, ranging from trivial through to severe.

Any two of these symptoms that are manifested together can be construed as a case of whiplash, as this is a nonspecific medical condition. Whiplash is generally treated using pain medication and rest. If you would like to know more about whiplash and its causes, symptoms and treatment, the National Health Service (NHS) has published some detailed information.

Could I Claim For A Whiplash Injury From My Insurance?

This section will help to answer questions such as ‘will I get compensation for whiplash?’ The way that a whiplash claim would most commonly proceed would involve a claimant being injured in a road traffic accident (RTA) that was not their fault, and they would claim against the insurance of the party that caused the accident, in our case Hastings Direct. However, there are two other potential situations we will go over in a later section.

An insurance firm will generally not allow a driver to claim for physical injuries such as whiplash that they caused themselves. When you are injured in an RTA you will claim against the insurance of the party that caused the accident. If you were the cause, you can’t claim against your own insurance. The exception to this is what is termed a knock-for-knock claim, which we’ll cover in a section below in more detail.

What An Insurance Company May Not Want You To Know

When you are trying to get a car insurance payout for whiplash, there are some things you can do that could help maximise the amount of compensation you receive. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has said that the amount a claimant receives in compensation can be increased if theY:

• Doesn’t accept the first offer of settlement that the defendant comes out with.
• Engages an accident and injury solicitor to represent them in their claim.
• Makes the right choice over whether to accept a pre-medical settlement offer from the insurance company.

If you need some sensible advice about how to maximise the level of compensation you are offered, reach out to our claims team today. They can help you to make the right decisions.

Whiplash Claims Under Split Liability Agreements

Not every accident is clear-cut when it comes to apportioning blame. You may have been partially to blame for the accident yourself. For example, another road user caused a hazard, but you failed to take the appropriate steps to avoid the hazard because you were distracted. The other party was still at fault for causing the underlying hazard, but you contributed to it. In this case, your solicitor would negotiate a reduced level of liability with the defendant, expressed as a percentage. This percentage would then dictate any compensation settlement offered when you claim for whiplash from insurance. This is what we would call a split liability claim.

Additionally, a knock-for-knock claim may arise. In this case, each party would claim on their own insurance, as they are equally to blame for the accident taking place. It should be noted that if you do claim against your own insurance for a knock-for-knock accident for whiplash, then you are going to damage any no claims bonus you have, and this will, of course, increase your insurance premium. In some cases, it is not worth claiming for a minor injury when the amount of compensation that could be claimed is less than the increase in insurance premium.

Should You Take The First Settlement Offered By Hastings Direct?

If you are claiming for whiplash against Hastings Direct car insurance, you may be offered an instant settlement. Large insurance companies often send out a letter admitting liability and offering a rapid settlement at the same time. They do this in an attempt to pay as little compensation as possible. If you are contacted by Hastings Direct and offered a settlement for your whiplash claim, you should keep in mind that:

• You don’t have to accept the settlement offer. You may well be better off if you take the claim to court using the services of an accident and injury lawyer.
• You have up to three years from the date of the accident to make your claim. So, this gives you plenty of time to negotiate a settlement if you turn down the first one.
• You need to understand the nature of your injuries, how bad they are, and whether they will have a long-term impact on your life before you can judge whether any offer is fair.
• Don’t sign anything that Hastings Direct sends you until you understand exactly what it is that you are signing. Talk to a solicitor about this if you need to.
• If Hasting Direct offered you legal assistance, you don’t need to take them up on this offer. You can appoint your own solicitor, which is likely a better option.

If you need to speak to somebody to get some legal advice about whether you should accept an initial settlement offer or not, our claims team can help. One of our advisors will go over your claim and the settlement with you, and help you to reach a decision.

Should I Take A Pre-Medical Offer?

If you are making a Hastings Direct accident claim, you may be offered a pre-medical settlement. An insurance company offers a pre-med settlement to try and get the claimant to accept the lowest level of compensation possible. However, it may not be a good idea to accept such an offer.

As the name suggests, a pre-medical offer is made before a doctor has been involved in the claims process. The extent of your injuries will not be taken into consideration when calculating the amount of compensation offered. The compensation will also not reflect any long-term or permanent disability your injuries could leave you with.

A pre-med offer does not take into consideration the full value of the claim, such as:

• The extent of your injuries.
• The length of the recuperation period.
• The level of pain and suffering the claimant has been exposed to.
• The likelihood of the claimant being left with permanent or long-term disabilities.

There is another potential downside to accepting a pre-med settlement offer. The compensation being offered will not take into consideration additional kinds of damages such as:

• Loss of earnings.
• Travel expenses.
• Care costs.
• Private medical fees.

If you have been offered a pre-medical settlement and are unsure whether it would be wise to accept it, then we can help. One of our claim advisors will be happy to talk over your situation with you, and to assist you in making an informed decision about the pre-med offer.

Hastings Direct Whiplash Injury Compensation Calculator

You could try to find an online personal injury claims calculator to get a rough idea of how much compensation you could be able to claim. Alternatively, you can look your claim up in the table below, which lists possible compensation ranges for a number of different injuries. These figures have been taken from the Judicial College Guidelines, a legal publication used by solicitors and the courts to value claims. 

If you want a more accurate estimate of how much you may be able to claim, a personal injury solicitor will need to value your case for you. Speak to a member of our claims team to have this arranged.

Will I Get Other Types Of Compensation As Part Of A Whiplash Claim?

When a personal injury lawyer processes a claim for you, if they are successful the settlement package you receive may consist of two heads of claim: general damages and special damages. Here’s a bit more about each:

• Special damages, paid to compensate you for financial and other losses, such as:
  • Lowered earning potential – if you will not be able to continue with your current career, or will have an overall reduced capacity for working due to your disabilities.
  • Loss of earnings – if you had to take time off work, and you were not paid your full wages/salary during this time.
  • Private medical fees – if you needed some form of private healthcare treatment that you couldn’t get at an NHS facility.
  • Care costs – if you needed help to maintain your home, or help taking care of yourself, and had to hire in help at home for this.
  • Travel costs – out of pocket travel expenses for visiting the doctor, the hospital, or your solicitor.
• General damages, paid to compensate you for the pain, suffering and physical/psychological harm.
  • Loss of life quality – if you will be left with a permanent disability that will negatively impact your life.
  • Long-term recovery – if your recuperation will take a long time, or you will need repeated, painful medical treatment.
  • Psychological damage – such as depression or post-traumatic stress disorder.
  • Pain and suffering – at the time of the accident, or receiving triage.
  • Shock and trauma – caused by being involved in an accident.

If you would like a general idea of the kinds of damages that you could be able to claim in your own case, please talk to our team.

No Win, No Fee Claims Against Hastings Direct

Did you know that there is a way to have your compensation claim processed in a way that keeps financial risk to a minimum? You can use the services of a No Win, No Fee solicitor to handle your claim for you. 

A No Win, No Fee claim gives you the financial protection and confidence to pursue justice. Under this type of agreement, you won’t be asked by the solicitor to pay any kind of new claims fee. You also won’t be expected to pay ongoing fees, even if it takes many months to reach a settlement. If the claim is not a success, and you don’t get any compensation at all, then you still don’t pay anything.

If your claim is successful, your solicitor may ask you to pay a small contribution toward their fees. This contribution is known as a success fee and forms a percentage of the compensation awarded at the end of the claim. Success fees are legally capped and will be agreed with you before the claim begins. 

As you can see, you don’t actually pay a thing until you have been paid compensation. If you need more information about this kind of fee agreement, a member of our claims team will be happy to provide it. Just give them a call on the number in the section below.

Contact Us To Start A Claim

Have you suffered a case of whiplash in an accident with a driver that is insured by Hastings Direct? Do you need some help getting your claim started? Contact our claims team on 0800 073 8804 to have your questions answered.

References And Claims Guides

These links to external pages we have given below could have useful information that may relate to your claim:

NHS Direct Wales Information About Diagnosis And Treatment Of Whiplash

NHS information About Whiplash

Information About Whiplash Form The Chartered Society Of Physiotherapy

You might also like to take a look over these other guides that we have published elsewhere on this site:

• Claiming For Whiplash And Physiotherapy
• How To Claim For Whiplash As A Passenger
• Making A Claim For A Child Suffering Whiplash
• Tesco Insurance Claims Guide
• Admiral Insurance Claims Guide
• Aviva Insurance Claims Guide
• AXA Insurance Claims Guide

Written by Wheeler

Edited by Billing