By Stephen Hudson. Last Updated 14th June 2024. If you’ve been involved in a car accident, you may understand how scary and stressful it can be. The loud noises and sudden movements can cause psychological trauma as well as physical injuries. In this guide, you can learn all about claiming compensation for anxiety after a car accident.
Below, we explain how this condition can develop, as well as other related injuries like whiplash, and how much compensation you can claim. We also explain how our specialist No Win No Fee solicitors can help you.
If you’d like to check your eligibility to claim, you can get in touch with us for free via any of the following methods:
- Call us on 0800 073 8804
- Use the live chat feature
- Contact us online
Select a Section
- Compensation Payouts For Anxiety After A Car Accident
- When Could I Claim For Psychological Trauma After A Car Accident?
- How Long Do I Have To Claim For Anxiety After A Car Accident?
- How Can I Prove A Claim For Anxiety After A Car Accident?
- Claim For Anxiety With A No Win No Fee Solicitor
- Learn More About Car Accident Claims
Compensation Payouts For Anxiety After A Car Accident
You may be looking for an anxiety compensation calculator to help you understand how much a potential settlement could be worth. However, a calculator may not be able to consider all aspects of your claim when providing a figure. Some successful settlements may consist of two heads of claim: general and special damages.
General damages compensate for the physical pain and mental suffering caused by your injuries. This covers both physical injuries, such as a neck injury and harm to your mental health, such as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). When assigning a value to your claim, legal professionals can refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG, 17th edition, published in 2024) to help them. This guide provides guideline compensation brackets for different injuries, and refer to claims made in England and Wales. Please not that the first entry has not been taken from the JCG.
We have also included two whiplash entries with corresponding figures from the tariff in the Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021; these amounts are fixed.
Compensation Table
| Injury | Amount |
|---|---|
| Multiple Severe Injuries And Special Damages | Up to £150,000+ |
| Psychiatric Damage - Severe | £66,920 to £141,240 |
| Psychiatric Damage - Moderately Severe | £23,270 to £66,920 |
| Psychiatric Damage - Moderate | £7,150 to £23,270 |
| Severe PTSD | £73,050 to £122,850 |
| Moderately Severe PTSD | £28,250 to £73,050 |
| Moderate PTSD | £9,980 to £28,250 |
| Whiplash Tariff - minor psychological injury with symptoms lasting 18-24 months | £4,345 |
| Whiplash Tariff - whiplash alongside a minor psychological injury for 15-18 months. | £3,100 |
Additionally, you might be awarded special damages to compensate for financial losses caused by your injuries. Some examples of what you might be able to recover under special damages include:
- Therapy costs.
- Travel expenses.
- The cost of prescriptions.
- Loss of earnings.
You should submit evidence of these costs, such as receipts and wage slips.
What Are The Whiplash Reforms And How Could They Affect My Claim?
The Whiplash Reform Programme may affect your claim, as they changed how road traffic accident claims are made in England and Wales for drivers and passengers aged 18 or over with claims worth £5,000 or less.
Also, whiplash injuries will be valued in accordance with the tariff set out in the Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021. These amounts are fixed and illustrated in our table.
Further injuries that are not covered by the tariff will be valued in the traditional manner. Also, if you have additional injuries that take the total value of your claim over £5,000, you will claim via the traditional route.
If you would like to know how much compensation for anxiety after a car accident you might receive following a successful claim, get in touch with an advisor.
When Could I Claim For Psychological Trauma After A Car Accident?
Road users owe a duty of care to navigate the roads in a way that prevents harm or damage to one another. They can uphold this duty by following the rules and regulations in the Road Traffic Act 1988 and The Highway Code.
When claiming for psychological trauma after a car accident, compensation in the UK may be awarded if you meet the eligibility requirements. In order to make a valid personal injury claim for anxiety after a car accident, you will need to prove the following:
- A duty of care was owed by another road user.
- This duty was breached.
- You experienced psychological harm, a physical injury, or both together as a result of the breach.
These three criteria form the foundation of negligence in personal injury claims. You must prove negligence occurred in order to seek road traffic accident compensation.
For further guidance on the eligibility criteria, please contact an advisor. They can also answer other questions such as, ‘how much compensation for whiplash and anxiety can I claim after a road traffic accident?’.
Can I Claim For Anxiety After A Minor Car Accident?
Some people who suffer a car accident feel that if the incident is minor, such as a bump or scrape, they would not be able to make a personal injury compensation claim.
The important thing to remember is that the law treats every claimant as an individual and does not make generalisations. Even a minor accident can cause anxiety in certain people, or it may make an existing anxiety disorder even worse, which again is something you can claim for.
If you’d like to check your eligibility, why not get in touch with us free of charge on the number above?
How Long Do I Have To Claim For Anxiety After A Car Accident?
There is a time limit to when you can start a personal injury claim. Under the Limitation Act 1980 this will generally be set at three years from the date of your accident. This time limit however does not apply to claims for minors or people deemed mentally incapable of starting a claim.
A claim for a person who lacks the mental capacity to represent themselves will have a similar allowance in place. Their time limit is essentially frozen and a litigation friend could start a claim on their behalf at any point. If they are ever deemed mentally capable of representing themselves, they will have 3 years from this date to start a claim for themselves.
My Child Has Anxiety After A Car Accident, Can I Claim On Their Behalf?
A minor who wants to make a claim for suffering from emotional shock after a car accident could either:
- Be represented by an appointed litigation friend, who could start a claim on their behalf
- Wait until they are 18 to start their claim. This is when the 3-year time limit will begin to apply, expiring on the date of their 21st birthday
You can reach out to a member of our team to learn more about what you could do if you had suffered from emotional anxiety or PTSD from your car accident, and the compensation you could seek.
How Can I Prove A Claim For Anxiety After A Car Accident?
When making a claim for compensation for anxiety after a car accident, it’s important to make sure that you have the right evidence. This is because you need to prove not only that someone else breached their duty of care but that this caused you to suffer injuries.
Some examples of evidence that you could use to help you claim for mental health injuries after a car accident include:
- Medical records: These can detail the severity of your anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as the treatment you need in the future. If you are claiming for whiplash and anxiety, x-rays and other scans can help illustrate the severity of your injuries.
- Witness statements: Taking the contact details of those who witnessed the car accident ensures that their statements can be taken by a professional later on during the claims process.
- Photographs: Taking pictures of the accident site can help demonstrate how the crash occurred. Similarly, dashcam footage or CCTV footage could also be used as evidence.
A No Win No Fee solicitor from our team could help you collect evidence for your claim when you get in touch. Contact our team of advisors today to learn more about how to claim compensation for a car accident, or keep reading for more information on making a car accident claim.
Claim For Anxiety With A No Win No Fee Solicitor
When making a personal injury claim for trauma after a car accident, whether it’s a traumatic physical injury or psychological injury, or both together, you may benefit from instructing a solicitor to help you seek compensation. One of our solicitors could help you make a claim for anxiety after a car accident on a No Win No Fee basis; they do this by offering their services through a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).
When you work with a solicitor under a CFA, you aren’t expected to pay them a fee to begin work on your claim, nor do you have to pay for their continued services. Similarly, if your claim doesn’t succeed, your solicitor won’t take a fee for their services.
However, in the case of a successful claim, your solicitor will take a success fee. This fee is taken straight from your compensation in the form of a small percentage, though this percentage is subject to a legislative cap. The cap helps to ensure that the majority of your compensation goes to you.
Contact Our Team
If you are suffering from anxiety after a car accident, one of our solicitors could help. Contact our team of helpful advisors today to learn more. They can answer your questions, and can evaluate the validity of your claim. Start today by:
- Calling us on 0800 073 8804
- Using the live chat box
- Contacting us online
Learn More About Car Accident Claims
- Click here to read the NHS guide to treatments for anxiety.
- The Anxiety UK web page has lots of information about anxiety that may help.
- Visit the government website to understand more about the DVLA’s guidance on PTSD and driving.
- Read our in-depth explanation of how our No Win No Fee service works.
- Our guide to car accident claims explores compensation for psychological and physical injuries following an accident.
More Helpful Guides
- Visit our guide on motorcycle accident claims which explores the process of making a claim against a negligent road user.
- Read this guide to see if you can claim for whiplash leading to physiotherapy.
- Psychiatric Injury Compensation Case Study
- Head Injury Claims
- Bus Accident Claims
Feel free to get in touch now if you want to learn more about how much compensation for anxiety after a car accident you could receive.
