By Jo Jeffries. Last Updated 5th October 2022. Welcome to our guide to Admiral Insurance whiplash injury claims and how to report an accident to Admiral if they’re your insurer. In the guide, we explain that, whether you have insurance by anyone else or by Admiral, it is important to report the accident. We explain what Admiral do with a report of an accident and explain when you could make an Admiral personal injury claim. If you’re insured with Admiral, making a claim should be relatively simple regarding property damage. But what about when you want to make a claim to Admiral for injuries?
Admiral Insurance whiplash injury claims explained
Whiplash is a form of neck injury, it is often just a painful inconvenience. However, sometimes it can occasionally cause lasting harm. This can include long term chronic pain. People could sustain such injuries when an accident forcefully jolts a person’s head back and forth. There are a number of ways that people can obtain whiplash injury. For example, a sudden blow to the head which can happen during sports such as rugby or boxing, slipping or tripping or falling or having a heavy object land on your head. However the most frequent cause of whiplash injuries are car accidents and car accidents will be the focus of this guide.
How to report an accident to Admiral and claim compensation
If you have suffered an accident which has left you with a case of whiplash through no fault of your own then you could be entitled to claim compensation. When you claim compensation for an accident you will more than likely be claiming from the insurance company of the person or business whose negligence caused you to suffer the accident. This is a guide for what to do if the insurance company is Admiral car insurance, it will hopefully explain what you need to know about how this process works and what you should expect.
In order to claim against Admiral vehicle insurance, you must have suffered an injury as a result of a road traffic accident caused by the negligence of a third party road user who is insured through this insurance provider.
Getting advice on making Admiral Insurance whiplash injury claims
If you wish to make an Admiral insurance claim for a whiplash injury, then you could seek out the advice and the services of a professional personal injury solicitor. We have our own solicitors who can provide you with free advice and can handle your Admiral insurance claim on the basis of a no win no fee agreement.
Please keep on reading for information on how whiplash injury claims work. If at any point there is something which confuses you or you want more information on you can call us on 0800 073 8801. You can also use the same number to get in touch with us to discuss starting a claim with our solicitors. If you want us to call you at a certain time, you can make a request on this page here.
Select A Section
- A Guide To Whiplash Injury Claims Against Admiral Insurance
- What Does A Whiplash Injury Do To Your Body?
- What Do I Need To Know About Claims Involving Insurance Companies?
- Can I Claim On My Insurance For Whiplash?
- Do I Have To Accept The First Offer From Admiral Insurance?
- Should I Accept An Offer Of A Pre-Medical Settlement?
- Whiplash Claims When Partially At Fault
- Calculating Payments For Whiplash Claims
- Special Damages, Financial Loss And Expense Claims
- No Win No Fee Whiplash Claims Against Admiral Insurance
- Talk To Us Today
- Reference Information
A Guide To Whiplash Injury Claims Against Admiral Insurance
We are going to go over the key points of seeking compensation through Admiral insurance or any other insurance provider for a whiplash injury. Those key points are:
- What a whiplash injury is, what its effects are and why you may be eligible for compensation.
- Where the compensation comes from when you claim.
- What choices you have if an insurance company offers you a settlement before you start a claim.
- What happens when a compensation claim gets more complicated and both you and the other driver are partly to blame for the accident.
- What kind of damages and losses you can claim for and how much money you could receive for different severities of whiplash injuries.
- What no win no fee agreements mean and how they could benefit you.
What Does A Whiplash Injury Do To Your Body?
Whiplash is a form of soft tissue injury which affects the ligaments and tendons in the neck. (Tendons are what connect your muscles to your bones and ligaments are what connect your bones to each other at the joints.) A whiplash injury occurs when a person’s head is suddenly and forcefully jolted back and forth, pulling on the ligaments and tendons so hard they become damaged but not broken. It is a type of sprain injury. The most common cause of whiplash injuries are car accidents where a person is jolted back and forth in their seat by the force of an impact.
Whiplash is fairly distinctive in its symptoms and can usually be diagnosed through a cursory description of its symptoms rather than requiring scans or X-rays. Doctors will normally only request MRI’s, CT scans or X-rays if they suspect that there are more serious problems such as a spinal neck injury at play.
Insured with Admiral? Reporting an Accident With Delayed Symptoms
Whiplash may not make itself apparent straight away. It can take several hours or even a few days for the symptoms to fully manifest. Most whiplash injuries do not pose severe health problems and the majority usually improve within a short time and heal by themselves entirely after a few months. However they can be painful, causing soreness, tenderness, stiffness, difficulty moving or turning your head, headaches and muscle spasms that last for a number of weeks. They may also cause nausea, dizziness, sleepiness, blurred vision and can make it hard to swallow. In a minority of cases the symptoms can last for months or years before they eventually clear up. The severity of the whiplash injury may depend on the circumstances of the accident, the more severe the accident the more likely it is to cause more serious whiplash symptoms but not in all cases.
The pain and difficulty moving caused by whiplash injuries can make it difficult to carry out day to day tasks, such as driving, shopping or exercising. It may cause you to have to take time off work, especially if your job requires you to be physically active. In addition to the disruption of your ordinary life and routine, you may find the pain stressful to deal with all the time.
You can read about the effects and symptoms of whiplash injuries and how to aid your recovery in this NHS guide here.
What Do I Need To Know About Claims Involving Insurance Companies?
When an insurance company’s client has been in a car accident, and it is apparent that they were either partially or entirely at fault, the insurance company may often try to pre-empt a compensation claim by offering the victim a settlement. They might offer you a lump sum of money prior to you beginning a claim and/or before you have had a full medical assessment of your injuries. This may seem gracious of them and you may be tempted by the opportunity to settle and receive compensation so early on. However in many cases insurance companies may offer these kinds of settlements so that they are not subject to third party legal fees and also the amount generally is much lower than what you may receive if you do a full claim.
In order to receive a larger and more appropriate whiplash compensation payout we recommend making a compensation claim with specialist personal injury solicitors.
Can I Claim On My Insurance For Whiplash?
In this sort of case, in which another person was at provably fault for the accident and your injury, it is their insurance company which is responsible for your compensation. Whiplash injuries are most often caused by road traffic accidents. In the case of road traffic accidents the compensation will be drawn from the insurance policy of the driver responsible. So for example if a negligent driver has hit the back of your car because they were using their phone while driving, it is their car insurance which will produce the compensation fee. Your own drivers insurance should not be involved in paying out compensation if you are not at fault, except in cases of “knock for knock” settlement claims, which we will explain later on.
We strongly recommend that you seek out the advice of, and work with, a professional personal injury lawyer in these situations. Although not necessary, they may have the knowledge and experience you need for a successful claim. We can provide you with one if you sustain a whiplash injury that was not your fault. We would need to determine whether you are have a valid claim first.
Do I Have To Accept The First Offer From Admiral Insurance?
You do not have to accept the first offer you receive from the liable party’s insurance company when they approach you. Although the offer may be tempting, because the sum they offer you seems large, or because you wish to have the matter over and done with quickly, there are things you should pause to consider. You should think about it before taking an offer.
- It is important to remember that the settlement that the insurance company offers you may not be as large as what you may receive from making a full claim.
- You should wait until you have been examined by a doctor to assess the extent of your injuries. You ought to know just how severe your injuries are and what, if any, lasting effects there will be before deciding whether to accept the offer. Once you have accepted an offer you cannot go back and ask for more if your injuries are worse than you thought.
- Remember that the personal injury claims time limit is three years. Meaning that you have up to three years to decide whether or not you wish to make a whiplash injury claim, so there is no rush to accept their offer if you are unsure.
- Consult legal advice before making any decision; feel free to call our team for free advice.
- Do not put your signature on any agreement until you have read through it thoroughly and know exactly what it entails.
Admiral – Report An Accident With Your Claim
You should also be aware that if you feel that an insurer is engaging in unfair practices towards you, you can report them to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the UK’s financial regulation authority. If they try to pressure you into accepting an offer, or if you think they aren’t being entirely honest with you, you can get in touch with the insurer to complain to them directly or complain to the FCA. Remember that you can also consult the Citizens Advice Bureau for more information.
Should I Accept An Offer Of A Pre-Medical Settlement?
A pre-medical settlement is a compensation sum which the liable party’s insurance company might offer you before you have undergone a medical examination. It means they are accepting responsibility, but do not wish for the claim process to go any further or for medical evidence of your injuries to become involved. More often than not when a liable party’s insurance company makes a pre-medical offer it is because they are trying to save money. Once you have undergone a medical examination the full extent of your injuries and what effect they may have in the long term can be assessed and the actual amount of compensation you are entitled to claim for can be calculated. There is a strong chance that this amount would be greater than the figure offered to you by the insurance company in a pre med offer.
When to settle Admiral Insurance Whiplash Injury Claims
Tempting as it may be to have the issue over and done with quickly. They are likely to be much lower than the compensation fee you could be entitled to if you made a full compensation claim backed by medical evidence. Pre-medical offers will also be lower because they will not take into account any financial losses or special damages caused by your whiplash. So for example you would not be able to claim for travel expenses to be seen or treated by a doctor, medical expenses such as painkillers or physiotherapy or lost earnings due to having to take time off work.
Whiplash Claims When Partially At Fault
There are ways insurance companies can provide compensation when the evidence shows that there is a degree of blame for the accident on both sides of the incident, or if there is no evidence to prove guilt one way or the other besides the claimant’s word versus the defendants word. One way is through a split liability claim.
Split liability claims, also known as 50:50 claims are ones in which both the claimant and the defendant receive compensation from the others insurance. This may be because the degree of blame on each side is in dispute or that both are partially to blame. The split can come in different forms such as 75/25% meaning one party is only a quarter to blame while the other is three quarters. Although this kind of claim is referred to sometimes as a 50:50 claim the proportions can vary from case to case; 30:70, 25:75, 60:40 and so on. This would mean that either you or the other party would receive for example 75% out of 100% of the compensation.
Knock for Knock
In “knock for knock” claims both parties insurance companies may agree to sort of their own clients case as each party has contributed equally.
When claiming compensation for a whiplash injury from Admiral you may be offered a split liability claim if you received the whiplash injury due to an accident which can be proven to be partially your own fault and not entirely the fault of the other driver. This is a common situation arising from road traffic accidents on roundabouts. If you receive a knock for knock settlement from Admiral insurance for a whiplash injury it is likely because of an agreement they have with the other drivers insurance company.
Calculating Payments For Whiplash Claims
The Whiplash Reform Programme brought in changes to the way claims for low-value road traffic accidents are made in England and Wales. Due to these reforms, passengers and drivers in vehicles who are over the age of 18 with injuries valued at £5,000 or less must claim through the Official Injury Claims portal to seek compensation for their whiplash or soft tissue injuries. These injuries are valued in accordance with the Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021. These tariffs apply to all vehicle occupants.
Additionally, your whiplash or soft tissue injuries could still be valued in line with the tariff of injuries even if your claim is not made through this portal. However, if you have sustained injuries that are not listed in the tariff they will be valued in the traditional way. You can find details of the tariff amounts below.
| Severity | Comments | Tariff Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Whiplash Reforms Minor Injuries – Table B amount | Where the claimant makes or had made a full recovery in more than 12 months, but not more than 15 months | £2,125 |
| Whiplash Reforms Minor Injuries – Table B amount | Where the claimant makes (or had made) a full recovery in a period more than 15 months, but not more than 18 months | £3,100 |
| Whiplash Reforms Minor Injuries – Table B amount | Where the person recovers fully (or already has recovered) Within more than 18 months, but not more than 24 months | £4,345 |
Call us to find out more about when the whiplash reforms might apply.
What If My Claim Isn’t Subject To The Tariff Of Injuries?
Below, we have illustrated, using figures from the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) how much could be appropriate for claims in England and Wales.
Please note that these figures are only rough guidelines for the general damages a successful claimant could receive for their pain and suffering. On top of these, successful claimants could also receive special damages to compensate them for costs and losses incurred because of their injuries.
| Severity of injury | Compensation amounts | Notes |
| Severe (i) | In the region of £148,330 |
Incomplete paraplegia or permanent spastic quadraparesis |
| Severe (ii) | £45,470 to £55,990 | Fractures, dislocations and severe damage to soft tissues in the neck. Leading to chronic conditions ruptured tendons that lead to significant disability of a permanent nature. |
| Moderate (i) | £24,990 to £38,490 | Severe immediate symptoms and may require spinal fusion. |
| Moderate (ii) | £13,740 to £24,990 | Soft tissue injuries, severe disc lesion, cervical spondylosis, serious limitation to the movement of the neck, possible need for further surgery. The type of injury may result an existing injury to worsen and could last for up to 5 years. |
| Minor | Up to £13,740 | With full recovery |
| Chronic pain | £42,130 to £62,990 | Severe |
| Chronic pain | £21,070 to £38,490 | Moderate |
| CRPS | £52,500 to £84,010 | Severe |
| CRPS | £28,030 to £52,500 | Moderate |
These figures only apply in certain cases, call us for more information.
Special Damages, Financial Loss And Expense Claims
Like other kinds of personal injury claims, when claiming compensation for whiplash you will be claiming for general damages, meaning the injury itself and the physical pain and any psychological harm it has caused. This will vary depending on the severity of the whiplash. There are guidelines for how much you can claim for differing severities of whiplash which we discussed above. In addition to this you can also claim for the expenses and losses you have suffered as a result of your injury.
Examples of special damages
- Medical expense; i.e. over the counter painkillers, osteotherapy and physiotherapy sessions and the costs of travelling to receive these treatments.
- The cost of care if you have had to call on someone (i.e. a neighbour) to perform certain tasks for you, such as cleaning, shopping, cooking which you are temporarily unable to do yourself. Or the costs of hiring someone to do tasks which you would normally do yourself (i.e. gardening).
- Loss of earnings if you have had to take time off work.
- Loss of enjoyment of a holiday which you had already booked and were unable to attend due to your illness.
No Win No Fee Whiplash Claims Against Admiral Insurance
Our solicitors can offer their clients no win no fee claims. No win no fee claims provide you with the opportunity to claim without having to pay your solicitors legal fees out of your own pocket. If you make a no win no fee claim your solicitor will sign a contract with you. They will waive their right to have you pay their fees if you make a valid claim but you don’t get compensation. If that happens they will accept the losses.
In return you will agree to pay an amount of your compensation to your solicitor if you receive compensation. Receiving payment out of a claimant’s compensation is on a condition of winning the claim. People sometimes refer to this as a “success fee.” There is an upper limit of 25% which your solicitor can take from your compensation fee. You still receive nearly the full value of your compensation. Because the payment of the solicitors fees is conditional on making a successful claim no win no fee agreements are sometimes referred to as Conditional Fee Agreements.
If you need more details about no win no fee claims you can ask questions to our team on 0800 073 8801, or by requesting a call from them here. The contact number and contact form are there to help you begin a claim.
Talk To Us Today
You can talk to us any time you need to if you want free advice on what to do when seeking compensation for whiplash injuries or if you’ve decided to attempt a compensation claim. Our contact number is 0800 073 8801. If you want a pre-arranged phone call with our team, simply put your details in our online form.
Reference Information
Laws regarding whiplash compensation claims have changed in recent years. You can read about changes here.
Some further information from the NHS on whiplash.
FAQs
I’m with Admiral; when reporting an accident, would it affect my no claims bonus?
Different insurers have different rules when it comes to no claims bonus protection in accidents that weren’t their customers’ fault. It would be wise when you go to report an accident to Admiral to check your policy document carefully. It may explain the insurer’s rules for non-fault accidents. You could also, when you report an accident to Admiral, ask the team whether they would remove your no claims bonus while they were investigating your case.
If I report an accident to Admiral, will my premiums increase?
Do you have insurance with Admiral? Are you reporting an accident that wasn’t your fault? You might worry about future premiums. The best thing to do would be to speak to Admiral. They could advise you on the specifics of your cover. If you were not at fault for the accident, they might acknowledge this when ascertaining future premiums.
I’m with Admiral, would whiplash injury claims be made to them?
If you’re with Admiral Insurance, whiplash injury claims made by you would be against the at-fault party’s insurer, not your own. You should still make an Admiral report of the accident, however, so that your insurer is aware of what happened. Not doing so could invalidate your insurance. If you’d like to speak to us about any aspect of reporting an accident, we’d be happy to talk to you.
Admiral – Reporting an accident process
When you are involved in an accident, you should report it to your insurance regardless of whether you are going to claim or not. Contact your insurance provider for more information on the process of doing so.
Could I make a claim through Admiral?
You could make a claim via your insurance provider. The process of doing so could vary depending on the insurance provider. Call them for more information.
Thank you for reading our guide to Admiral Insurance whiplash injury claims.