As a Admiral customer, If you find yourself injured in a road traffic accident then do not try to move too much from your seat at first. Assess your condition to see if you are able to move your neck, head, back, lift your hands and legs etc. Also look for any bleeding in the body. In case of injury, call the Ambulance and other emergency services as soon as possible. There are incidents where the emergency services have to cut open the vehicle doors to get the injured persons out so if you are in a condition to move then try to move out of the vehicle yourself. Stay in a safe and secure place away from the traffic. You should always try to help yourself before helping others in such situations. IF you are a non fault driver or passenger who has been injured in a Road traffic accident then you are eligible to get compensation for the injury or discomfort.
We have devised a comprehensive guide about what to do if you are injured and how to claim injury compensation.
Admiral Claims Guide – How To Claim Compensation For Injury
After an accident you can experience Whiplash which is the most common injury type. Whiplash is actually a term used for soft tissue damage that occurs during a vehicle accident or a vehicle accident when hit from behind generally by another car. The quick acceleration, i.e. going for a low speed or stop position causes the head to jerk forward, and then brutally backward, causing whiplash. We make this guide for making Admiral Whiplash claim in the UK and it will provide you with all the advice and information you need to approach your own claim from a position of understanding.
What Are The Symptoms Of Whiplash Injuries?
Whiplash is an injury to your tendons, muscles, or other soft tissues of your neck. It is caused by a vigorous and sudden movement of the head in one direction, then back again quickly, most generally during a car accident.
Pain from a whiplash injury starts 6 to 12 hours after the injury. You may feel pain on the day of the accident or injury and find that your pain, swelling and bruising increase over the following days.
General symptoms of whiplash include:
- Difficulty moving your neck
- Neck issues: stiffness, pain, tenderness or swelling
- Headaches, problem concentrating
- Muscle weakness or spasms
- Pins and needles, pain or numbness in your hands and arms or shoulders
- Vertigo, dizziness, or tinnitus (ringing in your ears)
- Blurred vision or difficulties swallowing
Could I claim for a whiplash injury from Admiral insurance?
The moment you think you might have a whiplash injury from a vehicle accident, you should get medical treatment. Bear in mind that whiplash injuries, like cervical strains, don’t forever present themselves immediately after an accident. There are many reasons why the sooner you get treatment, the better.
First, it may be simple to treat the whiplash. If there is soft tissue damage, not taking the right precautions could worsen the pain. Second, it will be easier to file a claim with an insurance firm later on. The longer you wait to seek medical help for a vehicle accident injury, the more likely an insurance firm will assume that the injuries you are claiming are not as extreme as you say they are.
What an Admiral insurance company may not want you to know
When you are trying to get a vehicle insurance payout for whiplash, there are lots of things you can perform that could help increase the amount of compensation you get. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has said the amount a claimant gets in can be increased:
- Always reject the first offer of settlement that the defendant comes out with.
- Consult with injury and accident solicitor to represent them in their claim
- Makes the correct choice over whether to admit a pre-medical settlement offer from the insurance firm
If you need some best suggestions about how to increase the level of compensation you are offered, reach out to our claims team today. They can help you to make the best decisions.
Whiplash claims under Split liability agreements
The term split liability refers to an agreement in which 2 or more parties share the blame for an accident. These kinds of claims are also referred to as 50/50 claims, reflecting the ratio of the equal accountability that is typically divided between 2 claimants.
Other general split liability proportions are:
- 75/25 split in your favor – you will get 75 percent of the full value of your claim from the other party’s insurance firm as you admitted 25 percent liability
- 25/75 split in other party’s favor – as you have accepted that you were mostly liable for the accident, you will only get twenty-five percent of the full value of your claim from the other party’s insurance
If you accept split liability, you and the other driver would proceed with the process of claims under the agreement that you were both partially to blame.
Should you take the first settlement offered by Admiral?
If you have suffered trauma or injured as a result of your car accident you may be feeling vulnerable. If you are contacted by Admiral and offered a settlement for your whiplash claim, you should bear in mind that:
- You don’t have to accept any offer from Admiral. If you do accept the offer it might be very low than the compensation you would have got if you would used a solicitor or gone to court instead
- Don’t feel any pressure to make a decision immediately. You have up to 3 years from when the accident happened to make a claim for compensation.
- If a Admiral offers you payment or asks you to sign something, ensure you know what it is for
- If you have been hurt, get a complete medical assessment, to verify any injuries you have got and the likely impact on your life.
- You need to understand the injuries' nature, how serious they are, and whether they will have a long-term impact on your life before you can judge whether any offer is fair.
If you need to speak to somebody to get some legal suggestions about whether you accept a primary settlement offer or not, our claims team can help.
Should I take a pre-medical offer from Admiral?
Pre-medical offers are proposals to pay compensation before the wounded person has been seen by a medical professional. The objective of a pre-medical offer is to encourage early settlement of the claim. The insurer gets the claim off their books for a fixed amount; the wounded person gets compensation immediately without a medical examination.
Sounds too good but pre-medical offer could be an expensive mistake.
You never know how serious a problem is or what the prognosis will be until you have a medical report. You just get one shot at settling a compensation claim and if you accept a pre-medical offer and then find out that your injury does not resolve as immediately as you thought, then you cannot claim compensation a second time.
A pre-med offer does not take into consideration the complete value of the claim, such as:
- The length of recuperation period
- The injuries depth
- The level of pain and suffering period
- And, long-term disabilities
And another downside of accepting this offer is that:
- Travel expenses
- Loss of earnings
- Care costs
- Private medical expenses
If you choose to reject a pre-medical offer but would still like to seek compensation for your injuries, you should contact a personal injury law firm for legal advice.
Admiral whiplash injury compensation calculator
Under the rules introduced in 2021, the whiplash compensation amount you can claim ranges from £240 to £4,215.
Payoutes for whiplash that lasts up to three months are capped at £240. This amount then increases in stages to £4,215 for a damage or injury that lasts up to two years.
The courts have the power to raise a pay-out by up to twenty percent, in serious cases. The following guidelines for whiplash pay-outs are published by the Judicial College, part of the Ministry of Justice.