A car accident can have a serious impact on your life, even if any injuries you suffered from it are considered minor. Your injuries could disrupt your day-to-day life for a period of time and there may be financial losses as well. Your car insurance could also be negatively affected as well. You may lose the no-claims discount provided by your insurance company, and future insurance quotes may increase, too. You could, however, potentially make a claim for a minor car accident if another party is responsible for the incident.
Within this guide, we’ll explain when and how to claim for a car accident that has caused minor injuries. We will also discuss how compensation may be calculated within your claim for your injuries and financial losses. Also, we’ll talk about how a No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel could support your case and how this can benefit you.
To learn more about making a car accident injury claim, you can contact our advisors for free today by:
- Giving us a call on 0800 408 7825
- Filling in our online contact form.
- Or by messaging us via our 24/7 live chat service.
Select A Section
- When Can I Make A Claim For A Minor Car Accident?
- How Do I Make A Claim For A Minor Car Accident?
- How Much Car Accident Compensation Could I Receive?
- What Evidence Could Help Me Make A Road Traffic Accident Claim?
- How Could A Solicitor Help You Claim For Minor Injuries?
- Read More About Making Car Crash Claims
When Can I Make A Claim For A Minor Car Accident?
Road users, including car drivers, owe a duty of care to use the roads responsibly and to prevent causing harm to themselves and others. To maintain this duty, it also requires road users to follow the Road Traffic Act 1988 plus the rules and regulations set out in the Highway Code.
If another driver breaches their duty of care, by driving without due care or attention, for instance, then this could lead to a car accident that causes you injuries. These could be minor or severe in severity.
You may be eligible to claim for a minor injury from a car accident, such as a minor eye injury, if the following applies to your case:
- Another car driver owed you a duty of care.
- This driver breached their duty. For example, they were not paying attention to the road.
- You suffered minor injuries due to this breach.
For example, you came to a stop at a red light. However, the driver behind you failed to notice this as they were distracted and not paying attention to the road. This causes them to crash into the back of your car, and you suffer a moderate back injury.
If you have any questions regarding your eligibility to start a minor car accident injury claim, then you’re welcome to contact our advisors for free today.
How Do I Make A Claim For A Minor Car Accident?
If you wish to pursue a minor car accident injury claim, then the exact process you will need to follow will depend on the exact injuries you’re claiming for and the value of them. If you’re seeking compensation for low-value whiplash injuries, then the process can be different than when claiming for other kinds of injuries.
In England and Wales, the process for starting low-valued road traffic accident claims for minor injuries was changed by the Whiplash Reform Programme (WRP) introduced in 2021. You’ll need to make your claim through a different avenue rather than the traditional route if you are over the age of 18 and suffered whiplash injuries as a passenger or driver, which are valued at £5,000 or less.
Minor whiplash claims are valued in accordance with the tariff established in the Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021. These are fixed amounts, and you can view examples of them in the table within the next section of our guide.
If you have suffered any additional injuries that are not covered by this tariff, or the overall value of your claim exceeds £5,000, you would make your claim via the traditional method. However, the tariffs would still apply to your whiplash injuries.
If you are unsure which avenue you should take when making your claim for a minor car accident, you can contact a friendly advisor on our team.
How Much Car Accident Compensation Could I Receive?
If you make a successful personal injury claim for a minor car accident, then the compensation awarded to you may include general damages plus special damages. General damages are provided to compensate you for the pain and suffering your car accident injuries have caused you to experience.
Those valuing your claim for general damages may use the compensation guidelines featured within the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This is a document that contains guideline compensation brackets for numerous kinds of injuries.
You can view some of these guidelines for certain moderate and minor injuries in the table below. Please note, though, that the table should be viewed as a guide only. The first entry in the table is an estimated figure that’s not based on the JCG. The final two entries are taken from the fixed tariff found in the Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021.
| Injury | Severity | Compensation Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple Injuries Plus Financial Losses | Moderate and/or minor | Up to £200,000+ |
| Head Injury | Moderate (c) (iii) | £52,550 to £110,720 |
| Arm Injury | Less Severe (c) | £23,430 to £47,810 |
| Pelvis And Hip Injury | Moderate (b) (ii) | £15,370 to £32,450 |
| Shoulder Injury | Serious (b) | £15,580 to £23,430 |
| Leg Injury | Less Serious (c) (ii) | £11,120 to £17,180 |
| Knee Injury | Moderate (b) (ii) | Up to £16,770 |
| Neck Injury | Moderate (b) (iii) | £9,630 to £16,770 |
| Whiplash | A whiplash injury plus a psychological injury that lasts between 18 and 24 months | £4,345 |
| Whiplash | A whiplash injury that lasts between 18 and 24 months | £4,215 |
It may also be possible to claim for special damages in addition to general damages. Special damages compensate you for the financial losses you have experienced as a direct result of your injuries. Some examples of what you may be able to claim under special damages include:
- Travel expenses for essential appointments.
- The cost of medications or certain treatments you’ve required as part of your recovery.
- Loss of earnings if your injuries meant you needed to take unpaid time off work.
All car accident claims for special damages must be supported with evidence. This could include wage slips, bank statements and invoices.
For a free valuation of how much compensation you could potentially be awarded for your road traffic accident claim, you can contact our advisory team.
What Evidence Could Help Me Make A Road Traffic Accident Claim?
When making a claim for a minor car accident, evidence is needed to help support your case. Examples of evidence you could gather include:
- Your medical reports show what injuries you’ve suffered and how they were treated.
- The contact details of any witnesses who can provide a statement about the car accident.
- Photographs of the car accident scene, including damage done to your vehicle.
- Any video footage available of how the accident happened, such as any dashcam or CCTV footage.
- If the police attended the accident scene, then a copy of their report could also serve as evidence.
A solicitor could assist you with gathering evidence if one is supporting your claim. To see whether one of the solicitors on our panel could help you with your car accident compensation claim, you can contact our advisors.
How Could A Solicitor Help You Claim For Minor Injuries?
The personal injury solicitors on our panel can support road traffic accident claims under a type of No Win No Fee agreement called a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). If you claim under such an agreement, then you won’t need to pay your solicitor for their services either before your claim begins or while it’s being processed. You also won’t need to pay them for their work if the claim does not succeed.
If you make a successful claim, then your solicitor’s payment for their work will be covered by a success fee. This means that your solicitor will take a small percentage of the compensation awarded for your case. There’s a legal cap which limits the percentage a No Win No Fee solicitor can take as their success fee. This ensures that you will keep the majority of the compensation awarded.
Working with a solicitor also comes with various benefits. For example, a solicitor could help you with:
- Communication with the other party.
- Explaining legal jargon.
- Gathering evidence.
- Negotiating your compensation settlement.
If you have any questions about working with a No Win No Fee solicitor or any other aspects of making a claim for a minor car accident, please contact our advisors for free today. You can reach our team by:
- Phoning us on 0800 408 7825
- Using our online contact page.
- Or through our 24/7 live chat service.
Read More About Making Car Crash Claims
Additional claim guides covering road traffic accidents by us:
- If you’ve experienced anxiety after a car accident, you can read our guide on whether you can claim compensation for this or other psychological injuries.
- You can read our guide that focuses on answering “How can I claim for a car accident that wasn’t my fault?”
- If you’re looking for more advice on making a claim if you’ve been injured as a passenger, you can read our guide on this type of claim.
Further external resources:
- The GOV.UK website has a collection of road accident and safety statistics that you can view.
- You can read this road safety advice and information guide on the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) website.
- This online guide by the road safety charity Brake covers the procedures following a road crash where someone has died or been seriously injured.
Contact a member of our advisory team today if you have any questions about making a claim for a minor car accident.