Any person involved in a rear shunt is probably going to have suffered some kind of whiplash, even if they did not feel the need to make a claim previously.

Irrespective of whether you did, or did not, make a claim previously, and again, irrespective of whether you were successful or not on that occasion, makes no difference.

You are in fact entitled to make a claim for damages for the personal injury you have suffered from this second accident as the fact that you have had a whiplash injury before does not preclude you from claiming.

You need to be aware however that it may affect the amount of compensation you may receive. It s for this reason that you should always get yourself checked out by your doctor or your local Accident and Emergency Department following an accident where there is suspicion of an injury. It is also a prerequisite that you inform the police of any accident involving personal injury.

Most motor insurers now offer legal protection as an add-on to their policies, so get in touch with your insurer and submit your claim. Failing that, there are many legal advisors offering no win, no fee services.

There will be occasions when, following a car accident, the injured need to be taken to a hospital and undergo medical treatment.

There may also be occasion unfortunately, when that medical treatment provided will not meet the exacting standards expected/demanded, or some of the actions and treatment taken causes other complications.

It is with this in mind that The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) has launched PEOPLE First offering people injured by negligent parties a free advice service for help.

People First will be guided by an independent consumer panel made up of specialist professionals which includes former chairman of the Health and Safety Commission, Sir Bill Callaghan and Neal Stone of the British Safety Council.

The service will provide information, support and guidance to victims of negligence, through a new resource made up of easily understandable fact sheets and a new website to help victims of negligence when they are at their most vulnerable.

The fact sheets will offer advice on issues such as what to do after an injury at
work or hospital, who to contact after an injury, how to find rehabilitation, who to turn to after an injury and how to navigate your way through the insurance small print.

Anyone involved in an accident and sustained an injury has a set amount of time before which they must commence action against the responsible third party.

As an example, if you were run over on say January 25th 2007 at which time you did not consider your injuries sufficient to warrant submitting a claim against the person that caused the accident but it now turns out that these injuries have now started to cause other problems, you have until January 24th 2010 to commence action through the Motor Insurers Bureau.

Whether pursuing a claim against someone who was insured at the time or not, you would be well advised to seek professional help and advice and appoint a legal representative to pursue the matter on your behalf as such matters can often become complex and technical.

Be in no doubt, there will be a few hoops you will be asked to jump through and a few hurdles to overcome that could manifest themselves due to the time lapsed since the accident requiring professional intervention probably.

Even if you don’t feel injured at the time, or there is nothing hurting, get yourself checked by your GP at the very least as soon after any accident as you can. This will assist any future claim by formally recording any potential medical problem.

If you have been involved in an accident and sustained losses, it is important to comply with the insurer you are claiming from to assure the smooth processing of your claim.

You will greatly increase your chances of successfully claiming if you take the following steps immediately following the accident:

• Ensure you contact the police in the event you or any other person involved in the accident has sustained an injury. If you are unable to make the call, get someone else to do it.

• If you are the driver or insurer of the vehicle, report any injury resulting from the road traffic accident to your insurance company.

• If you are a passenger in a vehicle and are injured in a road traffic accident, get confirmation in writing from the insured driver that the insurer of the vehicle has been informed.

• If you were driving a company vehicle, ensure notify your employer.

• Make every effort to record all expenses incurred as a result of the accident.

• If you are self-employed, keep evidence of any income that is lost as a result.

• Ensure you report any injury (even if it seems trivial to your doctor because the full extent of the injury may not be immediately apparent.

• If you subsequently go to court to get compensation for the injury, the initial medical report will provide evidence to support your claim.

• Gather evidence about both the accident and your injuries. Take photos if possible.

• If the driver is not insured, or you are a victim of a hit-and-run accident you still may be able to obtain compensation from the Motor Insurers’ Bureau.

It is pretty much everyone’s nightmare to find themself involved in an accident.

Today’s “living” pressures offers little room for time consuming unplanned events but to ensure any car insurance claims run smoothly, some of the following tips make be of use.

Firstly, remember, it’s only a car; the welfare of the people involved in the accident should take immediate priority.  Call the police and ambulance services if someone is injured.

Circumstances permitting, immediately after the accident, make sure you:-

• Remain calm
• Obtain full details of the other drivers involved including:-
• Their name(s), address and telephone details
• Their insurance company and policy number if it is available
• The make, model, colour and vehicle registration numbers
• Get the name, address and contact details of any witnesses
• Write down the circumstances surrounding the accident – the time,   weather conditions, road conditions (whether some traffic control system was faulty etc.)
• Get the name, address and contact details of any witnesses
• Notify your own insurer.

It may help your claim if you are able to get photographs of the accident and damage to any vehicles involved. This information could prove important if liability is disputed and possibly vital, if the claim ever went to court.

Even with the police agreeing with your version, if there were injuries involved, establishing the extent of the injuries can take time. The insurer will need to understand the long term affects of any injuries you sustained and it is in your interests to let them do so.

This is not to say, they can drag it out for ever and a day. Stay persistent but remain calm. You will achieve nothing by antagonising those very people that decide on the amount of any settlement.

Where injuries are involved, it is prudent to seek legal advice.

Many insurers now include the option of including such cover at renewal but for others, you may need to sign some kind of declaration with the legal advisor that agrees to take your case on whereupon, you agree to reimburse their costs if they do not succeed or cannot recover all of their fees from the other person’s insurance company on winning the case for you.

There are also an abundance of solicitors that will take on cases on a no win, no fee basis, but again, make sure you understand the arrangement before signing up to it.

Hopefully, if you are unfortunate enough to be involved in a non-fault accident, it is resolved before your insurance policy is next due for renewal otherwise your no claims bonus could be affected until the matter is resolved.

Don’t lose heart however as your insurer will reimburse your NCB and any surplus premium you paid at renewal when/if the claim is resolved in your favour. 

A big challenge for young drivers is purchasing car insurance without having to rob the “bank of mum and dad” to pay for it.

Men and women aged 17 to 25 face an almost insurmountable struggle to obtain cover for numerous  reasons.

Many insurance companies do not even want to provide quotes to people in this age group, no matter what type of car, and those that do, do not really want to, so they quote a rate so high that many young drivers will find themselves paying more for insurance each year than the value of the vehicle.

Statistics however support insurers decisions as a teenage driver is up to 3x more likely to be fatally injured in a traffic accident than someone in the 25-64 age range.

While such statistics cannot be argued against, insurers branding all young drivers with the same brush does nothing to encourage such drivers to insure their vehicles leading to more and more taking a chance and driving around without the necessary legal minimum requirements.

It would be good to see some intervention or sensible thinking applied by insurers and the Government to address what is tantamount to unfair victimiisation of the young.

After all, young drivers involved in accidents and found to be at fault that do not carry the mandatory insurance requirements will often result in claims through the Motor Insurance Bureau (MIB).

And who is legally obliged to contribute to MIB? – the insurance companies of course!

Nobody wants to be involved in car accidents and we all try to avoid them but periodically, car drivers find themselves caught up in accident of some kind. Hopefully they are only minor incidents involving minor damage to the vehicle or third party property.

But, in the event of a person meeting with the accident and incurring damages whereupon they have to lodge a claim with their own insurer or against the person at fault’s insurance company, the hassle can begin.

Not knowing how to proceed is the first and probably the hardest obstacle to overcome. After all, it takes time, and involves completing forms and pursuing insurers for progress. Everyone wants their claim resolved immediately. In fact, their claim is the only one they are concerned with – who cares about all the others feeling the same way. You want your car back.

So, first bit of advice is to recognise that you are not the only person the insurers are having to deal with – don’t be too impatient. Yes, it is fine to chase them for progress but if you are insured on a third party fire and theft basis, be aware that the other person’s insurance company is going to want you to jump through a few hoops and prove their customer was indeed at fault.

They will want their customer’s view of the accident before admitting liability and the police, if they were called to the scene.

A group of collision repair businesses around the UK is to shortly launch an independent  quality assured repairer network.

Membership of the Vizion Network will be aimed specifically at the prestige vehicle market and will be restricted to repair businesses that have prestige manufacturer approvals, BSI Kitemark accreditation and operate the same repair management systems.

All Vizion Network businesses will have specialist prestige vehicle manufacturer trained technicians and each business will have its own BSI Kitemark for vehicle body repairing assuring they all adhere to the same processes.

Qulaity of workmanship will be supported by thorough BSI audit and inspection processes.

By using the same repair management system, customers of Vizion members repairers  will be able to benefit from the improved operational efficiency, transparency, and consistent management information.

Vizion’s founding members are Eamonn Dunne of Brooklands, Paul Austin of Balgores, Trevor Barefoot of Exway, Gene Clark of Clarkes, Julian Allen of Motorvation, David Perkins and Graham Eyles of Apollo Motor Group and Gary Lindsay of Autoflow.

Eamonn Dunne of Brooklands will be chairman of the Vizion Network and has stated:

“Vizion has been created to meet a market need. We can no longer afford to have a fragmented, clouded approach to vehicle body repair. Now, owners, insurers and fleet managers can specify a Vizion Network repairer and be confident that their prestige vehicles will be repaired safely and effectively to a consistent high manufacturer standard.”

Anyone interested in keeping an eye on developments of this network can start y accessing the website currently under ocnstruction by clicking here. 

This could happen to any one of the millions of drivers whizzing around on UK roads.

In fact, 35% of all accidents were reportedly due to people failing to take care, look properly or concentrate.
 
Failing to look properly was the most frequently reported contributory factor.

Four of the five most frequently reported contributory factors included reference to driver/rider error or reaction.

When it comes to fatal accidents, the most frequently reported contributory factor (33%) was due to a loss of control.

Younger drivers, particularly males, are statistically more likely to have contributory factors related to speed and behaviour, whereas mature drivers are more likely to have factors related to vision and judgement.

It is clear from such statistics that certain driving behaviours are more often found in particular driver types and age bands making it difficult to argue with insurance providers when they quote higher premiums for the younger male drivers and those unfortunate enough to suffer from certain medical conditions.

Pedestrian casualties living in the most deprived areas were reported at a rate of 70 casualties per 100,000 population whilst only 21 casualties per 100,000 population in the least deprived areas.

Source: Department for Transport - Road Casualties Great Britain: 2007