Child Whiplash Claims Guide

By Lewis Hendrix. Last Updated 16th February 2024. Welcome to our child whiplash claims guide. In it, we explain how to make a child whiplash claim and answer questions about how to claim whiplash for a child. We explain how child whiplash compensation could be calculated in a whiplash claim for a child and answer FAQs such as ‘What happens to children’s compensation?’ We also give helpful whiplash injury compensation guidance on how we could help parents claiming for whiplash in children. We provide insight into baby whiplash symptoms too. If you’re wondering whether you could claim for whiplash in kids, or how much the whiplash claims average payout is please read on.

Here, we’ll take a look at how you could act on someone else’s behalf when making a claim – in this case, a child. We also look at answering questions such as;

  • Can children suffer from whiplash injuries the same as adults can?
  • What happens to children’s compensation?
  • How much could child whiplash claims be valued at?

We’ll also explain the personal injury claims time limit. As well as all this, we’ll explain how we at Accident Claims UK could help you claim whiplash compensation for a child, or for yourself if no one claimed for you when you were a child.

If anything in this guide is unclear, and you’re still not sure after reading whether you could make a car accident claim for a child, please do not hesitate to speak to an Accident Claims UK advisor on 0800 073 8801. However, we believe we have covered a wealth of information on making a claim below, so your question may already have been answered.

A child wearing a neck-brace being examined by a doctor

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How A Litigation Friend Could Help A Claimant Under The Age Of 18

The typical time limit for claiming personal injury compensation for a whiplash injury is 3 years from the date of the accident, per the Limitation Act 1980. However, in claims involving children, this works slightly differently.

If a child is under the age of 18 when injured, they cannot make a claim for themselves until they reach their 18th birthday. They would then have 3 years from this date to file their claim.

However, during the time between the accident and the date the child turns 18, an appropriate adult, such as a parent, could make a child whiplash claim on the injured child’s behalf instead, by acting as their litigation friend. A litigation friend is an appropriate adult, such as a parent, who is appointed by the court to act in the child’s best interests.

Any settlement for a child injury claim would usually be held in trust for the child to access when they come of age. 

To learn more about making an injury claim as a litigation friend for a child, please contact an advisor. They could check whether you could launch a claim on the child’s behalf and tell you how to go about starting the process.

What Happens To Compensation Awarded To Children?

If you make a successful child injury compensation claim, their compensation will usually be held in trust by the Court Funds Office (CFO). As their litigation friend, you will be in charge of this account until they turn eighteen. 

However, you will not be able to withdraw money from the fund without a court order. You can apply for payments to be made on the child’s behalf but must be able to make a statement as to how the payment would benefit the child. You may also be asked to provide supporting evidence, such as an invoice for care costs.

The court decides how and when money is paid out from a child’s compensation fund. Usually, they decide that the child can apply to receive their compensation when they turn eighteen and will correspond with them in the weeks before their eighteenth birthday to provide more information on what they should do. 

To learn more about claiming compensation on behalf of a child, contact our team today. They can answer any questions you may have about the child injury claims process, and could potentially connect you with a solicitor from our team.

How Much Compensation Could You Receive For Child Whiplash Claims?

If you’re wondering what the whiplash claims average payout is, we should point out that knowing the average payout wouldn’t give very much insight into the whiplash injury compensation payout for the claim you might be making. No two claims are precisely alike. When you make a whiplash claim for a child, there are several factors that could impact the payout.

The first is whether the claim would be subject to the whiplash reforms. The reforms brought in changes to the way claims for low-value road traffic accident claims are made.

As such, if you are an adult passenger or driver of a vehicle with whiplash or soft tissue injuries that are valued at £5,000 or less, you must make your claim via the government’s Official Injury Claims portal.

This means your whiplash and soft tissue injuries will be valued in line with the tariff set out in the Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021. However, the tariff could still apply even if a claim doesn’t need to be made via the government’s portal. This is because the tariff applies to all occupants inside a vehicle. 

We have included figures from the whiplash injury compensation tariff in the table below.

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Duration 1+ whiplash injuries 1+ whiplash injuries with 1+ psychological injuries
18-24 months £4,215 £4,345
15-18 months £3,005 £3,100
12-15 months £2,040 £2,125
9-12 months £1,320 £1,390
6-9 months £840 £895
3-6 months £495 £520
No more than 3 months £240 £260

If the injuries sustained are not included in the tariff, they will be valued in the traditional way.

Personal injury claims can include up to two heads of claim. General damages compensate for the pain and suffering caused by the injuries you sustained. Legal professionals can use the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) to help them when valuing this head of claim. Please only use the figures as a guide.

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Injury Bracket Notes
Multiple severe injuries with associated financial costs. Up to £500,000+ Multiple injuries that are severe causing pain, suffering and financial expense, such as care costs or medical expenses.
Neck injuries In the region of £148,330 Where there is paraplegia (incomplete) or injuries have resulted in spastic quadriparesis that is permanent. Cases where an injured party has regained little to no movement despite wearing a collar for a period of years could be included here.
Neck injuries £65,740 to £130,930 Cases where there have been damages to the discs within the cervical spine, leading to disabilities such as substantial movement loss in the neck, and further loss in one of more of the limbs
Neck injuries £45,470 to £55,990 Where there are dislocations/fractures or damage to the soft tissue that is severe, leading to pemanent significant disability or chronic conditions.
Neck injuries £24,990 to £38,490 Severe immediate symptoms could be present, with dislocations and fractures that could lead to the claimant needing to undergo spinal fusion. There could also be referred symptoms elsewhere in the body.

To learn more about making a whiplash claim for a child and the compensation that could be awarded, get in touch using the number above.

Special Damages Which Could Be Included In A Child Whiplash Claim

You may be interested in learning that, as well as the child personal injury settlement for the injuries a child has suffered, you could also look into claiming for those costs that have been faced because the car accident that has caused whiplash. This could include:

  • Earning losses. Have you been required to take time off from your job because of your child’s injuries? Or, are you expected to be off in the future for them to undergo further treatment? This may mean you have – or may in the future – less money coming in. Is this wage loss is be a result of your child’s injuries? Then compensation could be claimed for this.
  • Medical costs. Whether this is private physiotherapy, chiropractic treatment, prescription costs or counselling, you may have incurred medical costs because of your child’s injuries. If you have, these may be claimable within a personal injury claim.
  • Travel costs. Any reasonable travel expenses that have been incurred because of child whiplash injuries could also be included. These could include having to pay for travel to get to medical appointments.
  • Care costs. Has your child has required specialist care while they were recovering? Or, will require this care long term? Care costs could also be requested as special damages within a child whiplash claim.

Whatever costs or losses you may have faced due to your child suffering a whiplash injury, why not speak to our team. You can ask whether they could be claimed for as special damages. We’d be happy to explain whether they could or not, and what proof may be required.

Making Child Whiplash Claims With A No Win No Fee Solicitor

If you are eligible to make a child whiplash compensation claim on behalf of your child, one of our lawyers may be able to help you. Furthermore, they offer you a type of No Win No Fee agreement known as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).

When working with a lawyer under a CFA, you will not have to pay them anything for their services upfront or while your case is ongoing. You also will not be obligated to pay them for their work if your claim fails.

If your claim succeeds, you will pay your lawyer a success fee. This will be taken directly from your compensation as a small, legally capped percentage.

For more information about making an infant whiplash claim with one of our No Win No Fee lawyers, you can contact our advisors. To speak with a member of our advisory team, you can:

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