A maintenance worker from Somerset has secured more than £6,000 in damages after suffering a whiplash injury in a road accident.

The union member was driving to work on the A39 near Dunball and had stopped at a set of traffic lights when he was hit by a car from behind. Straight after the collision, a lorry drove into the two vehicles.

The impact of the crashes wrote the man’s car off and caused him whiplash. His injury meant that he needed two weeks off work and he continues to suffer from occasional pain in his neck more than two years after the accident.

He instructed road traffic accident specialists, Thompsons Solicitors, to investigate a claim for compensation.

The man said: “If the drivers behind me had been paying more attention to the road this accident would never have happened. Instead, I’ve suffered an injury that meant I had to have time off work and continues to cause me pain to this day. I know insurers claim whiplash doesn’t exist; well I’d like them to go through what I have been through and still say that.

The fact that the insurers settled this case (as they do thousands of whiplash cases every year) gives the lie to that insulting nonsense which is being used by insurers to wind up consumer fears and justify premium rises.

Joanne Duggan of Thompsons Solicitors

“Having the support of Thompsons gave me the reassurance that I wouldn’t lose out as a result of my accident, which was a great relief.”

Joanne Duggan, of Thompsons Solicitors, said: “A lack of concentration from two separate drivers led to an accident that wrote off our client’s car, causing an injury that still gives him discomfort years on. The insurers would have you believe that whiplash doesn’t exist and it’s either all in the mind or fraudulent.

“The fact that the insurers settled this case (as they do thousands of whiplash cases every year) gives the lie to that insulting nonsense which is being used by insurers to wind up consumer fears and justify premium rises.”