In the UK - you can claim for an acceleration of symptoms of a pre existing medical condition. For example in car accidents - whiplash is common which affects the cervical spine. If your spine has a pre existing degenerative condition you may be suffering no pain. But the car crash could lead to whiplash symptoms which last permanently into the future. A medical expert can scan your spine and see if it is degenerative and that expert will approximate how long the symptoms of pain have been brought forward. The amount you would claim would simply depend on the time period of acceleration. See the related link entitled "car accident compensation" to see examples of how much compensation you can claim for the time period your neck symptoms are accelerated by.
