By Cat Grayson. Last Updated 22nd September 2023. Welcome to our guide to making hand injury claims. In it, we discuss different hand injuries, from an amputation to a broken hand at work. Compensation is also discussed and we explain how we could give you a better idea of the compensation you could receive than a hand injury compensation calculator.
A hand injury can cause all sorts of problems with day to day life on a short-term or long-term basis depending on the severity. When your hands are injured, you soon become aware of how reliant you are on them, especially the dominant hand.
Hand injury compensation claim guide
When your accident is caused by a third party’s mistake or negligence, then you can make a hand injury compensation claim against the other person using a no win no fee service.
If you’d like to begin a claim today, please call Advice.co.uk on 0161 696 9685 and speak to one of our personal injury specialists.
If you’d like to know more first, please carry on reading and we’ll provide all the information that you’ll need when deciding whether to claim or not.
Select A Section
- The Eligibility Criteria For Hand Injury Claims
- Hand Injury Compensation Amounts
- Hand Injury Claims – Evidence Examples
- What Is The Time Limit For Making A Hand Injury Claim?
- No Win No Fee Compensation Claims For A Hand Injury
- Related Advice And Guides
The Eligibility Criteria For Hand Injury Claims
For all hand injury claims, it’s essential to prove that the injury was caused by someone else breaching their duty of care. You are owed a duty of care in various situations, such as:
- In the workplace – The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA) states that your employer owes you a duty of care. Per this duty, they must take reasonable steps to ensure your safety while in the workplace.
- On the road – All road users owe each other a duty of care. This includes pedestrians, motorists, and cyclists. Per their duty of care, all road users must follow the rules and guidelines set out in the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the Highway Code to promote road safety and reduce the risks of accidents.
- In public places – Anyone in control of a public space, otherwise known as an ‘occupier’, owes members of the public a duty of care. Per the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 (OLA), they must take all the necessary steps to ensure the reasonable safety of the people using that space for its intended purposes.
If any of these parties were to breach their duty of care, this could result in an accident where you suffer an injury. In the next section, we will provide some examples of hand injury compensation amounts for successful personal injury claims.
Contact our advisors today to see whether you could claim compensation for a hand injury from a fall, slip or trip accident. Our advisors are available 24 hours a day to offer you free legal advice and could answer your questions about personal injury claims.
Hand Injury Compensation Amounts
Some claimants may seek out a hand injury compensation calculator to get an estimate of their compensation. Or, depending on the type of injury or what part of the hand has been affected, some may seek out specific tools such as a finger injury claim calculator or an amputation compensation chart for the UK. However, such tools may not be able to provide a wholly accurate estimate of your claim as some do not include special damages.
Personal injury compensation provided for your pain and distress is known as general damages. To help show how much you may receive in general damages, we have included a table below with compensation brackets for different types of hand and finger injuries. The compensation brackets are based on the April 2022 update of the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG).
Legal professionals use the JCG to help value claims, but the injury compensation amounts shown are not guaranteed as every case is different.
| Injury | Notes | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Total Effective Loss of Both Hands | Extensive damage occurs to both hands rendering them relatively useless. | £140,660 to £201,490 |
| Total Effective Loss of One Hand | Surgical amputation following crushing injuries or a traumatic amputation of all the fingers and most of the palm. | £96,160 to £109,650 |
| Serious Damage to Both Hands | This type of hand injury will result in a cosmetic disability and a substantial loss of function. | £55,820 to £84,570 |
| Serious Hand Injuries | Injuries cause a reduction in functioning by about 50%. | £29,000 to £61,910 |
| Severe Fractures to Fingers | The hand is reduced to a 50% capacity and may require several fingers to be amputated. | Up to £36,740 |
| Less Serious Hand Injury | Significant impairment of function due to a severe crush injury. | £14,450 to £29,000 |
| Serious Injury to the Thumb | A fracture, amputation of the tip or nerve damage which results in impaired grip. | £12,590 to £16,760 |
| Serious Injury to Ring or Middle Fingers | Stiffness and a deformity caused by serious tendon injuries or fractures. | £10,320 to £16,340 |
| Moderate Hand Injury | This bracket includes crushing, penetration wounds, lacerations and soft tissue injuries. | £5,720 to £13,280 |
| Minor Hand, Finger and Thumb Injuries | A fracture that takes 6 months to heal. | Up to £4,750 |
Our team of advisors can discuss details of your potential claim including how much compensation may be offered for the injuries you’re claiming for. Get in touch today to find out more.
What Else Can Be Included As Part Of Hand Injury Compensation?
The table above contains examples of hand injury compensation amounts that address the suffering experienced due to your physical injury. However, you may find that some hand injury claims can also include compensation for any losses or costs incurred due to your finger injury. This is called special damages.
To claim for special damages, you must be able to supply evidence. For example, if you can’t drive due to the severity of your hand or finger injury and that is your usual mode of transport, you could be reimbursed money spent on taxis or bus fare, but only if you can provide receipts or bus tickets. Your payslips could support a claim for loss of earnings, lost future wages or pension contributions if you have needed extended time off work. Additionally, if any of your property was damaged in the accident that caused your injury, you could recover the costs of repairs or replacements if you can present the receipts or invoices.
This is not an exhaustive list. Our advisors can discuss what special damages you could include as part of your hand injury claim if you get in touch.
Hand Injury Claims – Evidence Examples
As stated above, there are different scenarios where you are owed a duty of care. You will be expected to submit evidence that proves that your hand injury was caused by a breach in a duty of care owed to you if you would like to claim.
Evidence that could be helpful in hand injury claims includes:
- Witness contact details. If anyone saw what happened, you can make a note of their contact information so they can give a statement at a later date.
- Medical records. This can include doctor reports and hospital reports. Also, as part of the claiming process, you might be expected to attend an independent medical assessment. This can provide details on the severity of your injury and what impact it might have on your life.
- Recorded video footage. Witnesses may have recorded the accident or immediate aftermath. Additionally, if there is CCTV footage of the accident that caused your injuries, you can request this.
- Any images of your injuries or the accident scene can also be submitted.
For free advice about hand injury compensation amounts and what evidence you could submit to prove your case, call our advisors.
What Is The Time Limit For Making A Hand Injury Claim?
As set out in the Limitation Act 1980, the time limit for starting a personal injury claim is three years. This time limit usually begins from the date of the accident that caused your injury.
The time limit can work differently under certain circumstances. For instance, if a child has injured their hand, then the time limit is paused until the day of their 18th birthday. Before that day arrives, a claim could be made on the child’s behalf by a court-appointed litigation friend. The three-year time limit will start for the injured party on the day they turn 18 if a claim hasn’t already been made for them.
If the injured party lacks the mental capacity to make an injured hand claim, then the three-year time limit is indefinitely suspended. A litigation friend could start a claim on the injured party’s behalf during this time. However, if the injured party were to regain this mental capacity later, and a claim hasn’t already been made, they will have three years to start a claim from the date of recovery.
Contact our advisors today if you have any questions about hand injury claims. Additionally, they could inform you whether you have enough time to start your claim.
No Win No Fee Compensation Claims For A Hand Injury
If you are interested in making a hand injury claim, a solicitor from our panel may be able to help. The solicitors on our panel work under Conditional Fee Agreements (CFA), which is a type of No Win No Fee arrangement. Under this kind of agreement, your solicitor won’t take a fee to start their work on your claim, nor will they charge for their services to continue. You also won’t be expected to pay a fee for their work if your claim fails.
If your hand injury claim succeeds, your solicitor will be due a success fee. This fee is taken as a small percentage, directly from your compensation. However, the percentage your solicitor can take is capped by law, helping to ensure that you keep the majority of what you receive.
Our advisors are here to help if you’d like to learn more about working with a solicitor. They can evaluate your claim for free and can offer more information on hand injury compensation amounts in UK claims, what evidence you could use to strengthen your claim, and how a solicitor could help. If they find that your claim could be valid, they may connect you with a solicitor from our panel. To get started:
- Call us on 0161 696 9685
- Contact us online
- Use the live chat feature
Related Advice And Guides
Here are some more guides from around the web which you may find useful:
Broken Finger Guide – A guide from the NHS about the symptoms and treatment of broken fingers.
RIDDOR Information – Information from the Health and Safety Executive regarding accidents at work.
We hope our hand injury claims guide has been useful, and you now know how we could help you start a claim for broken hand at work compensation. If you’d like us to give you guidance on a figure you’ve received from a hand injury compensation calculator, and explain how to start a claim, we’re here to assist you.