By Stephen Kane. Last Updated 28th June 2023. Welcome to our guide to making a thumb injury claim. Whether you’re seeking loss of thumb compensation for an accident at work, or you’ve broken your thumb in a public place accident, you could be eligible to claim if someone else was at fault. This guide explains how to go about doing so, and how we could help.
Any thumb injury can cause problems with simple, everyday tasks, especially when they occur on our dominant hand including cut thumbs, tendon injuries and even broken or fractured thumb injuries could combine with wrist injuries to painful effect.
If you’re looking to make a thumb injury claim, then Advice may be able to help by providing you with a No Win No Fee solicitor to assist with any claim. If you already know that you’d like to begin a claim, then call one of our advisors on 0161 696 9685 and we’ll assess your case straight away.
If you’d like to know more first, then please carry on reading this guide which covers everything you need to know.
Select A Section
- Finger And Thumb Injury Compensation Claim Calculator
- What Damages Could Your Thumb Injury Claim Include?
- Common Causes Of Thumb Injuries
- Common Types Of Thumb Injury
- Thumb Injury Accidents In The Workplace
- Can You Claim Partial Loss Of Thumb Compensation?
- How Much Time Do I Have To Make A Thumb Injury Claim?
- What Do I Need To Do To Start A Thumb Injury Claim
- No Win No Fee Thumb Injury Claims
- Additional Information On Making A Thumb Injury Claim
Finger And Thumb Injury Compensation Claim Calculator
If you’re asking questions such as “How much is a thumb worth in compensation?”, then you have probably heard rumours of personal injury compensation calculators.
Unfortunately, calculators can’t give you an accurate estimate of thumb injury compensation amounts as every single compensation claim is different to the next and there are many elements of a claim that can be made (see the next section for full details on this).
We can, however, provide the table below, which shows the range of compensation that can be awarded for different injuries under the general damages (pain and suffering) element of a claim. The figures shown are from the Judicial College Guidelines.
| Injury | Severity | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thumb | (Q) | £33,330 to £51,460 | Loss of a thumb. |
| Thumb | Very Serious | £18,390 to £32,850 | The thumb may have been severed at the base and grafted back, leaving a deformed and essentially useless digit. Could also cover cases where the thumb has been amputated through the interphalangeal joint. |
| Thumb | Serious | £11,820 to £15,740 | Could include amputation of the tip, fractures that necessitate the insertion of wires and nerve damage. The result will be an impaired grip and loss of dexterity. |
| Thumb | Moderate | £9,080 to £11,820 | Injuries cause damage to nerves or tendons and could result in impairment of function and sensation with a related cosmetic deformity. |
| Thumb | (U) | £3,710 to £6,360 | Severe dislocation. |
| Thumb | Minor | Up to £4,461 | Fractures that generally recover within 6 months. Could also include tenderness, scarring and reaction to the cold with a full recovery. |
This provides an example only and the amount of compensation is dependent on your personal injury solicitor being able to provide enough medical evidence to support your claim. It’s important therefore that you provide as much information to them as possible and any supporting evidence.
To find out more about how much compensation you could receive for your thumb injury claim, why not get in touch with our advisors today? They can give you an assessment of your claim and could potentially connect you with a solicitor from our panel who can help you.
What Damages Could Your Thumb Injury Claim Include?
As we mentioned above, personal injury claims for thumb injuries can be made up of a number of different elements. Not every claim will include all of the elements as they are used depending on the impact caused to you following the accident.
The different parts of a claim that your solicitor can use are:
General Damages
This part of a claim is for non-financial damages which can include:
- Pain and suffering (A figure that can be gained from a similar table to the one used in the last section).
- Loss of amenity (enjoyment of life or the impact on the ability to complete everyday tasks).
- Loss of congenial employment (usually for specialist work that can’t be completed following the accident)
- Loss of prospects (such as a marriage breakdown caused by the accident or injuries)
Special Damages
These are somewhat easier to assess as they are usually for financial losses incurred by the accident and, following compensation, you should be in no worse (financial) position than you were prior to the accident.
Special damages may include:
Medical Expenses and Care Costs
If, following your accident, you incur any medical expense (such as prescription or treatment costs) or require any professional care costs when supported by specialist medical advice that it was required.
Past and Future Loss of Earnings
It is acceptable to claim back any earnings that you lose while you’re away from work to recover or attending medical appointments. At the same time, if you are unable to work the same number of hours or even have to change job (or stop working altogether) you can claim for future loss of earnings if it can be proven that it’s been caused by the accident.
Travel Costs
If you need to modify your normal travel arrangements i.e. use a taxi or public transport instead of driving yourself, then you could claim for the costs involved. Furthermore, you can claim for any costs associated with travelling to a doctor or other medical appointment.
As special damages are usually finance-related, it is recommended that you provide your personal injury lawyer with evidence such as receipts or bank records to back up the claim.
Common Causes Of Thumb Injuries
There are many scenarios that lead to thumb injury claims and Advice can help with any of them, but some of the more common reasons for injuries include:
- Sporting injuries including ball sports and contact sports
- Road traffic accidents
- Slips, trips, and fall where the hand is put out to protect you from the fall
- Vibration white finger and other repetitive strain injuries (RSI)
- Injuries in the workplace such as accidents using machinery
- Faulty products which cause lacerations to the thumb or thumbs.
Any of the above could lead to thumb injury claims when it can be proven that the accident wasn’t your fault but caused by some form of negligence.
Common Types Of Thumb Injury
There are a number of thumb injuries that can occur. Essentially, they involve some form of damage to the thumb, ranging from minor injuries to those that require surgery or physiotherapy to remedy the damage done.
Types reasons for making a thumb injury claim include:
- Fractures
- Cuts and bruises
- Dislocations
- Soft tissue injuries
- Lacerations
- Injuries resulting in the amputation of one or both of the thumbs.
These are just some of the more common injuries, others such as jamming a thumb, knuckle injuries, splinting and thumb joint injuries can also lead to compensation claims, providing they were caused by somebody else.
Thumb Injury Accidents In The Workplace
There are numerous types of accidents that can lead to thumb injury claims in the workplace. Commonly these can include:
- Ligament damage to one or more thumbs where heavy lifting is involved.
- Crushed thumbs where heavy items fall onto the hand or thumb.
- Cuts and lacerations to the thumb or thumbs involving cooks, chefs or restaurant staff.
These types of accidents, on their own, don’t constitute a valid claim for compensation but if it can be shown that they were caused because of inadequate training, inappropriate equipment, lack of safety equipment or damaged machinery then it would be more likely that we could help you with a claim.
This type of accident should always be reported to the supervisor so that it is recorded in the company’s accident report log under health and safety regulations.
Can You Claim Partial Loss Of Thumb Compensation?
Losing part of any digit, especially on the thumb, can be life changing and affect everyday life as well as the type of work you’re able to complete which means compensation should be sought to allow you to make adjustments and to aid recovery.
Partial loss of a thumb
Unlike breaks and fractures, there is no recovery from the partial loss of a thumb, so it is only right that you seek legal advice to decide whether you are able to make a claim for your injuries.
Whether the loss happened at work or in a public place, if we can determine that somebody else caused the injury through something they did or didn’t do, then we could help you to make a no win no fee compensation claim.
How Much Time Do I Have To Make A Thumb Injury Claim?
As stated in the Limitation Act 1980, there is generally a three-year time limit for starting a personal injury claim. This time limit applies from the date your thumb injury occurred.
The time limit for starting a claim for thumb injuries can work differently under certain circumstances. For instance, if a child has suffered a thumb injury, then the time limit is paused until the day of their 18th birthday. A claim could be made on the child’s behalf by a court-appointed litigation friend before this date. If, however, this does not happen, then the injured party will have three years to start their own claim once they turn 18.
If the injured party lacks sufficient mental capacity to make their own claim, the time limit is suspended indefinitely. A litigation friend could make a claim on the person’s behalf. However, if the injured party later regains sufficient mental capacity and a claim hasn’t been made by a litigation friend, then the three-year time limit will start from the date of recovery.
If you would like to learn more about the time limit for starting a personal injury claim for a fractured thumb, dislocated thumb or another type of thumb injury, you can get in touch with our advisors.
What Do I Need To Do To Start A Thumb Injury Claim
If you’ve had a thumb injury and are considering claiming for compensation because of it, then there are a number of steps you can take which will help make the claim easier for a personal injury solicitor:
- Ensure you seek medical treatment. Without this, a claim is highly unlikely to be successful as, after you received treatment to repair the injury, the doctor or medical professional will create medical records which can be used as evidence to prove the injury occurred and how serious it was (it may include other information including x-rays if they were taken).
- If the accident happened at work or in a public place, ensure that it is reported to somebody who can log it in an accident report log. This can be obtained as further evidence that the accident happened.
- Ask any witnesses, this can include colleagues, to write a statement of what they saw when your accident happened. Obtain their contact details as well so that we can contact them at a later date if needed.
- Photograph the injuries to your thumb or ask somebody to do it for you.
- Also, photograph the scene of the accident before anything that caused it is removed or repaired. You may find that going back at a later date to do this will mean the cause is no longer there, so try to get this done as soon as possible following the accident.
All of these steps will give your solicitor a lot more evidence and references to help make the claim much easier than without them and could mean they have a much better chance of winning your case.
No Win No Fee Thumb Injury Claims
The main reason people use No Win No Fee claims is that the financial risk and stress of making a claim is greatly reduced because, if the solicitor loses the case, then the client doesn’t have to pay them for their service or time.
There are other options, like paying a solicitor for their time, which mean you’ll get 100% compensation if they win, but if the solicitor loses the case, you still have to pay their legal fees (which could amount to a large amount of money).
With No Win No Fee agreements (also known as Conditional Fee Agreements – CFAs), you know from the start where you stand. They have a section which specifies the success fee the solicitor will charge if they win. It is a fixed percentage (with a maximum of 25%) of any compensation they win for you that covers their time and services.
If compensation is awarded, the solicitor simply retains their success fee and sends the rest of the compensation directly to you which means you never actually have to send them any funds yourself.
If you’d like to begin your claim today, then you can start by contacting us in any of these ways:
- Call us on 0161 696 9685 to speak with a member of the team right away.
- Email details of your claim to [email protected]
- Or fill in this simple online form and we’ll get back to you at a time that’s convenient to you.
Additional Information On Making A Thumb Injury Claim
Here are some more guide articles which may help you further when considering whether to make a claim or not:
NHS Broken Finger Guide – An NHS article about the symptoms, treatments, and aftercare for broken finger and thumb injuries.
NHS Hand Pain – Another guide from the NHS that provides information on hand pain, which could be linked to nerve damage suffered during an accident.
Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 – this legislation, from the UK government, that outlines the responsibilities for employers to ensure that employees are kept safe while at work.
If you require any further information on making a thumb injury claim, then please make contact with one of our team.