No Win, No FeeAny type of hand injury can have a negative impact on your life. It might stop you from working, participating in your usual hobbies or carrying out daily activities. As such, if you’ve suffered a hand injury through no fault of your own, you may wish to seek damages from the responsible party.
Whether you’ve injured your hand at work or after falling over in a supermarket, this article on hand injury compensation claims will explain your options. We’ll look at when you might be entitled to compensation and we’ll also review how much compensation might be paid for a range of hand injuries.
Our team are ready to help if you do want to start a claim. We’ll begin by reviewing what happened during a no-obligation case review. You’ll be offered free legal advice about your chances of being compensated and your options will be explained. If your claim has a realistic chance of success, we could pass it to one of our personal injury lawyers. If they agree to represent you, you’ll benefit from a No Win, No Fee service meaning you won’t pay your solicitor for their work unless you are paid compensation.
If you’re ready to begin the claims process right away, please call our team on 0800 652 1345 today. Alternatively, read on to learn more about the types of hand injuries you could be compensated for.
Am I Entitled to Compensation for a Hand Injury?
If your hand is injured in an unavoidable accident or you were to blame, you’re unlikely to be compensated. However, if your case matches the following criteria, one of our personal injury lawyers might agree to represent you:
- The defendant (the party you are claiming against) owed you a duty of care.
- The defendant was negligent and this led to an accident.
- You sustained a hand injury in the accident.
If you’re not sure if a legal duty of care existed, our team can help you check. Essentially, legislation like the Road Traffic Act 1988, the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Occupiers Liability Act 1957 will often be used to establish a duty of care in different circumstances. Once this has been proven, the next step will be to provide evidence to show how your hand was injured. We’ll explain more about this in a short while.
Common Examples of Hand Injury Claims
Here are some common examples of accidents that could lead to hand injuries and why they might entitle you to compensation:
- Machinery accidents in the workplace: Injuries like crushed hands or amputations can happen if faulty machinery or a lack of safety guards causes an accident. Employers are required to ensure equipment is safe and workers are properly trained.
- Burns and scalds: Severe burns to the hands can occur from hot surfaces, chemicals, or faulty equipment in places like kitchens, factories, or beauty salons. If the injury was caused by someone else’s negligence, you could have grounds for a claim.
- Falling objects: Being struck by a falling object in a warehouse or building site can cause fractures or other serious injuries to the hands. Businesses and employers have a responsibility to secure items properly.
- Dog bites or animal attacks: Animal-related incidents including dog bites can lead to serious hand injuries, including lacerations and infections. If the owner failed to control their pet or livestock, you might be entitled to compensation.
- Slip, trip, and fall injuries: Using your hands to break a fall on a wet floor, broken pavement, or pothole can lead to sprains, dislocations, or fractures. If someone else’s negligence caused the hazard, you could make a claim.
If the type of accident that caused your hand injury isn’t listed, don’t worry. A quick call to our team might be all it takes to find out whether or not we could help you claim compensation.
What Types of Hand Injuries Can I Claim For?
If your claim meets the criteria set out below, you could claim for the suffering caused by any hand injury. Some of the most common our solicitors help with include:
- Crush injuries.
- Fractures and breaks.
- Muscle damage.
- Strains and sprains.
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Occupational dermatitis.
- Burns or scalds.
- Cuts and lacerations.
- Repetitive strain injuries.
- Tendonitis.
- Osteoarthritis.
While some hand injuries will be short-lived and will heal within a matter of months, others can be life-changing. For instance, if you are an electrician and you suffered nerve damage in your hands, you may not be able to continue in your chosen profession.
However your hand was injured, if you believe the accident was someone else’s fault, call us today to find out whether you could be entitled to compensation.
What Evidence Do I Need for a Hand Injury Compensation Claim?
Whether your hand injury compensation claim is against an individual or an organisation, it will more than likely be handled by an insurance company. Their default stance will be to deny liability on behalf of their client. As such, you’ll need to supply compelling proof to show how your hand was injured, who was to blame and the extent of your injuries. The following could all be used as proof to improve your chances of being compensated:
- Accident report forms: Most businesses and organisations need to keep a record of any accidents on their premises. By law, you are entitled to a copy of the report which could be used to prove where and when you were injured.
- Medical records: We’d suggest that you seek medical treatment for any injuries sustained after an accident. By doing so, you’ll receive the required treatment and your solicitor could request copies of your medical records to help prove the severity of your injuries.
- Photographic evidence: If you’re able to, it’s always a good idea to take pictures of the accident scene. If you can capture the cause of your accident before anything is removed from the scene, it could make proving what happened easier.
- Camera recordings: Similarly, you should request copies of any footage from dashcams or CCTV cameras if they recorded your accident. You’ll need to act quickly here, though, as data isn’t usually retained for too long.
- Witness details: If anyone else was present at the time your hand was injured, it’s a good idea to ask for their contact details. If needed, your solicitor could ask them to provide a statement of what they saw to help prove liability for the accident.
Finally, it’s a really good idea to keep a diary of events following your accident. This could include dates that you couldn’t work and any costs you’ve incurred as a result of your injuries.
Will I Need a Medical Assessment for My Hand Injury Claim?
If you can’t prove the extent of your hand injury, it is quite easy for an insurer to reduce the amount of compensation they have to pay (if any). As such, your solicitor is likely to arrange for an independent medical expert to examine your hand.
In this meeting, the specialist will also discuss the ramifications of your hand injury before preparing a report to explain how you’ve suffered. This report will also offer a prognosis regarding any future suffering.
It is important that you attend such a meeting if requested as the subsequent report will be used to try and ensure that you are compensated properly for your suffering.
What Is the Time Limit to Make a Hand Injury Claim?
According to the Limitation Act 1980, you must make a personal injury claim within a 3-year time limit. The date that this period will begin will be either:
- The date of the accident in which your hand was injured; or
- Your date of knowledge i.e. when your hand injury is diagnosed by your doctor. This is more likely to be relevant for cases of carpal tunnel injuries or hand-arm vibration syndrome.
While you might have quite a while to take action, we’d suggest that it’s better to begin the claim as soon as you can. During the claims process, your solicitor will need time to gather evidence, witness statements and medical records so the longer they have to do so, the better.
How Much Compensation for a Hand Injury Can I Claim?
The idea of any settlement paid in a hand injury claim is to help you to recover physically (and mentally) as much as possible. It should also restore you to the position you were in financially before the accident. As such, a payout should cover your pain and suffering (general damages) and any costs you have incurred because of your injured hand (special damages). In general, a settlement could include compensation to cover:
- Any physical pain you’ve endured because of your hand injury.
- Any stress, depression, anxiety or other forms of psychological harm such as post-traumatic stress disorder claims.
- Any negative impact on your social life, hobbies or family caused by your hand injury.
- Prescription costs and other medical expenses including private medical care in some cases.
- Care costs if you needed help with your normal activities due to your injuries.
- Disability aids and changes to your home or vehicle to help you cope with your hand injury in the long term.
You’ll notice that there’s quite a lot to consider during the hand injury claims process. It’s important to consider your case fully before filing your claim as once a payment is made to settle the case, you cannot request any additional compensation. If you work if a personal injury solicitor from our team, they’ll use their experience to try and ensure you are fully compensated for your injuries.
Can I Claim for Lost Earnings Resulting from My Hand Injury?
Having a hand injury can seriously impact your ability to earn. That might be the case if you’re an office worker, electrician, painter, musician, shop worker, cleaner and many other types of roles.
If your hand injury stops you from working and you lose income as a result, you could be compensated for your lost earnings. Additionally, if your hand injury causes long-term symptoms which will impact your ability to work and earn for a longer period, you could also claim for future losses.
Hand Injury Compensation Amounts
For successful hand injury compensation claims, there’s an array of guidelines for general damages compensation payout amounts. The current guidelines are as follows:
- £171,680 – £245,900 for total or effective loss of both hands.
- £117,360 – £133,810 for total or effective loss of one hand.
- £68,070 – £103,200 for serious damage to both hands causing a significant loss of function.
- £35,390 – £75,550 for serious hand injuries.
- £17,640 – £35,390 for less serious hand injuries.
- £6,910 – £16,200 for moderate hand injuries.
- Up to £5,580 compensation for minor hand injuries.
To check whether we can help you with a hand injury compensation claim, please get in touch today.
Will I Need a Solicitor to Claim Hand Injury Compensation?
It is entirely up to you whether you take on a personal injury solicitor to make a hand injury claim. While you can manage the claims process yourself, a specialist solicitor could also give you a much better chance of being compensated fairly for your suffering.
Crucially, our solicitors offer a No Win, No Fee service for any hand injury claim they take on. That means that you won’t need to pay them to begin working on your case if it is accepted.
As you’d expect, you’ll both sign a contract called a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) before the claim begins. This will explain that if your claim doesn’t work out, you won’t pay for your solicitor’s work.
If the claim is won, and you’re paid compensation, a success fee will be deducted from your award to cover your solicitor’s costs. This is limited by law to no more than 25% of any payment you receive.
Knowing that your solicitor is working on a No Win, No Fee basis should, in our experience, make the claims process much less stressful. If you’d like to check whether one of our solicitors could represent you, get in touch today.
Hand Injury Claims Frequently Asked Questions
What If My Hand Injury Made a Pre-existing Condition Worse?
In some cases, hand injury compensation payouts might be based on the worsening of an existing condition. For instance, if you already had arthritis in your fingers, you could be compensated if your symptoms had become worse since your accident.
Proving an increase in pain and suffering isn’t always the easiest thing to do. As such, it might be worth working with a personal injury solicitor if you wish to claim on this basis. They are likely to obtain medical records from before and after the accident along with independent reports to help prove your case.
What Happens If I Was Partially To Blame for My Injury?
In some cases, hand injury claims can be settled on the basis of contributory negligence. That is to say that both parties will have been deemed to have been responsible for the accident.
For instance, if your hand was broken by a car that failed to stop at a zebra crossing, it might be agreed that you were 20 per cent liable for failing to look before stepping onto the road. In this scenario, your claim might be settled in the normal way but any settlement payout could be reduced by 20 per cent.
How Long Will a Hand Injury Claim Typically Take?
It’s not possible to say exactly how long the claims process will take but if liability for your hand injury is accepted and you’ve fully recovered, you might receive a payout within months. Where the defendant contests liability or your injuries need to be investigated more thoroughly, claims can go on longer than a year. However, in some cases, personal injury interim payments could be paid by the defendant to help you with any immediate financial implications.
Start a Hand Injury Compensation Claim Today
We hope that this guide has clarified how hand injury claims work. If you’ve decided to take action and would like our help, please get in touch. Our claims line is open 24-hours a day. To speak with a specialist about your claim, simply call us on 0800 652 1345.
During your call, free legal advice will be given by your advisor after they’ve reviewed your claim with you. If your case is accepted by one of our solicitors, they will:
- Gather evidence to support your claim.
- Prepare a clear and concise claim and present it to the defendant and their insurer.
- Manage all communications so you won’t need to answer any technical questions.
- Attempt to counter any objections raised by providing further evidence.
- Work on a No Win, No Fee basis.
Thanks for reading our guide about hand injury compensation claims, and if you have any further questions, please use live chat or call us to discuss them.
