Hand injuries can give rise to serious physical, functional and psychological consequences, ranging from severe pain, ligament tears, fractures and permanent stiffness. A person may be able to claim compensation for a hand injury if it was caused by a third party’s negligence, such as from accidents on roads, in public settings, or at work. Beyond physical symptoms, hand injuries can also cause mental distress, especially if the hand is rendered useless, whether temporarily or permanently. If you’ve suffered something similar, you may be giving some thought to the hand injury claims process in order to secure compensation.
Hand injury compensation will be assessed from case-to-case, considering the seriousness of your injuries, your prognosis, and the overall impact on your quality of life. With the help of our friendly and professional panel, we could help you gather strong evidence, such as your medical records and CCTV footage, to strengthen your legal position.
At No Win No Fee Lawyers Direct, we understand that starting a hand injury claim can be a daunting prospect. That’s why our advisors are committed to providing the best service to people just like you, whether it be answering your questions or providing helpful advice. As part of our free services, you could enjoy an eligibility check to assess the merits of your hand injury claim. Following this, you could be connected with one of the specialist personal injury solicitors from our panel to start your compensation claim. On a No Win No Fee basis, our panel of dedicated solicitors are experts in securing successful settlements.
To learn more about the hand injury claims process today, please get in touch with our team:
- Call us for free on 020 8050 4194
- Contact us by filling out our online form
- Use our free live chat
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I Claim Hand Injury Compensation?
- What Are Hand Injury Claims Examples
- What Are The Commonly Sustained Hand Injuries?
- How Much Hand Injury Compensation Could I Claim?
- What Evidence Will I Need To Bring A Hand Injury Claim?
- How Long After Injuring My Hand Will I Have To Claim?
- Why Choose No Win No Fee Lawyers Direct?
- Can I Make A Hand Injury Claim On A No Win No Fee Basis?
- More Information
Can I Claim Hand Injury Compensation?
Yes, you could claim hand injury compensation provided that you can demonstrate that your injuries resulted from a third party’s negligence. A duty of care will be automatically owed in many different scenarios, such as on roads, in workplaces, and in public. A breach of this duty could therefore result in injury, giving rise to hand injury claims.
As such, you will need to fulfil the following eligibility requirements:
- You Were Owed a Duty of Care
You were owed a legal duty of care by another business, organisation, or another person. Ultimately, this means that they were responsible for taking reasonable steps to protect your health and safety and prevent hand injuries, such as erecting finger shields and providing gloves.
- That Duty of Care Was Breached
You must be able to demonstrate that the duty of care was breached by a third party. This could occur when the party responsible fails to act as a reasonable person or business would have done, such as by failing to repair hazards, not performing routine checks, or making avoidable mistakes that lead to hand injuries.
- You Suffered A Hand Injury Due To The Breach
You must have suffered a hand injury as a result of the breach. This can range from minor injuries to more serious or long-term conditions, such as fractured fingers that make it difficult to cope with daily life for a few weeks or even a life-changing injury, such as a hand amputation.
To learn more about your eligibility to claim, please get in touch with a friendly advisor today.
What Are Hand Injury Claims Examples
Hand injury claims examples may include cases arising from accidents on roads, in public places, and in workplaces due to a breach in duty of care. Please see the following examples of hand injuries and how hand injury claims could arise as a result:
Hand Injuries In The Workplace
Employers must implement reasonable measures to ensure the health and safety of their staff members.
Therefore, if you suffered hand injuries due to your employer’s negligence, you could make an accident at work claim. For instance:
- An employer could fail to perform regular checks on machinery, failing to notice any need for repairs. A saw machine could malfunction due to this, resulting in crush injuries to an employee’s hand.
- An employer could fail to provide adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) to staff members, such as chemical-resistant gloves. An employee could suffer burn injuries to their hands due to this, resulting in long-term psychological effects and serious permanent scars.
Public Place Hand Injuries
Those with responsibility for public spaces must take steps to ensure that the space is reasonably safe to use for its intended purposes.
Therefore, you could make a public liability claim if you sustained hand injuries due to an occupier’s negligence. For example:
- A visitor could trip over uneven pavement at a fairground that hasn’t been repaired. Due to this, they could suffer with broken bones to their left hand and serious arm injuries.
- A member of the public could slip and fall on an uncleaned spillage at a supermarket, with no wet floor sign displayed. As a result, they could suffer ligament damage to their hand, as well as neck and head injuries.
Hand Injuries In A Road Traffic Accident
Road users must navigate the roads in a way that avoids harm to themselves and to others. In doing this, they must also adhere to the rules of the Highway Code and the Road Traffic Act 1998.
Therefore, you could make a road traffic accident claim if you suffered hand injuries due the negligent acts or inactions of another road user.
- A person could be involved in a car accident due to another driver crashing into the rear of their vehicle. They could suffer serious nerve damage from the impact of their hand on the steering wheel and lacerations due to the windscreen shattering.
- A driver could collide with a pedestrian navigating a zebra crossing due to not paying attention. The pedestrian could suffer with multiple fractures in both hands, as well as head and eye injuries from the impact.
To discuss your personal experience with one of our advisors, please contact our advisory team today. They can help assess whether you are eligible to make a hand injury claim.
What Are The Commonly Sustained Hand Injuries?
Commonly sustained hand injuries can range in severity, often encompassing fractures, sprains and soft tissue injuries. Please see the following list of examples:
- Fractures to fingers, the metacarpal, and the scaphoid (wrist).
- Dislocations to the hand, fingers or thumb
- Skier’s Thumb, involving a tear of the ulnar collateral ligament
- Tendon injuries
- Trigger finger, often causing the finger to lock when bent
- Lacerations and deep cuts
- Nerve injuries
- Crush injuries
- Burns
- Nailbed injuries
Please note that the above list is not exhaustive, and hand injuries can take many different shapes and forms.
To discuss your hand injury in further detail with a member of our advisory team, please get in touch today.
How Much Hand Injury Compensation Could I Claim?
The amount of hand injury compensation that you could claim could range from a few thousand for minor injuries and up to £245,000 for the loss of both hands. This figure was taken from the Judicial College Guidelines.
In successful hand injury claims, general damages will be awarded for any physical and mental pain and suffering endured. These damages will be assessed by a solicitor, using a combination of medical evidence and the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This publication is popular among legal professionals as it contains compensation guidelines for many different injury types.
All entries in the table below, apart from the first figure, have been taken from the JCG. Please be aware that the entries are merely guidelines and do not guarantee how much you could receive.
| Injury | Notes | Compensation Pay-out |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple severe injuries with financial losses | More than one form of serious injury with special damages such as lost earnings, medical expenses and travel costs | Up to £500,000+ |
| Total or Effective Loss of Both Hands | Serious injury resulting in extensive damage to both hands so they are little more than useless. | £171,680 to £245,900 |
| Total or Effective Loss of One Hand | Where a hand was crushed and surgically amputated after this. | £117,360 to £133,810 |
| Serious Damage to Both Hands | With a significant loss of function and a permanent disability | £68,070 to £103,200 |
| Amputation of Index and Middle and/or Ring Fingers | The hand will have very little use with an extremely weakened grip. | £75,550 to £110,750 |
| Serious Hand Injuries | The hand will be reduced to around 50% capacity, and where several fingers will have been amputated, leaving it clawed or clumsy | £35,390 to £75,550 |
| Less Serious Hand Injury | Including a severe crush injury resulting in an impaired function despite an operation. | £17,640 to £35,390 |
| Moderate Hand Injury | Encompassing crush injuries, penetrating wounds and deep lacerations. | £6,910 to £16,200 |
Special Damages In Hand Injury Claims
If your hand injury claim is successful, you could also be awarded with special damages. In all, this award will compensate you for monetary losses that you may have suffered due to your hand injuries.
Examples of special damages could include the following:
- Loss of earnings, encompassing a loss in current or future income, loss of a bonus, overtime pay, or workplace pension schemes.
- Medical expenses, including private consultations, hand bandage costs and prescriptions for painkillers.
- Care expenses, such as the cost of help with performing daily activities if your hand injuries left you unable to do so. This can include cleaning, cooking and dressing.
- Home modifications, including stability aids, handle modifications and one-handed tools to accommodate permanent hand injuries.
- Travel expenses, including fuel and public transport costs from travelling to and from medical appointments.
Special damages must also be evidenced in the following forms:
- Payslips
- Receipts
- Bank statements
- Invoices
To discover more about special damages, please contact our helpful advisory team today.
What Evidence Will I Need To Bring A Hand Injury Claim?
Evidence that you may need to bring a hand injury may include photographs of visible hand injuries, as well as contact details of potential witnesses.
Further evidence you could supply could include the following:
- A copy of your medical records to show the extent of your hand injuries
- Dashcam or CCTV footage of the incident that caused your hand injury
- A copy of an accident report form or an official record of the incident
- Vehicle registration and insurance details if the hand injury occurred in a road traffic accident
To learn more about proving liability, please refer to our dedicated guide about the evidence you will need for a personal injury claim.
If you’re put in contact with one of the specialist solicitors from our panel, they could help you with evidence-gathering efforts. To learn if you’re eligible to claim, please get in touch with our friendly team today.
How Long After Injuring My Hand Will I Have To Claim?
You will have up to 3 years after injuring your hand to make a claim, as per the Limitation Act 1980. As such, the 3-year time limit starts from the date of the hand injury accident. Some exceptions do apply.
To discover more about limitation periods, please read our dedicated guide about the personal injury claim time limit.
To learn how you could claim on behalf of a loved one who is unable to manage the claims process themselves, please feel free to contact one of our advisors today.
Why Choose No Win No Fee Lawyers Direct?
You should choose No Win No Fee Lawyers Direct due to the expertise of the solicitors from our panel. With decades of combined experience in making personal injury claims, our panel of solicitors can maximise the compensation that you receive for your specific hand injury and ensure that all of your out of pocket expenses are accounted for. You could also enjoy the following benefits on a No Win No Fee basis:
- Expert advice about hand injury claims that adheres to confidentiality rules
- Regular case updates so you’re never left wondering where your hand injury claim stands
- Putting you in contact with the help you need, whether it be with counsellors or physical therapists to aid your hand injuries.
- Explanations of legal terminologies and jargon to give you a full understanding of the hand injury claims process.
- Helping you to apply for interim payments where necessary.
To learn more about our dedicated panel of solicitors, please get in touch with our advisors today.
Can I Make A Hand Injury Claim On A No Win No Fee Basis?
Yes, you could be eligible to make a hand injury claim on a No Win No Fee basis. Our panel offer their services through a type of No Win No Fee arrangement called a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). Using this type of funding arrangement can ensure that you receive expert legal representation:
- Without paying upfront solicitors’ fees when a solicitor from our panel agrees to support your claim for hand injury compensation.
- You also won’t be asked to pay these fees as the claim moves through the claims process.
- Furthermore, you won’t be expected to pay a solicitor’s fee if your claim is unsuccessful.
However, if you are awarded hand injury compensation, then your solicitor will deduct a pre-agreed percentage of this compensation. In addition to being pre-agreed and fully discussed with you before you sign anything, there is a legal cap placed on this percentage to ensure that you keep the majority of your compensation.
Contact Our Team
To discover more about the hand injury claims process, please don’t hesitate to get in touch:
- Call us on 020 8050 4194
- Contact us by filling out our online form
- Utilise our free live chat
More Information
For more information on personal injury claims, please see some of our other guides:
- Learn about making fatal accident claims
- Get help with manual handling injury claims
- See the following advice on cycling accident claims
Additional external resources:
- Get help with hand injuries from the NHS
- Learn about managing sick leave and return to work from HSE
- See how to request CCTV footage of yourself from Gov.UK
Thank you for reading our helpful guide about hand injury claims.