Serious Hand Injury
So, you’ve seriously injured your hand in an accident that wasn’t your fault. What could you do next? If it can be proven that your injury was avoidable caused through the negligence of a third party that owed you a duty of care you may be eligible to claim compensation. This guide should advise you on key elements of the claims process.
It includes an example case study for an £80,000 compensation payout for an injury that could be very similar to your own. Ahead of reading this guide, though, you can contact our team of advisors anytime.
Just call 0800 408 7825, or to put your enquiry in writing, you can complete our contact form. Alternatively, our Live Chat is in the bottom corner of the page if you wish to speak to someone instantly.
Otherwise, feel free to begin reading this guide by using the headings below.
Choose A Section
- A Guide To Calculating Hand Injury Compensation
- What Is A Serious Hand Injury?
- Serious Hand Injury Financial Constraints
- Common Hand Injury Accidents
- What Is A Care Claim?
- Calculating Hand Injury Compensation Estimates
- Case Study: £80,000 Hand Injury Compensation
- Serious Hand Injury Compensation Estimates
- No Win No Fee Definition
- Top Personal Injury Solicitors Near You
- Call Our Team
- Extra Resources
A Guide To Calculating Hand Injury Compensation
Along with our £80,000 hand injury compensation payout example case study, we’re using this guide to detail facts you may need to know about making a personal injury claim. A key element to be aware of is the personal injury claims time limit.
This means you have 3 years to claim from when you first suffered or became aware of suffering a hand injury. Now, when it comes to a child or a victim lacking the mental capacity to claim, the rules differ slightly. In those cases, another appointed representative could act as their litigation friend to process the claim for them. However, if the child turns 18 or if the victim regains mental capacity, their 3-year window then begins.
We’re about to begin by discussing hand injuries, but before then, our specialist team can handle any enquiries you may have.
What Is A Serious Hand Injury?
Within the hand, you have numerous bones, joints, ligaments and tendons. A break or tear to any of these could result in great pain and suffering. However, it’s when the nerves connecting all four fingers and your thumb are damaged that the hand could lose function. Also if fingers or parts of the hand are amputated the hand could have reduced capacity. Symptoms of a hand injury include sharp pain, numbness, tingling and a loss of feeling. In severe cases, the loss of function that arises when the damage occurs could become permanent.
For a minor hand injury, recovery is very likely. Now, for a moderate break, it may take several weeks or a couple of months for a full recovery. But for a severe hand injury, with surgery being the requirement, you may be incapacitated for the foreseeable sometimes not achieving a full recovery. However, nerve problems could be beyond medical repair, with even multiple operations being unable to correct all of the damage. Our knowledgeable team can advise on how the severity of your problem could influence your hand injury compensation payout.
Serious Hand Injury Financial Constraints
As far as financial problems are concerned, just think for a minute about how many things you do with your hands. Almost everything you do requires your hands to some extent. So, imagine the impact on your life when your hands are incapable of performing those duties. It could mean being unable to work, which could cause financial losses due to no income. Or it could mean paying out a lot of money on medical expenses and public transport since you are unable to drive.
And for severe injuries, professional care might come out of your pocket just so you can manage in your house. Fortunately, personal injury lawyers can use this information to build your hand injury compensation claim. If your case succeeds then your out of pocket expenses could be claimed back.
Use our 24/7 Live Chat for further details.
Common Hand Injury Accidents
For your hand injury compensation claim to succeed, you have to prove the negligence of a third party. That would come from determining that they breached a duty of care they owed to you. And the result of this was an accident resulting in you being hurt, such as suffering a serious hand injury.
Employer’s liability (EL) is one such example of this, as it relates to accidents at work. The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 is designed to help avoid workplace accidents via a duty of care. But you might suffer nerve damage by getting your hand caught in a faulty machine. Or maybe it’s one of multiple injuries, allowing for a potential multiple injury claim. You could potentially make an accident at work claim because your hand has suffered damage at work due to a lapse in maintenance.
Public liability (PL) is there for those who suffer injuries due to those in control of a public space failing to adhere to legislation. There is a duty of care for these situations as per the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957. But you could be injured in a public place by, say, getting your hand caught in a faulty door, which subsequently caused you an injury.
And let’s not overlook road traffic accidents (RTAs). You could break your hand due to a collision with a fault-driver that sees your wrist take a great impact. The Highway Code provides rules for road users failure to comply could cause hazardous situations.
To see if you could receive hand injury compensation in any of these three situations, please contact our friendly team today. And they could then connect you to our panel of personal injury solicitors, who could then cover your case.
What Is A Care Claim?
Something to keep in mind about a hand injury is how quickly you’ll notice the inability to perform simple tasks. That’s where you may require additional support, and that’s why you could add a care claim when battling for hand injury compensation. It would primarily relate to the hiring of a nurse to look after you regularly while you recover.
But it could also include gracious care from both relatives and friends, with a value on their time and effort. And it might also cover professionals performing such tasks as cleaning your house or mowing your lawn. Learn more about care claims by calling our advisors using the number at the top of the page.
Calculating Hand Injury Compensation Estimates
At this stage, your personal injury lawyer if you want one to represent you would require you to undergo a full medical assessment. The reasons are simple: you need a complete diagnosis of your hand injury. This also looks at the severity of the injury. And by noting its impact on your day-to-day life, you would be able to strengthen your case for hand injury compensation. Once the evaluation results are provided, a compensation value may be attached to your case. This would be in the form of general damages and special damages.
Now, general damages would focus solely on the pain, suffering and impact on your life. Consider all of this the main crux of your claim, because the injury itself is the epicentre for general damages. As for special damages, this would ask questions that you may not necessarily be thinking about right away. They could include: how much are you paying for painkillers? Have you noticed that you’re using public transport far more frequently nowadays? And how long do you think you’ll be off work with no sick pay to cover your recuperation period? The responses would form the basis for your special damages, so long as you have receipts and invoices available.
Use our Live Chat at the bottom of the page to discuss general damages and special damages with us.
Case Study: £80,000 Hand Injury Compensation
Mr Draper worked as a builder, but he often uses local amenities for food and drinks when he’s at work. One Friday evening, he and his friends went to a local pub to enjoy a few drinks to celebrate the week. But it would have terrible consequences.
The pub they visited implemented steel shutters which close over the bar at the end of service every night. Normally, they are securely fastened when they’re not in use. And even when they are used, they are brought down slowly due to their weight.
However, on this night, one of the shutters malfunctioned. Therefore, when Mr Draper stood at the bar and went to pay for his party’s drinks, disaster struck. One of the shutters suddenly came crashing down and caught Mr Draper hard on his hand. He was immediately in great pain, and he knew something was seriously wrong.
An ambulance was called, and Mr Draper went to his local hospital. He had anticipated that he had suffered a serious break, which was true. However, worse news was to come. His doctor told him that he had also suffered significant damage to the median nerve of his hand. This meant that even once the bones in his hand had healed, the nerve damage would always remain. This would leave his hands with reduced capacity.
The incident left Mr Draper in a state of shock. The pain was bad enough, but to have a permanent disability felt gut-wrenching to him. What’s more, he would miss months of work while the broken bones healed. But even after that, he wondered whether or not he could continue his career as a builder. After all, a builder needs the use of both hands to effectively manage. Now, this had been taken away from him, and so he pondered his future. He was also very angry at those managing the pub for allowing the avoidable accident to occur in the first place.
After seeking legal advice, Mr Draper learned that he could claim negligence for a breach of duty under the terms of the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957. So, he filed a compensation claim against those operating the pub. Mr Jones received £80,000 as an out-of-court hand injury compensation payout. This included £42,500 in general damages and £37,500 in special damages.
| Type Of Special Damages | Includes: | How Much? |
|---|---|---|
| Lost Earnings | Costs of lost earnings due to the accident | £28,150 |
| Professional Nursing Care | The cost of hiring a nurse during his recovery | £3,000 |
| Physiotherapy | The cost of hiring a professional physiotherapist to assist with his recovery | £1,600 |
| Other Costs | Added costs relating to the impact on the sufferer’s life. Cleaner and Cook | £2,000 |
| Cancelled annual holiday | Vacation abroad cancelled | £3,000 |
The case of Mr Draper is purely an example. It is based on previous hand injury compensation claims.
Serious Hand Injury Compensation Estimates
You’re familiar with online personal injury claims calculators, right? Well, we don’t use those. Why? Because we would rather base our estimates on your exact circumstances. That means the clear impact of your injury, including aspects that may not have been foreseen by us.
This approach allows us to be much more accurate in determining your specific hand injury compensation estimate. And this service is free as a courtesy to you, regardless of whether or not you pursue your compensation claim.
Our contact form allows you to get in touch with us today to find out more about this.
No Win No Fee Definition
No Win No Fee means that you only pay legal fees to your personal injury solicitor if you win. So, that means not paying anything up-front nor during the case, and not paying anything at all to your solicitor if your case loses.
Now, if your case wins, your solicitor takes a nominal amount to cover their costs. That’s called a success fee (hence it only happens if you win) and it’s capped by law. So, don’t worry about losing a large percentage of your hand injury compensation, because that won’t happen. These are the main benefits of working with a No Win No Fee solicitor.
To learn more, contact our helpful team anytime.
Top Personal Injury Solicitors Near You
When looking for a personal injury solicitor best suited to you and your case it is not a requirement to use local law firms. You are free to choose a firm no matter where they are based in the country. Look for positive reviews, strong credentials, a long history of success, vast expertise and potential hand injury specialities.
Talk to us if you want free advice of no obligation. If our advisors can see that you have a valid case for compensation they will refer you to our panel of personal injury solicitors.
Call Our Team
Having read through our guide, it’s now time that we hear from you about your case. After all, the end goal is to ensure that you receive adequate hand injury compensation. You can to get in touch by:
- Calling 0800 408 7825;
- Using our Live Chat service;
- Or complete our contact form.
There’s no obligation to proceed with your claim even after you contact us, and we’re accessible 24/7.
Extra Resources
Thank you for reading our guide on hand injury compensation. The links below should also provide you with information about this topic.
This is our website for you to read more on the background and services of Public Interest Lawyers.
Meanwhile, this page covers any injuries you may suffer in a shop.
And you can click here about suffering an injury in a public park.
Read the official NHS guide on hand pain.
This page explains how to identify a broken bone.
And this page details the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome, one example of a serious hand injury.
Article by AR
Publishers LC/II/NI