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A Door Slammed On My Fingers At Work, Could I Claim?

By Cat Way. Last updated 29th October 2024. This guide explains how you can claim if a door slammed on your fingers at work. We outline the eligibility criteria you should meet and the injuries you could suffer.

Firstly, we highlight how your employer is responsible for your safety in the workplace. Under health and safety law, employers must take all reasonably practicable steps to ensure your safety and well-being while at work.

Moreover, we explore the personal injury compensation time limit you should adhere to and what forms of evidence can be advantageous to accident at work claims. Following this, we discuss the payouts you could be entitled to receive and distinguish between the damages. Additionally, we also outline the assistance that legal professionals may use to value your injuries.

Furthermore, our guide discusses what you can expect when entering into a No Win No Fee agreement with solicitors and how this can be financially beneficial.

To summarise, please keep on reading our guide for further information on making a claim after a door slammed on your fingers at work. Comparatively, you can reach our team to discuss your queries in the following ways: 

Fingers being trapped in a door.

Select A Section

  1. How Do I Claim If A Door Slammed On My Fingers At Work?
  2. Injuries Caused By A Door Slamming On Your Fingers At Work
  3. How To Prove Your Finger Injuries Happened In The Workplace
  4. What Could I Claim If A Door Slammed On My Fingers At Work?
  5. Could Legal Expert Help Me To Make A No Win No Fee Claim?
  6. Further Information On Workplace Accident Claims

How Do I Claim If A Door Slammed On My Fingers At Work 

If a door slammed on your fingers at work, you could be eligible to claim compensation. The Health and Safety At Work etc. Act 1974 states that your employer is legally required to take reasonably practicable steps to ensure your safety at work. They could be liable for your injuries if they do not do this. 

You should be able to illustrate that:  

  • Your employer owed you a duty of care at the time of your injuries.
  • There was a breach of this duty.
  • The breach led to your injuries.

If you can show this, your employer could be liable for your injuries which amounts to negligence.

Your employer could breach their duty in a number of ways. Examples include: 

  • You may not have been given the necessary personal protective equipment you require, such as safety gloves, leading to a hand injury.
  • A door which did not have an anti-slam mechanism fitted led to your finger being trapped.
  • There may be damage to the door due to lack of maintenance by your employer, leading to a finger injury if it slams unexpectedly. 

For more information on making a personal injury claim, please contact us for a free consultation.

Work Accident Claim Time Limits 

When making an accident claim, there is a time limit to be aware of. The Limitation Act 1980 states that generally, you have three years from the accident or the date you became aware of the negligence involved to start a claim. 

Exceptions to this time limit include: 

  • If a person is under eighteen at the time of the accident, they will have three years from their eighteenth birthday to make a claim. 
  • A person lacking the mental capacity to claim will have three years from the date they recover their mental capacity in the event that this happens. 

A litigation friend can claim on behalf of these individuals. They are a trusted adult with the person’s best interests. 

Injuries Caused By A Door Slamming On Your Fingers At Work 

After a door slammed on your fingers at work, you could sustain various different injuries. A few examples are: 

  • Broken or fractured fingers.
  • Lacerations or cuts.
  • Crushing injury.
  • Amputated finger/fingertip.

If your employer’s negligence caused you to sustain injuries, you could claim for compensation. After receiving the required medical attention, please contact our team to learn more about claiming for your injuries. 

How To Prove Your Finger Injuries Happened In The Workplace 

Evidence can be beneficial when making a claim for your finger injury. Examples of evidence that can help to support your claim include: 

  • CCTV footage and photographs of your injuries and the site of the accident.
  • A diary illustrating your symptoms and the mental impact.
  • Copies of medical records. 
  • Witness contact information.

A solicitor from our panel could assist you in gathering these forms of evidence. Please contact our advisors for more information about what evidence could be useful to your claim. 

What Could I Claim If A Door Slammed On My Fingers At Work? 

You might be asking yourself, ‘How much compensation could I get for a door slammed on my fingers at work?’. Whilst we can tell you how compensation for such an accident is calculated, we cannot give you an exact figure as every claim is unque.

Personal injury compensation can be made up of two heads of loss, called general and special damages. General damages relate to the injuries you suffered, both physical and psychological.

When working out a potential figure for general damages, legal professionals may use a document called the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This has inside a list of injuries and compensation guideline brackets for them.

Below is a table of injuries and their suggested compensation brackets from the JCG. Please note that they are just guidelines, and please also note that the top row does not come from the JCG.

InjurySeverityCompensation Bracket
Multiple Serious Injuries and Financial LossesSeriousUp to £250,000+
Hand InjuryAmputation of Index and Middle and/or Ring Fingers£75,550 to £110,750
Total or Effective Loss of One Hand£117,360 to £133,810
Serious Hand Injuries£35,390 to £75,550
Severe Fractures to FingersUp to £44,840
Less Serious Hand Injury£17,640 to £35,390
Total and Partial Loss of Index Finger£14,850 to £22,870
Fracture of Index Finger£11,120 to £14,930
Psychiatric Damage GenerallyModerately Severe£23,270 to £66,920
Moderate£7,150 to £23,270

A slammed door that injures your fingers could lead to financial loss. If the losses are caused by the injuries and you can provide supporting evidence, you might be awarded special damages (financial losses).

Some common special damages include:

  • Past loss of earnings
  • Future loss of earnings
  • Corrective surgery costs
  • Rehabilitation fees
  • Prescription costs
  • Travel expenses

Evidence will need to be provided to be able to claim for these financial losses. This could include payslips, invoices and bank statements.

To discuss any potential accident at work involving a door slamming on your fingers, please get in touch with us today.

Could Legal Expert Help Me To Make A No Win No Fee Claim? 

Now that you know more about the claims process after your finger is slammed in a door at work, you may be interested in starting a claim. One of our expert solicitors could help you do this by offering their services under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA), which is a kind of No Win No Fee contract.

When a solicitor works under a CFA, they don’t require a fee to start working on your claim. They also won’t take any ongoing fees to retain their services, nor will they take a fee for their services if your claim isn’t a success.

In fact, the only time your solicitor will take a fee for their work is if your trapped finger claim succeeds. In this case, they are due a success fee. This is taken straight from your compensation as a legislatively-capped percentage, which means the majority of your compensation goes to you.

Our advisors are here to help. If you’d like to find out if one of our solicitors could help you claim after your finger was trapped in a door, contact our team today. They can evaluate your claim for free and offer more information surrounding the accident at work claims process. They can also provide further insight into what a Conditional Fee Agreement is and how it could help you. To get started:

Get In Touch With Our Team 

If you have any queries about making a personal injury claim, please get in touch with us: 

Further Information On Workplace Accident Claims

Thank you for reading our guide on making a personal injury claim after a door slammed on your fingers at work. For more of our information, please explore the links below: 

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