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£10,000 Compensation For A Broken Wrist Claim

By Stephen Hudson. Last Updated 25th July 2024. You may be entitled to make a broken wrist claim if you’ve suffered this type of injury because a relevant third party breached the duty of care they owed you. Within this guide, we’ll discuss key requirements for making a compensation claim for a broken wrist and look at some potential payouts for this type of injury. We’ll also discuss the benefits of claiming for a broken wrist with a No Win No Fee solicitor.

This guide also features a case study covering someone who claimed for a broken wrist after slipping and falling on a wet floor within a hotel. It covers details of the accident and claim that led to a payout worth close to £10,000.

If you’re looking for help with making your own broken wrist compensation claim, then you can contact our team of advisors for free. They are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. To contact them, you can:

A patient with a broken wrist wearing a cast and sitting next to a nurse

Select A Section

  1. Case Study
  2. What Injuries Were Sustained In This Case?
  3. The Allegation And The Compensation Awarded
  4. The Time Limit For Making A Broken Wrist Claim
  5. How Much Can I Claim For A Broken Wrist?
  6. No Win No Fee Personal Injury Solicitors
  7. Useful links

Case Study

In this case study, we will look at the case of Mrs S. Mrs S, as we will refer to her here for privacy reasons, is a grandmother in her 50s who works as a clerical officer. The accident occurred one morning when Mrs S was on holiday with her extended family, including her grandchildren. She walked on a marble floor in her hotel, which she described as “awash with water” and “literally as if someone had thrown a bucket of water on the floor”. Mrs S had walked on the same floor not long before and it had been dry, gone outside and the floor had been wet by a cleaner with the intention of mopping the floors.

The cleaner was not present at the time that Mrs S returned. The wet floor was not signposted, and there was nothing else to indicate the potential hazard of the wet floor, which being marble, was even more of a hazard as the surface had no natural grip. Mrs S slipped on the wet floor and fell heavily on the wet floor.

What Injuries Were Sustained In This Case?

After her fall, Mrs S saw a doctor, who thought that her wrist might be sprained. It was strapped and the doctor told her to rest. For the rest of the holiday, Mrs S found herself in severe pain and had to take painkillers to sleep. She was also unable to perform activities such as cutting up food, squeezing a suncream bottle or swimming with her grandchildren in the hotel pool, which greatly impacted her quality of life and enjoyment of her holiday. After Mrs S returned home to the UK, she went to her local A&E department where she was diagnosed as having a soft tissue damage and a possible fractured wrist. A later MRI scan revealed that she had also severed a tendon on her thumb.

A broken wrist, fractured wrist or injured wrist can cause severe pain and tenderness, bruising and swelling and cause difficulties in movement. It is usually treated by putting the wrist in plaster and sometimes giving the patient a sling, to keep the arm raised. More serious broken wrist and wrist fractures are treated by the doctor realigning the bone manually or with surgery. The NHS has a helpful guide to a broken arm or other wrist injuries.

The Allegation And The Compensation Awarded

Mrs S’s legal team attempted to claim compensation from the tour operator (the Defendant), on the grounds that they created a hazard by not signposting the wet floor. After Mrs S’s accident, the hotel put mats down on the floor of their entrance area, presumably to stop further slips, trips and falls. However, despite what seems like an admission of liability on the part of the Defendant the tour operator was very uncooperative in its response to Mrs S’s legal team, refusing to respond to correspondence, then passing them on to different legal teams.

After a three year ordeal to settle Mrs S’s wrist injury claim, her solicitor negotiated a £8,500 compensation payout for her.

The Time Limit For Making A Broken Wrist Claim

If you are eligible to make a compensation claim for a broken wrist, you should keep in mind that there’s usually a time limit for starting such a case. The Limitation Act 1980 sets out that there’s usually a three-year time limit for starting a personal injury claim. This time limit usually begins from the date of the incident that caused your injuries.

Under certain circumstances, the time limit for starting a claim can work differently. For example if the injured party does not have the mental capacity to manage the claims process or if they are under the age of 18 at the time of the accident. In these cases, a litigation friend could be appointed to manage the compensation claim for them. Please contact an advisor for further information about the limitation period regarding a broken wrist claim.

How Much Can I Claim For A Broken Wrist?

If you have a valid broken wrist claim, you may have questions about just how much you could receive in compensation. Payouts for successful personal injury claims vary from case to case. The specific factors of your case could influence how much you receive, such as the initial severity of your injury and the recovery rate.

Compensation settlements for a broken wrist can include general damages and potentially special damages in addition. General damages compensate you for the pain and suffering your injuries have caused.

When a legal professional is valuing this head of your claim, they may refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) for guidance. This document provides compensation guidelines for different injuries. The guidelines consider severity as well as lifestyle impacts. We have listed some of the amounts stated in the 17th edition of this publication in the table below. We’ve also provided a figure in top row that shows you how compensation can be awarded for multiple injuries plus related expenses.

The table should be viewed as a guide only.

Injury TypeSeverity Of InjuryCompensation Guideline
Multiple Injuries and Special DamagesSettlements may compensated for more than one injuries and expenses, such as lost wages.Up to £75,000+
Wrist Injury (a)Injuries resulting in complete loss of function in the wrist.£58,110 to £73,050
Wrist Injury (b)Significant and permanent disability.£29,900 to £47,810
Wrist Injury (c)There is some permanent disability in the wrist.£15,370 to £29,900
Wrist Injury (d)A fracture or soft tissue injury in the wrist.£7,420 to £12,630
Wrist Injury (e)An uncomplicated Colles’ fracture has occurred.In the region of £9,070
Hand/Finger Injury (f)Severe fracture to the fingers.Up to £44,840
Hand/Finger Injury (g)Less serious hand injury.£17,640 to £35,390
Hand/Finger Injury (h)Moderate hand injury.£6,910 to £16,200
Hand/Finger Injury (i)Total or partial loss of the index finger.£14,850 to £22,870

You may also be awarded special damages. This aims to compensate you for the financial losses you have incurred due to your injury. Some examples may include:

  • A loss of earnings due to needing to take time off work to recover.
  • Medical expenses, such as prescription costs.
  • Travel costs to attend medical appointments.

Providing evidence of these financial losses with relevant documents such as invoices and receipts could help support your claim for special damages.

Contact our advisors today for a free valuation of your potential claim.

Person holding injured wrist that is covered in bandages

No Win No Fee Claim For A Broken Wrist Injury

If you have a valid case to claim broken wrist compensation, then you are welcome to discuss it with our team of advisors. They could potentially connect you with one of our No Win No Fee solicitors who can then guide you through the claiming process.

Our No Win No Fee solicitors can help claimants with seeking compensation for a broken wrist under what’s known as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). Those who claim under a CFA won’t need to pay their solicitor for their work either before the claim starts or while it’s still ongoing. You usually don’t need to pay your solicitor for their service if your broken wrist claim fails either.

Following a successful claim, the solicitor who supported you will take a small percentage from the compensation awarded for your case. This is referred to as a success fee. It is legally capped to ensure that you get to keep most of the compensation given for making a successful claim.

If you would like to learn more about No Win No Fee solicitors or to ask other questions about claiming, such as “what is the average compensation for a broken wrist?”, please contact our advisors for free today. To get in touch, you can:

Useful links

Broken Arm or Wrist
An NHS Guide to broken arm and wrist injuries, including how to treat them.

How Much Compensation For A Fractured Or Broken Bone?
Information about claiming compensation for fractured bones.

How Much Compensation For Slipping on a Wet Floor Claim?
If you wish to claim for slipping on a wet floor, then we can help you.