Hand Injury Accident Claims – How Much Can I Claim?

By Danielle Jordan. Last Updated 16th October 2024. If you have suffered a hand injury because duty of care was breached, you may be eligible to make a personal injury claim.

There are various circumstances in which you are owed a duty of care. These include while using the roads, in the workplace and in public spaces. In this guide, we will look in more depth at the duty of care you are owed in these various incidents.

We also take a look at the criteria you must meet to be eligible to make a claim for compensation, as well as what evidence you could use to support your case. Furthermore, we will look at the benefits of making a claim with a No Win No Fee solicitor.

Our advisors are available 24/7, with free advice. If you have any questions regarding hand injury claims or if you would like help with starting a claim, please contact our advisors.

To speak to an advisor:

• Call 0800 073 8804
• Start your claim online.
• Ask a question in our live chat.

Select a Section

1. What Are The Eligibility Criteria For Hand Injury Claims?
2. Hand Injury Claims Time Limits
3. What To Do If You Are In An Accident Causing A Hand Injury
4. Hand Injury Compensation Amounts In The UK
5. Make A No Win No Fee Hand Injury Claim

What Are The Eligibility Criteria For Hand Injury Claims?

There are various day-to-day situations where you could suffer a hand injury. However, to make a claim you need to satisfy some criteria. Let’s take a look at these in more detail:

• An accident at work. The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA), declares that employers owe, to all their employees, a duty of care. This means that reasonable and practicable steps must be taken to ensure the safety and health of their staff. Should they fail to adhere to the health and safety legislation that applies to them and this causes an injury, you might be able to make a workplace accident claim.
• A public liability accident. When in a public space, such as a supermarket, a park or even at the hairdresser, the organisation or individual in control of the space owes you a duty of care under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957. This means that they must ensure your reasonable safety. If they breach this duty of care and you are injured as a result, you could be eligible for compensation. 
• A road traffic accident. Road users owe one another a duty of care. This means that the roads must be used lawfully to prevent injury to others and themselves. As part of this duty, they should follow the rules in the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the Highway Code. If this duty is breached and you suffer an injury, you could make a claim. 

In order to have valid grounds to seek hand injury compensation, you must prove that your injury was suffered because a liable party breached their duty of care towards you. 

Our advisors can answer any questions you have about hand injury claims. Get in touch using the details at the top of the screen.

Hand Injury Claims Time Limits

Personal injury claims must be started within the time limit set out in the Limitation Act 1980. Generally, this is 3 years from the accident date that caused your injury.

However, in certain circumstances, there are exceptions to the limitation period. These include:

• Those who lack their mental capacity to make a claim for themselves will have the limitation period suspended indefinitely. During this time, a litigation friend could start the claiming process on their behalf. However, if the claimant regains their capacity to claim, they will have 3 years from that date to begin a claim if a litigation friend did not step in on their behalf.
• Those under 18 will have the limitation period suspended until they’re 18. Before this date, a litigation friend could act on their behalf. Once they are 18, they will have 3 years from this date to start a claim if one was not started for them.

If you have any questions about the personal injury claim time limit or hand injury compensation amounts, please get in touch with our advisors.

What To Do If You Are In An Accident Causing A Hand Injury

If you have been caught up in an accident that has resulted in a hand injury, then it is imperative that you follow the correct procedure to help you create a good case. For claims for hand injuries, this procedure should include the following steps:

• Get medical attention – It is important that your injuries are assessed by a doctor and that the appropriate hand injury treatment is started as soon as possible. A doctor will be able to produce a report based on the injuries you have sustained. This could be very important when it comes to establishing the claim amount you receive. Should you need any assistance we can help you to arrange a local medical.
• Collect witness contact information – Getting contact details from anyone who was a witness to your accident could really help to support your claim in the event that witness statements are required.
• Make a record of the events that happened – Once you are in a position to write things down try and remember as many details as possible. This will ensure that those important bits of information do not escape you later on.
• Keep paperwork relating to expenses – Any costs that you incur as a direct result of your injuries might be claimable, these are called special damages. Make sure that you keep any paperwork and receipts you are given as you will need to be able to provide proof of any expenses you have had to payout.

Hand Injury Compensation Amounts In The UK

If your hand injury claim is successful, your compensation may be made up of two heads of loss. The first head of claim, general damages, will definitely be awarded if your claim is successful. Whereas the second head of claim, special damages, only might be awarded.

General damages provides compensation for the psychological and physical effects of your hand injury. As such, these are some of the factors that will need to be considered:

• How severe your pain is.
• Loss of amenity.
• How long the expected recovery time is.

Your independent medical records, plus the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG), can help legal professionals calculate how much your general damages is worth.

The JCG is a document that contains all sorts of injuries and illnesses, with guideline compensation figures for each.

Compensation Table

In the table below, we have taken some guideline hand injury compensation amounts from the JCG (except for the top row).

Please remember that, because all hand injury claims are unique, we cannot guarantee an exact figure for your potential claim.

Special Damages

Special damages provides compensation for the monetary effects of your hand injury. This includes:

• Loss of earnings for having time off work during recovery, and future loss of earnings if you are unable to return to work.
• Medical bills, such as prescription fees or hospital bills.
• Travel expenses, including the costs of using public transport and/or taxis if you are unable to drive due to your hand injury.

It is really important to collect evidence to show how you have been financially affected by your hand injury, since special damages is not guaranteed to be awarded in successful claims. So, please collect any receipts, payslips, bank statements, travel tickets, and invoices.

For more information on how successful hand injury claims are valued, please contact our team today.

Make A No Win No Fee Hand Injury Claim

If you are making a personal injury claim, you may like to have the support of a solicitor. One of our solicitors could assist you with your case. They have experience with various types of personal injury claims, including those for hand injuries.

Our solicitors generally offer their services under a specific No Win No Fee agreement, known as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).

When your solicitor provides their services under this type of arrangement, they won’t ask for any fees for their services before or during the claims process. Furthermore, if your claim is not successful, you won’t be asked to pay them for the work they have done on your case.

If your claim has a positive outcome, they will take a success fee from your compensation award. The percentage that a solicitor can take as a success fee is limited by the law. 

Please contact our advisors if you have any questions. They can assess whether you have valid grounds for a claim, and if you do, you could be connected to one of our solicitors.

To speak to an advisor:

• Call 0800 073 8804
• Start your claim online.
• your questions in our live chat.

  

Learn More About Hand Injury Claims

Below, you can find more useful information on hand injury claims.

• NHS tendon damage advice – This link discusses Tendons and the damage that can happen to them, including hand injuries pictures, together with the surgical treatments that might be required to correct them.
• Our accident at work claims guide – If your accident has occurred at work this link contains a rough guide to the compensation amounts that could be paid out for sometimes of compensation claims.
• NHS advice on hand pain – This is a useful guide to hand injuries, NHS pages have some very useful information on some of the main types of hand pain, hand injury symptoms and possible treatments.
• Hand Amputation Compensation Amounts – If you have suffered from a hand amputation injury find out how much compensation you can claim.