How Much is My Hand Injury Claim Worth?
Today I will be concluding the series of articles that began last week relating to arm injuries. This time we have moved on from the elbow, and the wrist, to the end of the arm - the hand.
The hand is the most complex part of the arm, containing 27 bones (including the bones in the wrist), whilst the rest of the arm only has 3. The large number of small bones allows the hand a great degree of flexibility, but also means that any injuries to the hand can be very complex, as fractures to small bones may be difficult to put right, or may require more complex surgical procedures.
Injuries to the hand can range from minor fractures and soft tissue injuries for which the victim might only receive between £600 and £2,750 in a court settlement, through to more serious hand injuries such as a crushing injury or where the fingers of the hand have been amputated but then surgically rejoined to the hand, for which a person might expect to receive compensation in the region of £9,250 to £39,500 depending on how much movement and flexibility is left in the hand.
One of the more unusual quirks of the way hand injuries compensation is calculated is that each finger of the hand and the thumb receive different levels of accident claims compensation for the same injury. For example, someone fracturing their little finger or ring finger might receive compensation around £1,900, whereas someone fracturing their thumb might receive slightly more, about £2,500 and a fracture of the index finger might receive around £5,800. These differing figures reflect the fact that the index finger and thumb are more important for performing tasks such as gripping than the little finger.
The most serious hand injuries usually involve amputation of some or all of one or both hands, leaving the injured person with significant difficulties carrying out everyday tasks. At the lower end of this scale, amputation of only a part of one finger might attract a compensation figure somewhere between £2,500 and £3,750. More serious injuries that require amputation of the index, middle or ring fingers would see injury compensation at around £39,500 to £58,000. Lastly, compensation for the most serious hand injuries of all, where most or all of the hand has been amputated usually falls around £61,500 to £70,000.
As with all injury compensation claims, the actual amount of damages depends on the circumstances of that particular claim, the figures in todays blog do not take into account other sums that an injured person might claim for, such as compensation to cover lost earnings, or property lost or damaged in an accident. Camps Solicitors cannot guarantee that any of our clients will receive a particular amount of compensation for their injuries, but we can guarantee that we push for all of our clients to receive the maximum possible compensation for their particular accident circumstances.