If your index finger breaks in an accident, you may be thinking about seeking advice for a compensation claim. This guide offers a case study for a £15,000 payout for a broken index finger injury. Below, you’ll also read about care claims, special damages, compensation calculations and our No Win No Fee service.
To discuss a broken finger claim, you can speak to our expert team. They can put you in contact with our panel of personal injury lawyers to potentially handle your case. You can get in touch by calling 0800 408 7827, using our Live Chat service or completing our contact form. Our team is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
You can click the headings below to read your preferred section.
Choose A Section
- A Guide To Finger Fracture Compensation – Index Finger Injuries
- What Classes As A Broken Finger?
- What Should I Take Into Account For Financial Losses?
- Calculating A Care Claim For Broken Finger Injury
- Your Solicitor Requires Information To Calculate Compensation
- £15,000 For A Broken Index Finger: A Case Study
- Your Free Estimate To Calculate Compensation
- Make A No Win No Fee Claim For A Broken Finger
- Locations Of High-Quality Personal Injury Lawyers
- Guidance From Our Team
- Quick Resources
A Guide To Finger Fracture Compensation – Index Finger Injuries
You may be looking to make a negligence claim for your broken finger. This guide will explain how you can do that, along with:
- How an index finger could be broken
- Financial losses related to a broken finger
- General damages and special damages
- A case study of a £15,000 compensation payout for a broken finger
- Compensation calculation estimates
- Our No Win No Fee service
For any broken finger injury, there is a personal injury claims time limit. This means you have 3 years to claim from when you suffered your broken index finger. But what about a child or someone who lacks the mental capacity to claim? For people in those situations, a close relative or another appointed representative could act as their litigation friend. The litigation friend may then process the claim on their behalf.
Please talk to us anytime you want to know more about any of the topics covered in this guide.
What Classes As A Broken Finger?
There are numerous traits to a broken index finger. The digit may be pointing in an unusual direction, or it may be blue and feeling numb. It’s possible that the bone is visible amidst a cut or even sticking through the skin. An injury such as this could arise in an accident that wasn’t your fault. Let’s consider what we’d need to establish in order to make a claim.
To successfully make a negligence claim, you must meet the following 3 criteria:
- Someone owed you a duty of care
- That duty of care was breached, causing an accident
- And that accident resulted in you suffering a broken finger.
Our expert panel is able to assist you with cases involving accidents at work, road traffic accidents and public liability claims. Let’s look at each in more detail.
The first is employers’ liability (EL), which covers any workplace accidents. The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 decrees that an employer should so far as reasonably possible uphold the health, safety and wellbeing of all employees. If there’s an accident at work, you could make a broken finger at work claim for a work injury payment. This could involve, for instance, a poorly maintained machine catching your finger, leading to a break.
The second is public liability (PL), which covers accidents in a public place. The Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 imposes a duty of care upon those in control of a public space to uphold user safety and prevent accidents. Any public injury claims or public accident claims are the result of someone being injured in a public place. Tripping over and breaking your finger while shopping could be one such case. Claims against the council are also a possibility depending on who owns the area where the accident took place.
The third is a road traffic accident (RTA). The Highway Code emphasises the duty of care that drivers have to each other, and pedestrians and cyclists. A breach could lead to a car accident claim, and not just for your broken finger. It’s possible to suffer multiple injuries, thus paving the way for a potential multiple injury claim. Avoid speaking to a car accident lawyer and instead have a word with our expert team. They’ll connect you with our panel of personal injury lawyers. And they’ll handle your broken finger claim from there. Use our contact form to begin that process today, or alternatively, give us a call.
What Should I Take Into Account For Financial Losses?
Any financial losses brought about by the broken index finger can help to form your case. Now, financial losses could cover the injury, lost income, medical and transportation costs and rehabilitation expenses.
It’s important to define what you have had to spend in direct relation to your recovery, and to do so, keep a record of everything, along with receipts, bills and bank statements. A failure to evidence expenses may see you prevented from claiming them back.
Please find out more by talking to us via the number at the top of this page.
Calculating A Care Claim For A Broken Finger Injury
A care claim involves additional assistance stemming from your broken index finger. Any hands-on support from relatives or friends could be recovered based on the time and effort that they provide.
Professional care costs from a nurse, or related services such as gardening and cleaning, could certainly be considered too. You could not, however, claim for any care that you were receiving for your finger before the accident.
You can use our Live Chat 24/7 to ask us more about care claims.
Your Solicitor Requires Information To Calculate Compensation
For your solicitor to calculate your potential compensation, you would require an independent medical examination. That’s because a full medical check determines the extent of your injury and your recovery time. It could also establish the link between your broken index finger and the accident. In other words, but for the accident, your finger would have been fine. Any compensation that you may be seeking may consist of general damages and special damages.
General Damages
General damages are intended to cover the pain, suffering and impact on your life the broken finger has caused. Above all, they cover the physical and psychological consequences.
Special Damages
Special damages cover the remaining fallout of the accident. Medical costs, transportation expenses, loss of income and rehabilitation such as physiotherapy would come under this heading. As mentioned above, to succeed in recovering expenses, you need to provide evidence of the expenses, so be sure to keep hold of all receipts and invoices.
To learn more about general and special damages, call us on the number at the top of the page.
£15,000 For A Broken Index Finger: A Case Study
Keith Cooper, 47, works in a car assembly plant in Birmingham as an assembly operative. He lives with his wife Jasmine and their 18-year-old son David. Keith enjoys having meals out with his family, as well as taking David to see his favourite football team.
One evening, Keith was working with his colleagues. During his night shift, he was asked to help another employee on a separate machine. Though Keith was an experienced member of his own assembly line, he hadn’t been trained to use all machinery. Now, the assumption from his line manager was that he’d be fine, given his years with the company.
But that assumption would have tragic consequences. Keith turned the machine on, but his right index finger was caught in a fast-moving motor within the equipment. And in the midst of his attempt to free himself, the finger snapped back upon its forceful removal.
After consulting the first aid team on-site, Keith went to the hospital. There, he was diagnosed with a fractured index finger. The doctor also noted the serious nature of his injury and his time spent repeatedly using industrial machinery. This meant there was a possibility that osteoarthritis may develop in the future.
The estimated recovery time for this serious fracture was eight weeks. However, things would progress slowly upon Keith’s return to work. So, it would be some time before he would get to execute many of his duties.
Keith was left dismayed at how the accident could have been avoided with proper training. Also, he was very concerned that this injury could bring about osteoarthritis, which again may have been avoided. What’s more, he wondered whether the situation would impact his future employment. This was due to his age and potentially-precarious skill set.
After seeking legal advice, Keith filed a compensation claim for negligence against his employer. He received an out-of-court settlement of £15,000 from his employer’s insurance company. This included £11,000 in general damages for pain, suffering and loss of amenity. It also included £4,000 in special damages, as shown below.
Type Of Special Damages | Includes: | How Much? |
---|---|---|
Current Loss | Lost earnings from being unable to work during his rehabilitation | £3,000 |
Medical Care | The costs of professional nursing care | £400 |
Rehabilitation | The private physiotherapy he required towards the end of his recovery | £300 |
Travel Expenses | Travel to and from his appointments relating to his rehabilitation | £150 |
Medical Expenses | Prescription medication and over-the-counter medications, such as paracetamols | £150 |
The case of Mr Cooper is purely an example. It is based on our past experiences of handling and valuing claims and serves to illustrate how accidents can happen and how they are valued.
Your Free Estimate To Calculate Compensation
We advise against using personal injury claims calculators to determine compensation amounts. Why? Because a compensation calculator doesn’t take a claimant’s real circumstances into account. And general figures provide mere guesswork without considering the specifics.
That’s why we provide a more accurate calculation once we speak to you and hear your full story. We want to get to know you and your condition before suggesting what you may receive. And it’s free, regardless of whether you pursue your claim for your broken index finger. So, talk to our expert team today for further details.
Make A No Win No Fee Claim For A Broken Finger
If you wish to claim for a broken finger, you could benefit from our No Win No Fee service. The benefits of No Win No Fee agreement are as follows:
- No legal fees would be required upfront
- And there would also be no requirement for legal fees to be paid during the case
- If you receive compensation, your solicitor will take a nominal amount to cover their costs and expenses. This is called a success fee and is capped by law.
This means you wouldn’t have to pay your No Win No Fee solicitor anything if the case doesn’t win. So, this reduces financial headaches, which could be a huge relief for you. Want to know more about our No Win No Fee service? Call us or use our Live Chat to speak with us anytime.
Locations Of High-Quality Personal Injury Lawyers
Now, you may think that you have to scour your local area for the best personal injury lawyer around. To find them, you would be wise to factor in a successful track record, affordable costs and any specialities.
So, for instance, any personal injury solicitor who particularly works with claimants suffering finger injuries may seem suitable. But don’t limit your choices to your own hometown. After all, our nationwide service helps connect clients across the country.
What’s more, our legal professionals have experience of dealing with every injury imaginable. And finger fractures are amongst those. So make sure to get in touch to learn more.
Guidance From Our Team
Having read our thoughts on the subject, we now want to hear from you. You can contact us anytime to discuss your claim for a broken finger. So feel free to speak to us today via the following methods:
- Call 0800 408 7827
- Use our Live Chat feature
- Complete our online form
Our friendly team can be reached 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Quick Resources
Thank you for reading our guide on making a compensation claim for a broken finger. You can learn more by visiting the links below.
Click here to read about the official NHS guidance for a broken finger.
For more information on treating any broken bone, you can click here.
To learn about your rights as an employee in the event of an injury, click here.
Guide by MR
Edited by RI