How Much Compensation for a Broken Finger at Work?

Breaking your finger at work might not sound like the most drastic of injuries but fractured or broken fingers can be very painful. Additionally, a broken finger injury can prevent you from carrying out many of your normal activities and could result in you taking time off from work. As such, if you suffer a broken finger at work, you might decide to claim compensation if your employer was to blame. This guide explores how the claims process works and how much compensation for a broken finger at work might be paid.

We can help if you are thinking about claiming broken finger compensation. Initially, you’ll be offered free legal advice and your options will be explained in a free consultation. Then your advisor will answer your questions and check whether you have grounds to claim for your injuries. If you do, and one of our solicitors offers to represent you, you could make a No Win, No Fee broken finger claim.

For your free consultation, you can:

• Call our legal advisors on 0333 241 2519.
• Connect to our live chat service right away.

There’s plenty of information about broken finger claims within this guide so please read on. If at any point you have any questions, please call and speak to one of our specialists.

What Types of Broken Fingers Can We Help With?

Each of your fingers is made up of 3 bones – distal phalanx, middle phalanx and proximal phalanx. Your thumb doesn’t have a middle phalanx bone.

When any of these bones suffers a traumatic injury, there is a chance that you’ll end up with a broken finger.

Here are some of the types of broken finger injuries that we can help with include:

• Distal Phalanx fractures.
• Middle Phalanx fractures.
• Proximal Phalanx fractures.
• Shaft fractures.
• Base fractures.
• Open (Compound) fractures.
• Non-displaced and displaced fractures.

If your finger is broken at work, it can become painful, bruised, numb, swollen and difficult to move. Crucially, you should always seek medical advice if you suspect your finger is broken because you could cause permanent damage if the finger isn’t set properly to aid your recovery.

Usually, broken fingers are splinted, put in a cast or strapped to another finger to help keep them straight while your bones heal. However, where multiple or complex finger fractures occur, surgery may be required.

Can I Make a Broken Finger at Work Claim?

All employers have a legal obligation to keep you safe at work. This means taking practical steps to prevent accidents. This might include:

• Assessing the workplace regularly and removing any hazards.
• Maintaining all equipment properly and fixing faults as they occur.
• Providing you with personal protective equipment (PPE) where required.
• Training you on the company’s health and safety procedures and how to do your job safely.

As such, you may have grounds to claim compensation for a broken finger at work if you can show that:

• Your employer owed you a duty of care when your accident happened.
• Negligence by your employer caused the accident.
• The accident was in the last three years and you sustained a broken finger or fingers.

If you believe that your case meets the criteria listed here, why not call our legal advisors to discuss your options for free?

What Types of Negligence Can Lead to a Broken Finger at Work Claim?

Some examples of the types of accidents that could result in a broken finger at work claim include:

• If you failed to spot a trip hazard in a factory due to poor lighting and broke a finger during your fall.
• Where your hand was crushed and you sustained multiple finger fractures while cleaning equipment because the emergency stop button failed.
• If debris thrown from a cutting machine struck your finger and broke it because of a missing safety screen.
• Where poorly stacked items on office shelving fell onto your hand and broke your index finger.

If you’ve broken your finger at work in any way and believe that you’re entitled to compensation, call our legal advisors for free advice now.

What Should I Do If I Sustain a Fractured Finger at Work?

Following an accident at work in which you fractured a finger, it is important that you:

• Tell your employer about the incident as soon as you’re able to.
• Visit your GP or go to the hospital for proper diagnosis and treatment.
• Make sure the incident is logged in the accident report book.

Taking these types of actions can help you to recover sooner and could give your employer the chance to introduce new safety measures to prevent similar accidents in the future.

What Evidence Can Be Used for Broken Finger Compensation Claims?

If you want to claim broken finger at work compensation, you will need to present a clear and concise claim. Your allegations should be backed up by evidence that proves the extent of your suffering, the cause of your accident and your employer’s liability. The types of evidence that could strengthen a broken finger compensation claim include:

• Photos of your fingers to show deformities and other visible symptoms.
• A copy of the accident report form regarding your accident.
• CCTV footage of the accident happening if footage is available.
• Contact details for any witnesses so that statements can be collected at a later date.
• Medical records (X-rays, doctor’s notes etc) to help prove your diagnosis.
• Pictures of any defects that caused your accident to happen.

Our advisors are available to review any evidence you have to support your claim so please get in touch now if you’d like them to do so.

How Long Do I Have to Claim Broken Finger Compensation?

The legal time limit in the UK for personal injury claims is generally 3 years. This usually starts on the date you broke your finger at work. The time limit is defined in law by the Limitation Act 1980.

While 3 years is normally plenty of time to file a claim, we’d suggest that you begin the claims process as early as possible. That’s because you’ll probably find it easier to gather evidence and recall the impact of your injury than if you leave the claim until the last minute.

How Much Compensation for a Broken Finger at Work?

As you might expect, the level of compensation paid for a broken finger is dependent on the extent of your suffering. For instance, if you broke your little finger in your non-dominant hand and recovered within 3 weeks, you should normally expect to receive less compensation than someone whose index finger in their dominant hand was so severely crushed that it needed to be amputated.

You could receive compensation for the pain and suffering caused by your broken finger. This may also include compensation for any distress, anxiety or other forms of psychological injury at work.

Your solicitor will value your claim using any medical evidence available to them and may refer to similar claims and compensation brackets listed in the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG).

As such, we’ve used JCG data in our broken finger compensation list for reference. Please remember that the amounts listed are just examples and not guaranteed payouts.

• A minor broken finger at work could be worth up to £4,750 compensation.
• A serious fracture to a little finger could see compensation in the region of £6.000.
• A broken index finger at work that has healed relatively quickly might pay see compensation of £9,110 – £12,240.
• A serious fracture to the middle fingers or the ring finger might fall within the range of £10,320 – £16,340 compensation.
• Severe fractures to fingers which result in deformities or partial amputations with various symptoms, up to £36,740.

Further compensation could be included in any settlement you receive if you’ve suffered financially because of a broken finger.

That means you might be compensated for:

• Medical treatment costs and prescription fees.
• Lost earnings.
• Special devices if your grip has been weakened by your broken finger.
• The cost of care or support while you’re recovering.
• Travel expenses linked to hospital or doctor’s appointments.
• Future loss of earnings. This might be appropriate if you used to perform a specialised role that you’re no longer able to because of your broken finger.

To find out how much compensation you could receive for a broken finger at work, please contact a legal advisor now.

Can I Claim for a Broken Finger at Work if I’m Not Employed Full-Time?

As a zero-hours worker, you have the same rights when it comes to workplace health and safety as full-time employees. That is also the case for agency staff, subcontractors, part-time workers, the self-employed and temps.

Therefore, so long as you can prove that you broke your finger at work because your employer was negligent in some way, we could help you to start the claims process.

For more advice on how to claim for a broken finger at work, please call our team in the first instance.

Do You Need a Solicitor to Make a Broken Finger Claim?

Any type of claim for a personal injury at work can involve complex negotiations and difficult-to-understand medical or legal evidence. While you might decide to claim on your own, taking on legal representation for a broken finger claim could make the whole process much more straightforward.

If you work with one of our work injury solicitors, they could negotiate a much better settlement than you’d otherwise be offered and should remove a lot of the stress involved in claiming yourself. If accepted, your claim will be managed by your solicitor from start to finish but you will be kept up to date with any progress.

Crucially, our solicitors offer a No Win, No Fee broken finger claims service. That means that once you’ve signed a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA), you:

• Won’t pay for your solicitor’s work upfront or if the claim fails.
• Will pay a success fee if the claim is won.

Success fees are a percentage of any compensation you receive. The percentage you’ll pay will be clearly indicated in your CFA but, by law, the maximum is 25 per cent.

To find out more about No Win, No Fee broken finger claims, please call now.

How Long Does a Workplace Injury Claim Take?

In practice, straightforward broken finger claims can be settled in a matter of 3 to 6 months. This would be dependent on the claimant having recovered from their injuries and their employer agreeing to the fact that they were liable for the workplace accident.

More complex cases or those that are contested can take between 6 months to a year (or more in some circumstances). The extra time may be required so that the full extent and future impact of the finger injury can be assessed.

If your claim is handled by one of our solicitors, they may be able to provide you with an ETA once they’ve received an initial reply to your claim from your employer.

Do Broken Finger Claims Go to Court?

In our experience, it is quite unusual for broken finger compensation claims to be heard in a courtroom. It’s far more likely that the employer, or their insurer, will come to an amicable agreement with the claimant’s solicitor to settle the claim before court action is necessary.

That said, as a last resort, your solicitor could arrange a court date if they strongly believe in your case but your employer won’t accept liability for what happened or tries to settle the broken finger at work claim in a way that doesn’t cover your suffering.

Contacting Us About a Broken Finger at Work Compensation Claim

If you’ve decided that it’s time to claim compensation for a broken finger following an accident at work, we can help. To speak with us, you can:

• Phone an advisor on 0333 241 2519 to talk through your options.
• Connect to our online chat system 24 hours a day.

We won’t pressure you into taking action but if that’s what you decide to do, it’s worth remembering that all accepted broken finger at work claims are managed on a No Win, No Fee basis.