By Marlon Redding. Last Updated 30th November 2022. On this page, we are going to take a look at compensation amounts for a broken knuckle accident at work. We illustrate with a fictitious case study how a fractured knuckle could lead to a payout of £12,000 in compensation payouts. We will also talk you through how you could claim compensation for a broken knuckle at work if you have suffered an injury due to your employer’s lack of care as to your health and safety at work. If you would like a free assessment of your case or would like to ask us anything about making a broken knuckle claim, we can be reached on 0161 696 9685. However, we’d invite you to read the case study below to understand how compensation payouts could be calculated.
Jump To A Section
- Workplace Accidents Affecting The Knuckle, Hands And Fingers
- Fractured Knuckle – Claim Time Limits
- Kinds Of Workplace Accidents Identified By The Health and Safety Executive
- 6 Ways You Could Suffer A Broken Ankle At Work
- Case Study: £12,000 Compensation Payout For A Broken Knuckle In A Workplace Accident
- Broken Knuckle – Potential Settlement Values
- No Win No Fee Broken Knuckle Workplace Accident Claims
- How Do I Make My Personal Injury Claim?
- Talking To Legal Helpline About Your Case
- Resources And References
Workplace Accidents Affecting The Knuckle, Hands And Fingers
Broken knuckle accident at work
You may assume a broken knuckle would be a fairly minor injury, but in fact, it may cause issues with the functionality of the hand. Whether you have suffered a broken knuckle accident at work, through a slip, trip or fall, in a car accident or in another way, it would be wise to get advice and treatment as soon as possible in order for you to have the best chance of regaining functionality, and healing properly.
Is my knuckle broken or just bruised?
Broken knuckle bone symptoms could include:
- Swelling
- Pain
- Numbness
- Deformity – such as a sunken knuckle or depressed knuckle
- Difficulty in moving some parts of the hand
- Bruising
- Popping or cracking noises
- Misaligned fingers
- And more…
It would be wise to seek assistance from trained medical personnel if you feel you may have some of these symptoms after an accident. A broken knuckle and fracture to the bones could lead to issues if left untreated. If you’re wondering can a broken knuckle heal on its own, then it would be unwise to go without assessment, as while some injuries may need only minor treatment, others may require surgery.
If you are waiting to be seen for a broken knuckle injury, you might be wondering how to wrap a broken knuckle. While you could tape an injured finger to the one next to it, this would be difficult to do with a thumb.
Treatment options for a broken knuckle on the NHS may include straightening the finger/thumb under a local anaesthetic, splinting or casting the joint, or you may need surgery for complicated fractures.
Fractured Knuckle – Claim Time Limits
You must start a personal injury claim within a certain time limit. The general time limit, according to the Limitation Act 1980, is 3 years from the date of the incident that caused the injury. However, exceptions can be made.
For example, if you were not immediately aware your injuries were connected to negligence, the date you received a medical diagnosis or treatment for your broken knuckle could be used as your date of knowledge. You would have to start your claim within 3 years of this date.
People under the age of 18 are unable to pursue a claim. They, therefore, do not face a time limit to start a claim until they turn 18. They will then face a similar 3-year time limit.
However, a litigation friend can start a claim for them and act on their behalf.
People mentally unable to pursue a claim also do not face a time limit. A litigation friend can similarly be appointed to act on their behalf.
If you have suffered from a fractured knuckle because of negligence, then please reach out to one of our advisers to learn more about how to claim for your broken knuckle or finger.
Kinds Of Workplace Accidents Identified By The Health and Safety Executive
There are a wide variety of different accidents that could occur in the workplace. The HSE statistics for non-fatal employee injuries for 2018/19 cite slips, trips and falls as the top cause for non-fatal injuries, with these types of accidents making up 29% of reported accidents. The next most common was cited as being carrying, handling or lifting accidents, which made up 20% of accidents reported. Following this, being struck by a moving object acts of violence, and falls from height made up 10%,8% and 8% respectively.
Whether you have been injured un one of the top 5 ways we mentioned, or in another way entirely, and you feel that you employer could be liable for your injuries, we could assess your eligibility to make a broken knuckle claim, if you’d like to call us to check this out.
6 Ways You Could Suffer A Broken Knuckle At Work
There are many ways in which you could suffer a hand injury, a finger injury or a thumb injury at work. According to the HSE, some of the more common ways in which you could suffer a broken knuckle in an accident at work could include:
- Manual handling accidents – If you had a manual handling accident where a heavy load dropped on your hand, this could cause you to suffer a broken knuckle.
- Crush accidents – If you were using machinery and caught your hand in it, this could cause a crush accident that could break your knuckle
- Work vehicle road traffic accidents – A broken knuckle could also be caused by a road accident at work.
- Trips and falls from a height – A slip, trip or fall, on one level (as mentioned in the case study) or from a height could also cause an injury such as this.
- Repetitive strain injuries – As well as one-off accidents that could cause injuries, repetitive strain could also lead to thumb injuries.
- Traumatic amputation at the knuckle joint – There are many ways in which traumatic amputation could happen. If you were working with sharp tools or machinery, for example, malfunction or error could lead to the thumb being traumatically amputated.
These cases may not all lead to you being able to make a compensation claim. However, if you could prove that your employer’s negligence towards your health and safety led to you suffering a broken knuckle, then you may be able to claim compensation. For a free assessment of your case, why not call our team?
Case Study: £12,000 Compensation Payout For A Broken Knuckle In A Workplace Accident
Here, we offer a fictional, yet illustrative case study to show how a broken knuckle accident at work claim could result in compensation payouts of £12,000. The claimant, who we will refer to as Mr M, was working in a car showroom at the time the accident occurred. While he was crossing the showroom to greet a customer, he slipped on a wet floor and fell onto his hand, which resulted in him suffering a badly broken knuckle. The knuckle was so badly broken in the workplace accident and caused such pain that it required arthrodesis to fuse the joint. Mr M had to take time off work while the swelling went down and then required further time off work to recover after the surgery. He was left with less function in the digit and with a reduced grip ability. He engaged the services of a personal injury lawyer in order to claim compensation for his broken knuckle, and his employer admitted liability almost immediately. The initial offer of £5,000 compensation was refused by Mr M, but after some further arguments from his lawyer, the firm settled his claim at £12,000, which included compensation amounts for for the injury itself, with a further compensation for Mr A for loss of income.
Broken Knuckle – Potential Settlement Values
If you suffered a broken knuckle due to negligence, you might be interested to learn about broken knuckle and finger compensation. Personal injury claims could include two heads.
Firstly, you claim general damages to compensate for the pain and suffering caused by your fractured knuckle. Our table of broken knuckle and finger injuries uses figures from the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG), last updated in 2022. However, every case is assessed individually so the figures shown are not guaranteed.
| Injury | Notes | Potential Compensation |
|---|---|---|
| Hand (e) | Serious injuries that could reduce hand capacity by about 50 per cent. | £29,000 to £61,910 |
| Hand (g) | Function is significantly impaired by less serious hand injuries. | £14,450 to £29,000 |
| Hand (h) | Moderate injuries such as crushings with some permanent symptoms. | £5,720 to £13,280 |
| Fingers (f) | Disturbed sensation, grip impairments and functioning reductions from severe finger fractures that may lead to partial amputations. | Up to £36,740 |
| Fingers (i) | Loss of index finger. This bracket covers partial and total loss plus function and amputation. | £12,170 to £18,740 |
| Fingers (j) | Index finger fracture. | £9,110 to £12,240 |
| Fingers (k) | This is a serious injury, such as a fracture or serious tendon damage to either the middle or ring finger. | £10,320 to £16,340 |
| Finger (l) | The terminal phalanx of either the ring or middle finger. | £3,950 to £7,870 |
Secondly, special damages may be claimed as part of your broken knuckle claim. Special damages can help you recover costs directly caused by your injury.
For example, your treatment for a broken knuckle may have included prescriptions for painkillers and antibiotics. If you must pay for your prescriptions, these costs could be recovered under special damages if you have the receipts. Additionally, you may have needed time off work while you recovered from your broken knuckle or finger. Under special damages, you could claim back your loss of earnings if you can present your wage slips.
Call our advisors today for a free estimation of your fractured knuckle claim.
No Win No Fee Broken Knuckle Workplace Accident Claims
You might assume that utilising the services of a personal injury solicitor may come with upfront costs, but in fact, this does not have to be the case. Solicitors who work on a no win no fee basis would not take upfront fees to handle personal injury claims. In fact, they would not take payment until your case has successfully resulted in a compensation payout. Instead, you would be required to sign a Conditional Fee Agreement; a document that tells you what percentage of your compensation the lawyer would take as a success fee if your claim resulted in compensation. The percentage your solicitor could take is not allowed to be more than 25% of the total value of your claim. This is because there is a government cap in place to prevent this. Should your solicitor fail to secure you compensation payouts for a valid claim, then you wouldn’t need to pay the success fee detailed in the agreement. All of the solicitors we could provide you with from our panel work to this type of payment arrangement, so if you would like us to provide you with such a solicitor, there would be no fees to pay upfront to start your claim.
How Do I Make My Personal Injury Claim?
Here at Legal Helpline, we offer support and guidance to those who have been injured in accidents that weren’t their fault and would like advice on claiming compensation, whether for a broken knuckle accident at work, or any other type of injury claim. We offer an initial free assessment of your case. We’ll talk to you about what’s happened to cause your fractured knuckle and from there, we will offer you advice based on your specific circumstances. We could give you information on how much compensation for a broken knuckle at work you could claim – as a rough figure, and we could answer questions about the personal injury claims time limit that might apply to your claim. If we feel that you might have a valid claim for broken knuckle compensation, then we could offer to connect you with a solicitor working on a no win no fee basis from our panel to assist you in making a personal injury claim.
All of the advice we give you is completely free of charge, and you are under no obligation to use our services when you call us. We can tell you, however, that we have helped many people begin a claim for compensation for their injuries, and our previous clients have held our service in high regard. Why not let us assist you with your case today, and take some of the stress of making a broken knuckle accident at work claim off your shoulders?
Talking To Legal Helpline About Your Case
We’ve made it easy for you to get the advice you may need to begin a claim for compensation. You could opt to call the helpline on 0161 696 9685, or alternatively, you could fill the contact form in, and one of our friendly team will get back to you at a time that suits you. To benefit from advice you can trust without having to pay for the privilege, why not get in touch with the team today?
Resources And References
Claiming For An Accident At Work – You can read our guidance on making claims like this here.
Manual Handling Injuries – Here, we provide in-depth advice on manual handling claims.
Hand Injury Claims – You can find support and advice on hand injury claims in this guide.
Trusted External Resources
NHS Finger And Thumb Injuries – You can find NHS advice on this type of injury here.
Ligament Injuries To The Thumb – This explains more on thumb ligament injuries
Phalangeal Fracture Patient Information – Here you can see what the NHS has to say about this type of injury.
Case study by Jo.