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Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Claims & Compensation Amounts

By Ian Morris | Updated September 7th, 2023

119 questions have been answered on this subject - ask us your question

Carpal tunnel syndrome is one of many repetitive strain injuries that affect workers today. It can be very painful and most commonly affects the hands and wrists. Employers have a responsibility to reduce the risk of workers suffering from the condition, and if they have been negligent in this duty of care, you are entitled to make a carpal tunnel compensation claim.

Is your job causing carpal tunnel syndrome?
Claiming against your employer for carpal tunnel syndrome
Compensation amounts for carpal tunnel claims
How to start your carpal tunnel claim
Useful resources
Comments – your questions answered

Is your job causing carpal tunnel syndrome?

The NHS website describes Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) as a pressure on a nerve in your wrist. It causes tingling, numbness and pain in your hand and fingers. The symptoms include:

An ache or pain in your fingers, hand or arm
Numb hands
Tingling or pins and needles
A weak thumb or difficulty gripping

You’re most at risk of developing carpal tunnel syndrome if your job involves repeated pressure or bending of the wrist. Usually it is associated with office workers, typists and people who spend their working life sat at a computer keyboard. Whilst such activities can and do lead to carpal tunnel syndrome, many people who pursue such claims are from other workplaces. Construction workers using vibratory equipment, tools or machinery, for example, are at risk of CTS.

Some job roles are more likely to present a risk and the employer has extra responsibilities to reduce it. They should provide extra training, safe and regularly serviced equipment, the correct tools for the job and regular breaks from use of certain equipment.

CTS is commonly linked to certain types of working activity, including:

Repeated and regular use of vibratory equipment or tools
Constant and repeated lifting of heavy items
Heavy and repeated pressure over the carpal tunnel (at base of palm)
Repeated use of and bending of the wrist
Repeated forceful pinch grips
Regular heavy lifting

The condition is known to cause pain and weakness, restricted dexterity and reduced grip strength. All of which which can lead to lost independence, difficulty working as normal and maintaining your day-to-day lifestyle.

Claiming compensation for carpal tunnel syndrome can help ease some of the problems caused by the condition.

Claiming against your employer for carpal tunnel syndrome

Anyone diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome caused by their working life is entitled to seek compensation for their pain and suffering. Employers that fail to ensure proper training, guidance and risk assessments to avoid CTS may be liable should you suffer a carpal tunnel injury. You’re entitled to make an industrial injury claim as your employer has failed in their duty of care.

Compensation will be awarded if it can be shown that the employer has been negligent and failed in their responsibilities. With carpal tunnel, negligence is commonly found in at least one of these areas:

Bad working conditions.
Lack of protective equipment.
Insufficient breaks from vibrating tools
Lack of training.
Lack of, or inappropriate, risk assessments.

Understandably, it can be a sensitive issue but there are many good reasons to make a carpal tunnel claim:

Claiming is one of your rights after an injury at work, and will fairly compensate you for a health condition that was not your fault.
It can pay for private medical treatment and rehabilitation therapies to speed your recovery.
You can reclaim lost income if you have been off work.
You pay nothing if your claim fails because they are made on a No Win No Fee basis.

You can’t be sacked for claiming for a work injury that wasn’t your fault. You can also make a claim in the knowledge that you are not jeopardising any colleagues’ employment. If you’re unable to do your usual job, your employer should do their best to get you back to work on lighter duties if possible. It’s up to you who you tell or don’t tell about your claim, or if you want to discuss the claim with your employer.

Compensation amounts for carpal tunnel

A successful claim will lead to a compensation settlement being made to you. The value of the claim would cover the injuries you have suffered and medical treatment that you have required. Additionally, it may include any lost income and incurred costs, now and in the future.

The amount of compensation you can expect will depend on the severity and term of your injury, also your age and the treatment required to correct the condition. Some injuries are long-term and result in loss of employment, others are fairly mild and can be corrected relatively quickly. It’s impossible to know exactly how much you could receive but there are guidelines for solicitors to follow, and previously awarded amounts are also taken into consideration.

One case made the headlines in 2015, where a council-employed gardener successfully claimed £15,000 compensation after sustaining CTS through the use of vibrating equipment. This would be in the upper scale of what amount to expect, with more minor and recoverable cases of CTS commonly awarded between £5,000 and £10,000.

The table below is a guide to compensation amounts for carpal tunnel based on its severity. These amounts are for the injury itself, but you can also claim for special damages, which can include your lost earnings, expenses and rehabilitation therapies, for example. Once your specialist solicitor has obtained your medical report they will be able to give you an idea of how much compensation to expect.

Severity of injury	Compensation amount
Most serious - continuing bilateral disability with surgery and loss of employment	£21k - £23k
Continuing, but fluctuating and unilateral symptoms	£14k - £15k
Symptoms resolving within three years	£8k - £10k
Complete recovery within a few months	£2k - £3k

How to start your carpal tunnel claim

We can help you to understand your rights after a work-related injury and can tell you whether you are likely to succeed with your claim.

As with all injuries or health problems caused through work, it is important to make sure that your carpal tunnel syndrome has been recorded properly with your employer. It may be that details are recorded in an employer’s accident book, but more likely that your line manager and HR department should be made aware of the diagnosis you have received from your doctor. If this hasn’t been done, don’t worry, we can help you to do so.

Direct2Compensation are experts in managing work-related health claims. Some of the best accident at work solicitors in the UK handle our cases. With our easy to understand claims process and ability to complete your claim quickly, simply and transparently, there are many reasons that make us a great choice.

To find out if you can claim, call us on 01225 430285 or if you prefer, . In just a few minutes on the telephone with you, we’ll obtain the initial information needed for our solicitors to commence a claim.

Useful resources

119 questions have been answered on this subject - ask us your question

Comments & Questions

Read on for questions and advice about claiming, plus carpal tunnel claim examples...

My carpal tunnel is from 1986 to 1989 working in a garage, i’ve had both hands operated on also tendon release left hand. I am still in daily pain. The garage I worked for is no longer there. Can & who do I claim from? I am limited to basic work because of this and have a family to provide for, with a very small pension to look forward to.

Given the dates you mention, the concern is that you are likely to be out of limitation and unable to make a claim. UK law applies a strict claim limitation period, meaning that anyone over the age of 18 must make their claim within 3 years of the date of their injury, or the date at which they became aware of their injury. Therefore in your case, you will need to consider when you first were aware of the symptoms and when you first attended a GP regarding the situation. If those dates fall within the past 3 years, please contact us for further help.

I’ve had an ongoing problem now for just short of a year which is a work related injury. I was diagnosed March 2020 with Carpal tunnel syndrome and tendonitis. Before, my employer was unwilling to move me to another department telling me it was beneficial to them even though there are other job opportunities for me. Now the UK is in lockdown. They have furloughed me since the end of March 2020. I received an email 11th May 2020 to tell me that they are operating at 50% staff capacity but I have reason to believe this is false as I had to make a trip to my work place to collect some tools for DIY at home when I noticed I was the only one still furloughed. It was confirmed from my supervisor who informed me that everyone is back to work but me. I have also received an email saying that I may be made redundant and that they could not confirm whether or not I would return to my position. I feel like I’m being discriminated against for my work related injuries. Please can you advise the best option for me?

Please call us on 01225430285 so that we can help you further with your enquiry. Our team would like to take some additional information relating to your injury, when your symptoms developed, your work and some personal details etc, so that we can present your enquiry in detail to our specialist Solicitors and get you the advice you need.

Hi. My name is Alex and I work on a sport car factory with vibration tools for over 4 years now. Because of that I have carpal tunnel syndrome. All the symptoms starts over 2 and a half years ago. The company bring a private doctor who confirmed my carpal tunnel syndrome. They’ve been advised to move me on different sections where I don’t have to use vibration tool. Instead they still keeping me on paintshop area where I am using daily vibration tools.
Because of that my hand problem became so worse and I am booked for a carpal tunnel surgery.
In this time since I have carpal tunnel syndrome because of exposure at vibration tools. I bring them from my GP few times letters where they’ve been advertised to stop putting me to use vibration tools and I always updated them on what’s happening with my hand problems. I give them all my letters from hospital all my appointments everything.
My question is :
Any chance to make a claim for this now ? And if it is any chance I would like to know more about that.

As your symptoms developed more than 2 & 1/2 years ago, you could soon find yourself outside of the legal claim limitation period. In claims for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) compensation, a claimant MUST make a claim within 3 years of the onset of symptoms or the date that they should have been aware that their symptoms were work related.

If you are within the 3 years, you have a legal right to pursue a claim against your employers insurance if a specialist Solicitor considers the actions of the employer in terms of their obligations to minimise the risk of repetitive strain injuries in the workplace to be negligent. Our specialist Solicitors can advise you as to whether or not you are in a position to make a claim. If they felt a claim was viable, the matter could be pursued on a No Win No Fee basis, meaning that you would pay NOTHING if your claim failed and only a maximum of 25% of any compensation settlement would be deducted towards your costs should you succeed.

Call us on 01225430285 to further discuss this so that we can get you the advice you need.

Hello there, I’ve just been diognosed with carpal tunnel on both hands, I’m unable to do my job without being in pain with my hands I’m currently on self certication ssp for 7days until I see the Dr again. Now are my employers could be well within their rights to dismiss me has they have no other jobs elsewhere for me. If they can I just think its unfair that they’re allowed to do so, as its their fault that I’ve got carpal tunnel in the first place.

Essentially an employer can terminate an employees position if the employee is no longer fit to do the work that they were employed to do. However, they must follow due process under employment law before they can dismiss you. With that particular issue, you should seek independent specialist employment law advice.

On the carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) issue, you have a right to make a claim for compensation having been given the diagnosis. We have specialist Solicitors with experience of success in pursuit of compensation for claimants suffering with the symptoms of CTS and could help you make a No Win No Fee claim to recover compensation for the pain and discomfort caused by the condition along with recovery of any loss of income or out of pocket expenses caused by the condition.

Please call us on 01225430285 to discuss your situation with our team and get the help you need.

I believe i have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, but never had it checked by anyone medical, I do get numbness and pin and needles on my wrists and fingers, I have been working in the tunneling and construction industry for 32 years, I did a lot of hand mining using vibrating tools etc. I have worked for a lot of different contractors over this time. Do you carry out a medical to diagnosis? What are your charges?

If you are noticing symptoms such as numbness and pins and needles, you could be suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome or another sort of repetitive strain injury and you could possibly make a claim for compensation.

You need to discuss your symptoms with your Doctor at the earliest opportunity and seek referral from them for specialist tests in order to get a diagnosis of your condition. If that returns with a diagnosis of CTS or a similar repetitive strain injury, you could then look at making a claim. We do not have involvement in diagnosis provision, so you would need to discuss this issue with your GP.

Once diagnosed, if you then wish to make a claim, please contact us for help. Any work done by us would be on the basis that you pay no costs whatsoever should your claim fail. If however, you succeed in your claim you would contribute up to 25% of any settlement awarded to you along with having to cover the cost of any ATE insurance premium (usually £150 – £250) – but that is only payable if you win as per our No Win No Fee service.

Hello, I’ve been diagnosed with carpel tunnel in both wrists and will have both operated on, my contract says repetitive job but does that mean my employer is in the clear for a compensation claim?

The contents of your contract will have no bearing on whether or not you can pursue a claim for carpal tunnel syndrome against the employer. If the employer is aware that the work is repetitive, it would indicate that they should be taking steps to minimise the risks of a repetitive strain injury – such as carpal tunnel – by having adequate job rotation, regular breaks and provision of the correct training and safety equipment.

I have worked as an HGV driver and I have suffered with pain in my hands and arms, had surgery on right elbow and suffer carpal tunnel in both hands. Would I have grounds for a claim?

Before we can confirm whether or not you have a valid claim for carpal tunnel syndrome compensation, we will need to find out more about your work, what training your employer provided and what health and safety measures they had put in place to minimise the risks of such a condition.

I have worked for Plymouth council for nearly 20 years, 4.5 years as season /agency and 14 yrs full time as a grass cutter using strimmers, mowers, hedge cutters and leaf blowers. In the past 2 years I have developed carpal tunnel syndrome and I am now awaiting surgery in my right hand in about a month and after I’ll have surgery in my left hand.

Currently the council are being hauled in through HSE from Bristol and have breached health and safety in many ways and received fines and still haven’t met the criteria for safe working practices. The council didn’t reveal to RIDDOR about how many carpal tunnel cases had actually occurred as there is a lot more than the two that they have told RIDDOR about.

I have been to see the Occupational Health through work and been assessed. The assessment states that I cannot use vibration machinery. The council has been issued with pending further penalties by the HSE with them saying machinery not sufficient and vibration exposure is still too high. Therefore, I am inquiring as what to do. I feel daunted by the council on my compensation rights and daunted how I will be treated if I go ahead with a claim. My worry is that the council normally finds a way to push employees who claim out and what will become of my gardening career? Do I wait until after the operation is done or is that too late? I have GP and surgeons and works GP Doctors assessments that all confirm carpal tunnel.

You should waste no further time and pursue your legal rights and make a claim for carpal tunnel syndrome against the employer before the possibility of you being out of time to make a claim is an issue.

From your description of the situation at work, it would appear on first reading, that your employer has been negligent towards your health and safety. As such, I would have confidence of you succeeding with a claim for compensation. The main issue that you face is making sure you claim before you are out of time to do so. Although you are only just about to have surgery, your limitation period would have started some time ago – when symptoms were present and you began liaising with your GP.

With regards to your rights to retain your position at work, you are in a very strong position. Everyone has a legal right to make a claim against their employer without losing their job for doing so. As you have worked for the employer for 14 years, you are well protected by employment rights and could not face redundancy for simply making a claim. Indeed, the only way your employer could terminate your position would be because you were left unfit to work and could no longer perform the duties to which you had been employed. The employer would have to follow due process to do so and it is likely that you’ll make a good recovery as long as you follow doctor’s orders and do the appropriate rehab and rest.

We look forward to helping you.

My husband has developed carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands he uses power tools due to have op. For the first 3 years no health and safety checks took place in work some my husband first told his employer about his hands he brought in nurse to check everyone then health and safety he hid all original power tools that had been used up till that date and health and safety have no figures for the first three years of using power tools his employer is saying it’s not because of his job how can we prove we think it was.

The best thing to do in this situation would be to instruct a specialist personal injury Solicitor with sufficient experience and expertise in pursuing claims for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) compensation.

At Direct2Compensation, we work with some experts within CTS compensation claims who are used to helping claimants in the situation in which your Husband finds himself. We would therefore recommend that your Husband visits our ‘start a claim’ page to provide us with a basic synopsis of the situation along with his contact details. We can then call him to discuss the matter in more detail before passing this to a specialist Solicitor.

Since working I’ve been diagnosed with numerous conditions including carpal tunnel syndrome, pinched nerves in both feet and I am now off with suspected spondylitis.

All of these happened only since working do I have reason to claim?

You can seek to make a claim for a repetitive strain injury like Carpal Tunnel Syndrome if you believe that the conditions of your work have directly caused you to sustain these conditions.

Hi. I have been diagnosed as having carpal tunnel in both the hands. Was diagnosed in February this year although I first went to doctors with similar symptoms ten years ago so it is on medical record. I am going for the operation on one hand soon and physio has agreed it is down to using Vibration tools at work which has caused this. So has doctor and hospital. Is it OK to make a claim against my work and what is the chance of being successful?

I would like to put your claim to our carpal tunnel syndrome specialists. My only concern is whether the fact that you had treatment some 10 years ago could affect your claim limitation period. However, as you were diagnosed in February of this year, you should be ok.

Hello I am making an enquiry on behalf of my husband who has carpal tunnel. He recently had an operation to fix problem and spent 6 weeks off work. He feels the operation was not a success as he still has the numbness in his fingers and wrist pain. He is a gardener with the local council and has worked there for 29 years. During that time he operated a lot of grass cutting machinery. He also worked for British Shipbuilders prior to this for 8 years employed as a Plater Shipwright. Do you think he has a claim?

Your Husband may well have a valid claim and really should investigate as to whether or not he can take this further. We pursue carpal tunnel syndrome claims on a No Win No Fee basis so that gives your Husband the perfect opportunity to investigate this.

I was diagnosed last year with carpal tunnel syndrome. Further to the diagnosis, I had surgery to ease the symptoms recently. I have worked on pot banks, as a cleaner and carer. The pot bank employers are now closed down. Will I still be able to claim?

Claiming carpal tunnel syndrome compensation is definitely something we can help you with. As you have worked for a few different employers, the claim will be made against all relevant employers. With regards to the pot bank employer, if they have ceased trading the claim could still proceed against them if their insurance was paid prior to their cease of business.

We would recommend that you contact us so that we can find out a little more about your employment and diagnosis and then pass your claim enquiry to the right specialist Solicitor.

Hi I’m currently a courier but am self employed. I work as a subcontractor for a small courier agency but they get the work from a huge online retailer. I’ve recently been diagnosed with CTS and no longer able to work. They sent us out with so much work to do that eventually my wrists started hurting resulting in CTS. Can I claim? Would the claim go to the small agency or the online retailer as it’s them that demand the work to be done.

You can still claim if you’re self-employed and we think you should pursue this further and let us get one of our specialist CTS Solicitors to look in to this for you. Please provide some details to us with contact information. We’ll then call you and take some further details and get one of our specialist carpal tunnel syndrome Solicitors to look in to this for you.

You can seek to pursue a claim for carpal tunnel syndrome compensation from your employer if it can be demonstrated that the cause of the condition rests with the way that they have managed you and your workload. You have a claim limitation period of 3 years in which you can seek to pursue a claim and it sounds as if you are still inside that.

If you were to succeed with a claim for carpal tunnel syndrome compensation, your settlement would include an award for the injury itself (the ongoing pain and discomfort etc) along with a special damages claim in which you could recover any lost income and expenses that you have incurred.

I work for a well known courier company as a multi-drop driver delivering very heavy boxes which are crammed into 7.5t truck every day.
As a result of poor loading practices and inability to carry out proper manual handling practices (due to lack of space in the rear of the vehicle) i have damaged my back and developed carpal tunnel in both hands.
I am 100 percent sure that my job is the cause of this because i had no problems with my hands before.
I have written my issues down several times and presented them to my employer who has basically ignored my concerns about the health and safety of what they expect me to do at work daily.
I have never recorded an incident in the accident book because there has been no single accident. This has just been a progressive thing that has gotten worse. I have photos to prove what i believe is a dangerously overloaded vehicle what i have to deal with daily. I know this may strengthen my claim.
I have not yet had a formal diagnosis of carpal tunnel but i’m due to get that in a few weeks at which time i may take sick leave. Any advice please on this?

Thank you for bringing your situation to our attention. We have had many enquiries from delivery drivers, multi-drop drivers and couriers in the very same situation as you.

On the basis of what you have said, I would be confident that one of our specialist solicitors would be able to pursue a claim on your behalf on a No Win No Fee basis. You mention that you have written down and listed some of the issues causing you concern and addressed them with your employer and that this has been ignored. It is good that you have done this, but unhelpful that they have ignored this. I would therefore suggest that you need to protect your interests by formally raising these concerns with the employer and ensure that they are on record. This would be helpful in the future should any claim arise.

If you have had previous back problems addressed by your Doctor, they will be on record within your medical records. However, you can still claim for an exacerbation of a pre-existing health problem. Your medical records will show the periods when you have sought medical treatment. If there is a correlation between a period of no treatment requirements and then working in this role causing you to seek further medical treatment, you can successfully argue that the job has caused your situation to deteriorate or worsen.

Employers must provide manual handling training to all staff – especially in roles where lost of lifting will be happening. However, providing training in and of itself does not absolve an employer of responsibility for injuries. In your case, you state that the cramped nature of the vans and the bad loading practices make it impossible to lift in accordance with the manual handling training you’ve had. As such, your employer would have breached their obligations towards your health and safety at work.

You should definitely seek diagnosis of the carpal tunnel problems and again discuss your back problems and the link to your work with your GP so that the medical records can demonstrate the same.

We would be very happy to help you with these claims and I invite you to send me your contact details so that we can make contact and help you get these claims started.

I work in the medical field, and we do our charting at a computer with a mouse. This year I started feeling tingling in my wrist. I have not gone to the dr. but I believe I have carpal tunnel syndrome. My right hand goes numb, pain, and tingles, especially in the morning. I only chart approx. an hour 1/2 in an 8 hour shift, although its all done with a mouse. This has been repetitive for 2 years with this employer, and the pain is getting worse. Subsequently, when I use the mouse the pain is worse. (this is the only tool we have for charting, no keyboard, mouse only). I am going to make the dr.’s appointment to get a proper diagnosis, my question is, can my employer be held liable? If I need surgery, and am out of work will they have to cover those damages? How is this proven?

Under UK law, if your GP diagnosis you with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) and links this directly to your working history/job role, you have a right to pursue your employer for compensation for the repetitive strain injury – CTS.

To succeed with a CTS claim, you would need to demonstrate that your employer has not adequately risk assessed the nature of your role, provided you with the correct equipment, guidance, job rotation and rest periods needed. If you are able to succeed, under UK law, you would be entitled to claim compensation for the injury itself – for the pain, distress and discomfort of the injury and also reclaim any lost income and other expenses by way of a special damages claim.

I work as a butcher in a busy factory environment. The work is very strenuous on my hands and wrists with lots of twisting and pulling on the arm joints. I did inform my supervisor on many occasions that particular tasks were very painful to carry out yet I was told to ” crack on”! I did get signed of work by my gp for 2 weeks for cts a few months ago and since then I have been for nerve conduction tests which show I need surgery on both carpal tunnels. i’m waiting for surgery now and work are fine about me taking time off for recovery but say they won’t pay me. Where do I stand please?

You can pursue a claim for this – carpal tunnel syndrome is a ‘repetitive strain injury’ and if your employer has not handled your working situation correctly, you may well be able to claim compensation – both for the pain, discomfort and distress of the injury and subsequent surgery/recovery period, but also any lost income whilst you either cannot work due to the pain or recovering from surgery.

We would be happy to discuss the claims process with you and assist you with a claim for compensation.

Hi I’m enquiring for my husband, he worked for kier for approx 2 yrs and got sacked that was 20 yrs ago, he started having numbness and tingling sensations in both hands and went onto incapacity benefit, he Never had a diagnosis but had regular medicals to assess his hands and to keep on claiming his benefit, yesterday he went to see a specialist who said he had severe carpal tunnel damage and both hands need operating on. He asked what kind of work he did all them yrs ago and he told him he worked on a belt feeder that vibrated heavily and he knows the pain and condition started then, he’s not been able to work since. The specialist informed my husband that he a right to claim for this condition, this is our first query into this matter so any advice would be most helpful.

In most cases, the period of limitation expires when 3 years has passed since an injury was sustained (the date of an accident or injury). However, with Industrial Injuries and Repetitive Strain injuries, the limitation period remains 3 years, BUT from the date of diagnosis of the injury/condition and not from the date that the injury/condition was sustained. Therefore, although your Husband sustained his injury 20 years ago, he could well still be able to claim – as it sounds as if his diagnosis was recently made as carpal tunnel and that this was certainly within the last 3 years. In your Husband’s case, we would be very happy to help him with a claim for carpal tunnel syndrome compensation.