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Thumb Injury Compensation Claims & Settlement Values

By Ian Morris | Updated June 12th, 2024

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The thumb forms a vital part of the use of the hand to enable grip, dexterity and independence. As such, injuries to the thumb are recognised within the legal system and courts during claims for personal injury compensation. When severe, the level of compensation awarded for a thumb injury claim can be substantial.

Common reasons for a thumb injury claim

Injuries to the thumb are commonly caused as a result of a fall, causing damage to the joint or ligaments. Other scenarios we’ve dealt with in thumb injury claims include:

Inadequate training from an employer
A lack of appropriate personal protective equipment
Faulty machinery in the workplace
Slip, trip or fall accidents
Road traffic accidents

Can I claim compensation for a thumb injury?

If you have suffered an injury to your thumb in an accident that was not your fault, due to an incident at work, a road traffic collision, as a result of a slip or trip in a public place, you could seek to make a claim for compensation.

To succeed with a claim, you will need to be able to demonstrate that a 3rd party was negligent and this led to you suffering an injury to your thumb. The 3rd party could be an employer, a negligent driver, a business or local authority, for example.

If you are unsure as to whether or not the cause of your thumb injury would enable you to pursue a claim for compensation, contact us today. Our expert staff know your rights and after a brief chat will be able to advise you as to whether or not you have the grounds to pursue a claim.

Reporting your injury

After a thumb injury sustained in a non-fault accident, it is important that the details of any injuries are appropriately recorded and reported to the right people. This is particularly important when someone with a thumb injury wishes to proceed with a claim for compensation.

If the injury is work-related, you should ensure that the details are recorded within your employers accident book. Sometimes employers aren’t keen to report injuries, so it’s important to know your rights and what to do if they won’t let you see or use the accident book.

In cases where a thumb injury was sustained as a result of a slip in a shop or a tripping accident on a public footpath, you should report the details of the accident immediately to the relevant staff member or local authority contact centre.

It is also important that you seek medical attention in order that the extent of the damage to your thumb can be assessed by a medical professional and treated. This will then be noted on your medical records and provide important medical evidence to support any future claim for thumb injury compensation.

If you are unsure as to how to report your accident properly, contact us for advice and support.

Thumb injury compensation amounts

The following is a guide to compensation amounts for thumb injuries of varied severity. Figures are for the injury itself, but your final settlement could include lost income and costs as well.

Severity of injury	Compensation amount
Loss of thumb	£33k - £51k
Very serious (left virtually useless)	£18k - £33k
Serious (impaired grip and dexterity)	£12k - £16k
Moderate (impairment of sensation and function, cosmetic deformity)	£9k - £12k
Severe dislocation	£4k - £6k
Minor injuries (recovery within six months)	Up to £4k

How Direct2Compensation can help you claim

We know your rights and have expert trained staff on hand ready to answer any queries you may have regarding thumb injury claims. We offer a simple and easy to understand process and will help you throughout the claim should you need assistance.

Direct2Compensation work with expert personal injury solicitors who will ensure that any settlement you receive is appropriate for the level of injury you have sustained, and we’ll also recover any loss of income and expenses that you have incurred as a result.

Our No Win No Fee service affords you the opportunity to pursue your claim safe in the knowledge that if for some reason, your claim does not succeed you will not have to pay any costs.

With Direct2Compensation, starting your claim for thumb injury compensation couldn’t be easier. You can call us on 01225 430285 or use our ‘start a claim’ page to provide your contact details so that our claims team can call you to discuss your situation and the specific details of your thumb injury.

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Comments & Questions

Read on for questions and advice about claiming, plus thumb injury claim examples...

Hi. I received a deep laceration on my right hand due to a bag dispenser being made of very thin sharp metal and when refilling it with bags it slipped and caught my hand between its ‘jaws’. I am on my way to the hand trauma unit as my thumb has numb areas and they think I might have nerve damage.
Can I claim for this type of injury? I imagine I will need to know the treatment needed and a long term prognosis first?
Thank you

The injury would appear to meet the severity criteria to enable a claim to proceed (of course, medical records will be updated and can be accessed at a later stage to confirm the full extent of any injury or treatment plan) and it would seem that the cause of the injury warrants a formal claim enquiry. We’d certainly be happy to help you and have our Solicitors investigate this for you.

The key issue is to ensure that there is the right evidence available to support any future claim. With this in mind, ensuring that an accident report has been completed at work is your next move given that medical treatment is clearly underway.

Hi. I broke my thumb tip in 3 places and suffered bruising and swelling whilst at work. I was lifting a heavy bar with another person (agency worker) when as we approached the resting place, the bar jolted resulting in my thumb being smashed between bar and machine casing. This happened early in my shift but I continued working a further 9 hrs. I attended hospital the next day, notifying my manager on return from hospital about my injury and asked them to record it for me. I have been off for a week and a half on a sick note. Would I be entitled to compensation? If so in what region?

You may well succeed with a claim and we would certainly like to pursue this for you with our Solicitors via our No Win No Fee service.

In terms of the potential value of your injury, it is impossible at this stage to give any specific value as we don’t yet know whether the injury will recover fully and if so how long any recovery will take. What we can say is that the thumb is a vitally important digit and any injury that impacts grip strength or range of movement for the thumb (and therefore impacting the claimants use of their hand both at work and privately) can see compensation settlements of a considerable sum. Our specialist Solicitors will ensure that your claim is appropriately valued and they will also recover any loss of income and other costs you may incur due to the injury.

I am working in an engineering company and yesterday my hand got pulled into an industrial drill because of the glove. While I was changing the heads I managed to pull my hand out but it damaged my socket/soft tissue in my thumb, its still massively swollen. I never had proper training on the drill or health and safety on it about gloves or hands. They might say I used a wrong glove but that’s what they provide to us and never said it can’t be used there.

You appear to have a valid claim against your employer for the injury you have sustained at work on the basis inadequate training to use the machinery in question.

Our Solicitors can assist you in recovering compensation for the pain and discomfort caused by your injury, recover any lost income, incurred costs and potentially access rehabilitation therapy if successful with your claim.

I ruptured the ligaments in my right thumb at work and have been off now for 4 weeks from today. my hand is in a cast for another 9 days before I can return to work. can I make a claim?

You may well be able to make a claim. For us to advise you further, we need to discuss your accident at work with you.

I work with young adults with learning disabilities that display challenging behaviour. I was injured whilst supporting a young person as he pulled sharply on my thumb, making my thumb be at an awkward angle. This has resulted in surgery to repair UCL ligament. I am on full pay for 8 weeks whilst off work.

It is good that you will receive pay whilst you are unable to work, at least that takes away the stress of having to cope with a loss of wages. In terms of a potential to pursue a claim for compensation for the injury, you can take action if your employer could have taken steps to reduce the risk of the injury but failed to do so. With that in mind, we need to look at whether you were appropriately trained to work with the individual in question and whether your employer had made you aware of the specific risks posed by the individual.

The most sensible course of action would be to have a telephone conversation with us so that we can ascertain whether or not you have grounds to pursue a claim.

I had an accident at work. I work in a warehouse, mostly within the ‘Goods In’ area. I was sent to picking and when I picked up a heavy box (10-12 kg) it slipped on to my thumb. There was little space and between the boxes was some glue so I had to use more power to pick up the box and this is how I was injured.

At first, I thought it was just dislocated and had popped back in as when I was working on the ‘Goods In’ section, my thumb was OK because I don’t need to use my left hand so often. However, when the employer sent me to picking again repeatedly, my thumb started to hurt and became swollen. I told the line manager about my issue and he told me I would have to see my GP and bring a light duties note from my GP. It took some time before the hospital realised my thumb was broken and I needed to have an operation. Even though I now I have a MED3 with “picking avoid” from my GP they sent me to picking work and my thumb worsened. Can I claim?

The accident was recorded in the accident book.

We can help you and would like to speak to you so you can start your claim for your thumb injury.

I was injured at work in a gas storage cage. I was moving an empty large oxygen bottle into the cage. Another worker was at the other end of the cage trying to open a strap to get a full oxygen bottle. The full bottle weighs about 77kg. The strap broke and about ten full bottles fell over. Each bottle is close to five foot tall. The full bottles falling caught my right thumb as they fell and mashed it into the empty bottle I was moving.

My thumb is fractured and the finger tip is severely messed up. I can provide a pic of the thumb if required. A first aider managed to slow down the bleeding and took me to hospital where the fracture was confirmed. No training was given to me regarding the gas cage. The bottles were not safely secured. My employer has now put metal rows in place to hold the bottles ensuring they don’t fall. I’m back at work on light duties. The accident happened 30 December 2020. The number of days I was off work was absorbed by the weekend and new year holiday Monday. In reality I missed three and a half days. My work brought me back the Wednesday after the holiday Monday and put me on light duties. I’m supposed to have surgery on the thumb but the NHS had to postpone it. I’m just waiting now for the doctor to update me on treatment. My thumb is heavily strapped and has seeped blood for over 2 weeks. My thumb looks like it will take months to recover and it may be disfigured. Nerves in the finger seem to be ok. Do I have a claim against my employer?

Whether you wish to pursue a claim or just seek advice, it is important that you understand our rights after an accident at work. Our view is that you do have a valid and just right to make a claim against your employers insurance for the nasty injury you have sustained.

Whilst the injury was caused accidentally, it could have been avoided if the employer had been a little more careful with regards to their storage facility. As you mention, they have now taken steps to prevent such an incident from happening again, but this should have been done before you sustained such a nasty injury.

If I cut myself with a knife at work can I claim for my compensation and how much would it be please?

You can claim if your employer has failed to ensure that you were provided with appropriate training to use the knife safely or if they failed to provide the correct personal protective equipment to use whilst working or failed to provide you with the correct kind of knife/equipment to work safely.

I tripped over speed bump on asda car park, there was no way of knowing it was there due to it being dark. I landed on my hands with force my nose just missed the floor. I did get up and continue into the store and never thought anything of it but I have a pain in the joint of my thumb now that swells up and causes me pain all the time. I didn’t think anything of making any claim at the time but I am constantly in pain in this thumb area, could this fall triggered it as I had none before?

Did you report the incident to the shop staff or their offices at any stage? If you didn’t and didn’t seek any medical attention at the time, the reality is that it would be unlikely that you would be able to pursue a claim due to a lack of evidence of the incident or the injuries.

However, if it was reported and was within the past 3 years, this is a matter we would be happy to look further in to for you.

I had a accident at work which left me with a broken thumb, can i claim compensation?

As long as the cause of the injury to your thumb can be attributed to a health and safety lapse by your employer or another organisation (i.e, the accident was not your own fault and you were not following company policy or training guidance that had been provided), you are likely to have a valid claim for personal injury compensation.

The thumb and use of the thumb is a vitally important part of the use of the hand and claims for thumb injury compensation can see substantial settlement values depending on the extent of the injury sustained.

In your case, we need to know a little more about how you were injured, what you were doing and when in order to advise further, but our initial view is that you should pursue a claim and we would like to help you do so.

Hi. I had a thumb injury in a care home last May 5 2019. It’s month of October now and my thumb is still hurting. Can I claim for this kind of injury and is there a time limit to make a claim? Thanks.

Under UK law, the time limit for any person to make a claim is 3 years from the date of their accident/injury (or until their 21st birthday if they are under the age of 18 at the time of injury). Therefore, you are well inside the claim limitation period.

You can make a claim if you believe that the injury was preventable if the employer had provided additional training or if they had not provided the correct equipment etc.

I broke my thumb moving a rack of shoes that were not straight by trapping it between another rack. Although it wasn’t my job to I thought I’d just help out. I noticed the rack wasn’t correct as I was walking by, I was off work for 1 month.

To succeed with a claim for personal injury compensation, the injured party must be able to demonstrate that their injury was avoidable and that another party has caused (or failed to do all that could be expected of them to minimise the risk of injury) the injury as a result of their negligence.

In your case, you can pursue a claim if you can identify any negligence against the employer or premises owner where the shoe rack is situated. Given your description of the incident in which you broke your thumb, it is not clear as to where any negligence may rest.

I injured my thumb on a council waste site just over a year ago, the injury has left me with loss of sensation and affected my ability to use my thumb properly, the council have admitted liability and have made me an offer through their insurance company Zurich.
I paid to see a private surgeon to find out what the future holds and how can we fix my thumb, I need an operation to remove the front tip of my thumb as at present the skin is dead, this will of course leave me with a disfigured thumb, I also need my nail to be removed at the same time but they estimate I will never re-grow all of it and they have said that I will lose 40% of the top corner of my nail.
The insurance company offered my £4000 before they knew the procedure needed to fix it, they have now offered me £5000. Everywhere I look, I see different numbers quoted as a possible settlement. Do you think this is a fair offer or do you think I should go through a company like yourselves to further my claim, if so what would your costs be?
I can provide you with pictures and copies of the reports if you think it is worth while.

If you have not had legal representation and have pursued your claim directly, then we would strongly suggest that instructing a specialist personal injury Solicitor – such as the ones with whom we work – would be the surest way to ensure that your settlement correctly reflected the loss that you will suffer through this injury. The level of compensation that has been offered so far would appear to be rather low – of course, we don’t know the full extent of the situation but we would be confident that a specialist Solicitor would, having arranged for a specialist medical report to be provided regarding long term prognosis, be able to achieve a higher settlement value for you and would ensure that any future medical costs, past and future loss of income and costs would also be recovered.

Instructing a specialist firm such as ourselves would see you sign a Conditional Fee Agreement (no win no fee agreement) that would mean you would pay no costs whatsoever if your claim were to fail. However, if you were to succeed, you would contribute up to 25% of any settlement towards the costs of the claim and you may also have to cover the cost of an ATE insurance premium if one were needed (usually somewhere around £2-£300). Whilst this would see you lose some of your awarded settlement, it is likely that a specialist Solicitor would ensure that your settlement was considerably higher than what has been offered to date and therefore, the deduction would be negated by the far larger settlement you could achieve.

Hi, I cut my thumb whilst washing a glass at work. It has left me with a scar on my thumb. I’m not sure if I can make a claim. Thanks.

You have the right to make a claim and we have succeeded with very similar claims for hospitality, catering and bar staff who have been lacerated by the glass wear that they have worked with.

Please use the ‘start a claim’ page of our website to make further contact so that our specialist staff can discuss your injury at work in more detail with a view to starting your claim for compensation.

I worked for a company my job was very repetitive. I developed a lump just below my thumb it was painful but did not realise it was due to my job. I was misdiagnosed by the DR as he said it was a cyst. I left the job and had a scan it confirmed that I had thickening of the tendons it was really bad and it was my dominant hand. I had to have 6 months of physiotherapy, she said it was due to my work, so did the DR, can I claim? I was told by the physio that it will take a year after physio to get better. I left last year April 20th.

You may well have a valid claim and it could be that the injury was caused by repetitive strain. Employers face obligatory requirements with regards to jobs that involve repetitive work, such as adequate breaks, personal protective equipment and training. If they fail in any of these areas, the possibility of succeeding with a claim against the employer becomes stronger. Our specialist staff will be able to ascertain where your employer has failed and assist you with a claim for compensation.

Please use the ‘start a claim’ page to make further contact so that we can call you to discuss your situation.

I crushed my thumb in baling machine at work, I had brief training year ago, I’ve broke my thumb and had a bone put in place and then metal bits 4 weeks ago. I see surgeon again 10 days time will find out when they taking metal bits out etc, and have physio, been signed of work, first couple days work phoned twice and said I could go back light duties. I normally fill shelves, hospital wouldn’t let me go back then, 4 weeks later they say I can but light duties and be very careful with my thumb which they put on my sick note. I took it work and they said they’d phone me next day, 2 days later nothing. I phoned this time, spoke to a manager that was on duty when I broke my thumb she said she was unaware that I could come back on light duties but would phone me back to let me know what was happening, 5 days later nothing, I don’t know what to do.

We would like to speak with you further about your accident at work in order that we can ascertain whether or not you can make a claim for compensation. Please use the ‘start a claim’ page of our website to make further contact with us.