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Wrist Injury Compensation Claims & Settlement Values

By Ian Morris | Updated June 12th, 2024

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

Some of the most common injuries presented at A&E and GP surgeries are injuries to the wrist. These are often caused as a result of a slip or trip accident, falls from height, road traffic and cycling accidents. Usually they involve soft tissue damage to the ligaments and tendons (known as sprains) or fractures to the forearm bones.

You may be entitled to compensation via a wrist injury claim, if the cause of your accident can be attributed to the negligence of someone else.

Do I have a valid wrist injury compensation claim?

If you believe that the cause of your wrist injury is the fault of a third party, for example, an employer or business owner who failed to minimise the risk of such injury, you have a legal right to make a claim for compensation.

Despite the strength of the soft tissues and bones of the wrist, serious wrist injuries are not uncommon and form a large volume of claims for personal injury compensation.

Perhaps the most common cause of wrist injury is as a result of a fall. Whether a slip on a wet floor at work or a trip on a pavement, it is instinctive to place your hands out to break a fall, and in doing so, you risk spraining or breaking your wrist. If the accident was a result of a hazard that should have been the duty of a third party to remove or warn about, they could well be liable to compensate you for your injury.

To give your claim the best possible prospect of success, there are a few important steps that you should take to protect your interests and ensure that the right evidence will be available. With this in mind, we advise any person who has suffered a wrist injury to do the following:

Ensure that the details of your accident and injury are properly reported and recorded with the right people
Seek medical attention in order that medical evidence can be provided to support your claim
Obtain witness information
Take photographs if appropriate of any hazard or cause of an accident

At Direct2Compensation we know your rights and will be able to help you make sure that the correct steps have been taken.

Wrist injury consequences

Whether a wrist injury involves soft tissue damage, such as a sprain to the ligaments, or a fracture to the bones of the lower forearm and wrist area, the symptoms will usually include a loss of dexterity and grip, as well as pain.

Independence can be impaired as someone with a serious ligament sprain or fracture to the wrist is likely to have to wear a support or cast.

Any person suffering a serious wrist injury is unlikely to be able to drive, and many will be unable to work as a result of their injury which often leads to financial pressures.

What am I entitled to claim for?

If you have suffered a wrist injury in a non-fault accident, whether at work or in a public place, you have a right to claim compensation for the pain and discomfort, for the impact on your day-to-day life and independence, and for any lost income and incurred costs directly attributable to the accident.

At Direct2Compensation, our specialist solicitors will ensure that the correct medical evidence is obtained and that a detailed report is made. This will give a prognosis on the severity of your wrist injury, the likely recovery time, and what rehabilitation therapies and medical treatments will be needed to ensure that a full recovery is made.

Appropriate wrist injury compensation settlement amounts will vary depending on the severity of the injury, with important factors like grip strength, dexterity and independence impairment being taken in to account.

Compensation amounts for a wrist injury

The following figures are a guide to how much compensation you might expect for the wrist injury itself, your final settlement could be a lot more when other costs are taken into account.

Severity of injury	Compensation amount
Injuries resulting in complete loss of function in the wrist	£45k - £56k
Significant permanent disability, but with some useful movement	£23k - £37k
Less severe injuries with a degree of persisting pain and stiffness	£12k - £23k
Long, but complete recovery from a fracture or soft tissue injury	Up to £10k
Uncomplicated Colles' fracture	Up to £7k
Minor fractures and soft tissue injuries	£3k - £5k

How Direct2Compensation can help

Direct2Compensation has a proven track record of helping people succeed with claims for wrist injury compensation. We offer a straightforward and easy to understand No Win No Fee claims process and our specially trained staff will quickly help you understand your rights and make sure that your wrist injury compensation claim is placed with the right expert solicitor.

Our staff will explain the claims process to you and we’ll help you to understand what to expect, advise you of any actions you should take and provide simple, helpful guidance to make sure that you can focus on recovery.

You can call our friendly and helpful staff on 01225 430285 or get your claim started online today. We take pride in making sure that you feel understood and look forward to helping you make your claim.

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

Comments & Questions

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

Hello I was carrying a big sheet of glass in the work place which split in half it cut my wrist which severed the radial artery the radial nerve and and a tendon and damaged another tendon and damaged the muscle due to scarring been signed off work and need repetitive physio and have been in pain for quite some time.

Please provide further contact details via our website form as we feel that this is a matter our Solicitors will be keen to pursue for you. Your employer may well have been in breach of duty by failing to provide the adequate PPE or working method that would enable you to avoid injury.

We know your rights and can help you to understand the options open to you further to your nasty accident at work.

My partner has two torn tendons in her wrist, due someone she was caring for grabbing her arm and pulling on it with some force. She has been off work for 2 weeks so far which is going to be extended for a minimum of an other two weeks.

Does she have a claim?

We have specialist Solicitors who undertake a considerable amount of work for care workers, health care assistants and support workers who are injured by the service users that they are employed to assist. Such work does pose some inherent risks as the individuals who are being cared for can demonstrate volatile, aggressive and unpredictable behaviour at times. However, employers still have a duty of care to ensure that the risks of injury for their staff are minimised. With this in mind, employers must ensure that the staff are appropriately trained and that care plans and risk assessments are up to date and accurate. Where an employee is put to work with a service user who may be dangerous or aggressive, the employee must be made aware of the risks and the appropriate mitigation to reduce the risk of injury must be in place (training, staffing ratios and panic alarms etc).

It would appear that there may well be a claim to be pursued in this matter and the injury described is certainly sufficiently severe to warrant making a claim.

I broke my wrist at work 2 days before being made redundant employer took me to hospital and all was recorded. Can I still claim for this injury?

As long as the accident happened less than 3 years ago you can still make a claim for compensation with us. Whether you still work for the employer or have since left, is of no relevance to the pursuit of a claim.

Last Wednesday I fracture my wrist putting the work bin out into a big waste bin. I do this one handed as lid always falling down, just seeing if someone can help me?

We may be able to help you, but we need to know a little more about the accident and the use of the bin in question. Please call us on 01225430285 so that we can discuss this injury at work with you and help you to find out if you can pursue a claim.

I fell through a greenhouse on my dads allotment due to the flooring being uneven and slippy back in may last year. Cut my wrist had over 37 stitches as i cut over 11 veins and my main artery. I was in hospital for 5 days and had to have physiotherapy and i am still suffering from nerve pain in my fingers.

Although you have clearly suffered a very distressing injury and been left with scarring and nerve issues, it is unclear as to where you could attach negligence to any party and pursue a claim. Whilst the floor within the allotment was uneven, you would expect an area set aside for vegetable/plant growth to be ‘natural’ and therefore uneven.

Hi last Tuesday there was heavy winds and coming from my car i was going in a door when the wind blow the door on my wrist. Got first aid with a bandage on my wrist. Went to walk in centre in Wednesday and X-Ray ed it not broken but sprained it. Would that be my fault or can I claim?

It is unlikely to be something for which you can make a claim as the wind would be something that the courts would not be able to hold the building owner responsible for. However, if the door should have a safety mechanism – slow close or similar – and this was broken or missing, you could make a claim.

I am working on home shopping picking job. Because of the heavy trolly pushing lifting picking I have damaged my wrist. Both of my wrist are so much in pain. I cannot do anything as much as I would like to. Doing house work such as holding my kids, doing food shopping, house work e.t.c have been impossible. I am in pain everyday. First I took 3 week off as my GP advice then after went to work slightly lighter task but still couldn’t do it. i went back to GP for check up and GP told me that I have sprain my wrist. Soon after that I wanted to find out what is exactly happen to me? So went for a blood test but result came everything is normal. Still having so much pain and GP advice to take another 6week off. I Had meeting with my managers about my days off and they were telling me they could terminate my contract if I will not be able to do my task Even though it happened at work. since then I had no hope to receive any help from management or physiotherapist, they are just ignoring me. I feel stress, discriminated, helpless and I do not know how long I will be like this in pain. I have been going to GP and physiotherapy but nothing is helping. Please Your help would be very much appreciated thank you

John

Your ‘injuries’ to the wrists could well be the result of repetitive strain (repeated movement and use). Has your employer provided training with regards to the lifting and moving of items at work and how to lift safely?

Hi my mother was walking up the street and the post office drain was uneven ground high raised sides and dipped in the middle, she lost her footing and fell over causing her to badly break her wrist, which is now disfigured (this happened in April have all evidence photos a&e reports and reports till this day) have written to the council they are not admitting liability and said the drain was inspected in Feb and was fine, the whole pathway is very badly uneven. She has been off work and now the hospital have to operate to align the wrist. So further time off work, what can we do? Can we pursue this further as the path way is more accidents waiting to happen?

If the denial of liability has been made whilst a Solicitor has been handling the claim, the reality is that without any new evidence, it is unlikely that a new Solicitor would be in a position to take the claim further.

If however, no Solicitor has been involved it is worthwhile instructing a specialist Solicitor to look in to this matter for you.

I broke my wrist at work. I am a bin collector, I have been on sick for 6 weeks. I have been told today that my contract has come to an end, I think that is unfair as I still have a sick note for 4 weeks, no one was to blame, could I make a claim?

Whether or not you can make a claim for the wrist injury you sustained at work will depend on how the injury happened. If your employer could have taken steps to reduce a risk of the injury being sustained and failed to do so (not providing training, failure to provide adequate protective equipment or tools etc), then you could seek to make a claim.

I was injured from work in June, and broke my left wrist so now I’m going for physio, but I don’t know for how long. I am asking if I’m still going to get my compensation money?

As you were only injured in June (3 months ago), you should not yet be concerned about your compensation payment and when it will come. Claims for personal injury compensation after an accident at work in the UK can take 18 months or more to go from start to settlement, so it is too early to expect settlement in your case.

Went to go into indoor pool in hotel and slipped on the stair, broke wrist and attended hospital, and have cast put on for 4 to 6 wks.

Were the steps you slipped on situated within the swimming pool area or somewhere else within the hotel? If you slipped within the hotel pool area, it would be expected that the steps and surface could be slippery. Therefore, unless the tiling or floor surface was not the correct type and had no texture to provide some sort of grip, it is unlikely that you could make a claim for compensation.

However, if you slipped on stairs that were not part of the swimming area and they were wet or had some other form of slipping hazard on them with no warning signs, you could potentially make a claim.

In this situation as we need to know more about your accident and the cause of your slip, the best bet would be for you to call us to discuss the incident.

My knee gave way and I broken my wrist and had to have metal plate put in would I be able to put a claim in?

If your wrist was injured simply because your knee inexplicably ‘gave way’ and you fell, you have no claim as no other party bears any liability or negligence here.

However, if your knee gave way due to some sort of hazard or due to an accident of some sort, you could possibly claim compensation.

Recovering from 2 wrist operations (de-quarvian syndrome). I worked in nursing home almost 16-17 years, tried to go back to work but I couldn’t cope, my right wrist isn’t quite right after 5 months. I wasn’t coping with pain also (night shift) my work partner had let management know she was pregnant, neither of us had a risk assessment done. I was worried as job is heavy, I felt I was putting us both at risk. I’m now out of work after dismissal. Do I have rights? be appreciated for some advice.

Of course, you do have rights but whether or not you have a situation that would warrant a claim for personal injury compensation is uncertain. You can claim compensation for the wrist injuries if the symptoms were suffered within the past 3 years and were caused through your work in a Nursing Home. This could be difficult to prove of course.

Hi had an accident at work a few months ago. I file it in the accident book. Although I complained to my manager and supervisors, they did not want to know, I was ignored and called mini moaner, even not even validating my presence when I was telling them my wrist is in terrible pain when lifting or holding the hoover. I was told by my manager that they’re not running a holiday camp. My supervisors ignored my complaints for months saying I have no choice as they are short of staff and other staff has pain but not complaining. One supervisor said she has pain in her wrist and she has no problems with continued working.

I am now off work with with progressive pain and swelling not able to grip and lift much weight and awaiting a mri scan on my wrist.

You need help on two fronts here. Firstly with the injury to your wrist and a possible claim for compensation against the employer for the injuries you sustained and the impact that it has had on your day-to-day life.

Secondly, you should approach a specialist employment Solicitor to discuss the actions of the employer with regards to their handling of you and a possible claim against them for breach of employment law.

We can assist you with regards to the personal injury element of your claim and would be able to refer any employment law query to a specialist firm we have links with. Please use our ‘start a claim’ page to send us some further information and we’ll then call you to help you take this further.

I fell over in the street while carrying out work duties and fractured my wrist. Once returned back to the shop my manger did not believe I hurt myself and made me carry on my work duties in the shop. She let me go the hospital two and half hours later. I was off work with a sick note for one week and took two week holiday pay off as I couldn’t work with a cast on. Once I returned to work a week later my daughter fell off her horse and had concussion and two ruptured ear drums. My manager wouldn’t let me leave. The following day I asked to leave early as my daughter couldn’t be left on her own. I was allowed but my manager blanked me all morning. A couple days later I was back at the hospital as the ambulance took us back as my daughter had clear fluid coming from her ears. I tried phoning work at 6am to say I would be late but there was no answer when I did finally get through I was already an hour late but they covered my shift. One week later at the end of my shift I was informed that I was getting one week’s notice to leave my job from having to many sick days. But I broke my wrist doing work duties, but not on work premises, and I’m a single parent so I couldn’t leave my daughter on the day in question. So now I have lost my job.

Your employer has not treated you very kindly in this situation and hasn’t shown you any compassion. However, that alone is not sufficient grounds to pursue any legal action against the employer.

With regards to your dismissal from work, I cannot say whether or not that process has been handled legally and correctly. However, the employer could be in trouble if they have not followed due process. With that in mind, you should contact an employment law specialist urgently to make enquiries to see if you have any grounds to make a claim against your dismissal.

We can however, help with the fractured wrist and a possible claim for that injury. Can you respond advising what caused you to suffer your injury? If you tripped on a broken pavement or hazardous surface or slipped on something, we might be able to make a claim on your behalf.

Hi was injured at football game, broken arm 2 places, broken wrist, operation pins n plates put in, slipped as I was about to go toilet, can I claim compensation?

If you were injured during the game of football, whilst on the pitch playing, it is very unlikely that you could succeed with a claim for compensation. Football is a contact sport and as such, there is an inherent risk present of injury.

However if you slipped within the building of the football club/facility on a wet, slippery floor that had no hazard signs in situ you might be able to seek compensation for slipping accident compensation. Of course, we would need to speak with you further about this to find out what happened in order for us to be able to offer a more qualified view.

I sustained a severe fractured wrist due to slip on a dance floor. The floor was slippy and wet as people had drinks on the dance floor. On reporting to 2 members of staff and requested first aider I was informed none were available. We left the club returned to home and to a&e, can I claim? My wrist had to be operated on and pinned and is still not right after almost 4 months.

We’re really sorry to hear about the injury to your wrist. Any complex joint fracture (the wrist is a complex joint) is a serious matter and given that you have had to have surgery to insert pins to the wrist, it indicates that your injury was clearly a bad one.

You may well be able to pursue a claim for compensation against the venue (I assume it was a Pub or Nightclub?) on the grounds that the dance floor was wet and slippery due to spilled drinks. To be able to defend the claim, the venue in question will have to provide evidence that they prohibit people from taking drinks on to the dance floor and that they were actively managing this issue on the night that you were injured.

Given the lack of first aid provided to you at the time, I do wonder if there is any record of your injury with the night club. Did any of the staff to whom you reported the incident take your details? If not, I would strongly suggest that you write to them now – via email or post – stating what happened to you, when and what the injury is. You should note who was with you at the time and outline that you saw no staff preventing people from taking drinks on to the dance floor and saw no signs advising people not to do so either. If you send such a letter by post, you should do so via recorded delivery and retain a copy of the letter for your records along with proof of postage.

From what you have said, it would seem that you were not alone in the club and as such, you do have witnesses who can provide statements to confirm that the injury happened in the said club because of a wet floor.

I would like to bring this claim to the attention of our specialist injury compensation Solicitors as they will then be able to fully advise you of your prospects going forward.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Hello. I feel daunted at the thought of claiming compensation. Saying that, I feel I should. In August 2016, I tripped on a cracked concrete step at work and land at the bottom of a flight of 5 steps. I sustained two badly broken wrists for which I am still having intense physiotherapy. Both my wrists are weak and the right one is stiff and inflexible with a lot of pain. I have been told that I probably wont improve much more and almost certainly suffer from osteoarthritis in the future. I can only do light duties at work. I can only do light duties at work and I ‘m very worried about this. Is a claim worth pursuing please?

Julie

Hi, you have come to the right place! We fully understand why the thought of entering in to what can seem a complex legal situation with regards to making a claim for compensation after an accident at work. Don’t worry – we can help you understand your rights and would do all we (and our Solicitors) can do to ensure that your claim succeeds.

Your situation is clearly a serious and distressing one. Suffering breaks to both wrists is distressing enough, but to then be left with ongoing problems and what seems to be a permanent loss of dexterity and range of movement clearly compounds the upset.

Given the severity of your injuries, you do not need to have any concerns or feelings of guilt about making a claim for compensation. Indeed, I would say that the situation in which you find yourself is exactly why No Win No Fee claims exist.

Clearly, we need to find out a little more about your accident to offer a more comprehensive view of whether or not your claim can proceed. That said, at this stage I would be confident that we would be able to help you get things moving and start the claims process with you.

I had an accident at work nearly a year ago, removing large shelves from a fixture, the brackets the shelves sit on were rusted from being kept outside, these were very difficult to remove, my wrist has been very painful ever since, lots of hospital appointments, finally diagnosed with mid carpal instability in December 9 months after I hurt it, had a partial fusion to my dominant right wrist, not recorded in accident book, manager and other colleagues well aware it happened at that store, any ideas if I’d have a chance at a claim? My wrist will never be the same again, plus having to drop hours from 38 to 24 , financial loss has been tough on my family. Thanks for your reply.

Whilst it is a pity that the details of the accident were not recorded within the employers accident book, that in itself does not mean that you should not pursue with a claim for compensation. Indeed, the severity of your injury and the ongoing loss of income forced by your having to lower your working hours means that you really should be pursuing a claim for injury compensation for this accident at work.

You mention that your Manager and colleagues know of the cause of your injury and given that you have dropped working hours as a result of the condition of your wrist, I wonder if anything is on record within your HR department regarding your health situation (your wrist)?. It could also be that you could find a colleague willing to act as a witness to this incident? I would suggest that you put the details of your accident (what happened, what the injury is and that it wasn’t recorded but that you would like it recorded due to the severity of your injury) in writing to your employer. This could be by email or by recorded delivery letter. You don’t need to mention any claim, or intention to claim, but simply request that a copy of the letter is placed within the accident reporting system and on your employee file. You should retain a copy of the letter and proof of postage if you send by mail. If you email, you will have a copy in your sent email folder – or you could cc it to yourself. We’ve also information about what you can do if your employer won’t let you use or see the accident book.

We’d be very happy to get our specialist partner injury compensation solicitors on to this for you, so that they can offer you expert advice and support with a claim for compensation. You should remember that we pursue all claims on a No Win No Fee basis, so whilst we cannot guarantee that we can win any claim for compensation, we can guarantee that if we don’t succeed with your claim, you won’t have to pay a penny towards any of the costs. Therefore, you have nothing to lose and given the permanent damage to your wrist, the value of your claim could be substantial.

In order for us to help you further, we’ll need to have a brief chat with you to obtain a few more details so that we can get the right specialist solicitor involved and get them to contact you.
I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely

Ian Morris