If you have suffered a hand injury in an accident that wasn’t your fault, you may be entitled to make a No Win No Fee claim. Hand injuries can affect every part of your life, from your ability to work and earn a living to everyday tasks most people take for granted.

Nigel Askew Solicitors handles hand injury at work claims across Lincolnshire and the surrounding areas. Call us today on 01507 609027 for your free, no-obligation consultation.

You can make a hand injury at work claim if your injury happened within the last three years and was caused by your employer’s negligence. Employers have a legal duty to protect you from foreseeable harm, and a failure to do so which causes injury entitles you to claim.

To make a successful hand injury claim, you will need to show:

• The accident happened within the last three years
• Your employer was fully or partly at fault
• You suffered an injury as a direct result

Unguarded machinery, defective equipment and crush injuries in warehouses and factories are among the most common causes of the hand injury claims we handle. You can read more about your rights on our accident at work claims page.

How much compensation you receive for a hand injury at work ranges from around £1,200 for minor injuries to over £200,000 for the loss of both hands. The exact amount depends on the severity of your injury and its impact on both your work and daily life.

The figures shown below are taken from the Judicial College Guidelines (published 2026). The figures include general damages and are only to be used as

Special damages are calculated separately. These cover lost earnings, surgery and physiotherapy costs, and can significantly increase the total value of your claim. In workplace claims, lost earnings are often substantial, particularly if your injury keeps you out of a manual trade.

To understand how much your claim is worth, try our accident at work calculator.

What factors affect how much compensation you receive?

Several factors determine where your claim falls within a compensation bracket:

• Dominant or non-dominant hand. Injuries to your dominant hand attract higher awards.
• Permanence of the damage. Lasting loss of grip or dexterity pushes a claim toward the top of a bracket.
• Impact on your occupation. This is particularly significant in manual trades.
• Scarring and disfigurement. Visible, permanent scarring increases the compensation award.
• Psychological impact. Anxiety, depression or trauma is compensated alongside the physical damage.

Hand injuries at work happen across every industry, but certain causes account for the majority of claims we handle:

• Dangerous machinery: unguarded apertures, missing emergency stops and inadequate training are leading causes of serious crush and amputation injuries.
• Defective work equipment: faulty tools and poorly maintained machinery that fails during use.
• Forklift accidents: hands crushed between vehicles, loads and fixed structures.
• Manual handling: lifting, carrying and moving heavy or awkward loads without proper training or equipment.
• Slips, trips and falls: instinctively landing hand-first causes fractures to the wrist, fingers and hand.
• Factory and warehouse accidents: fast-paced environments where machinery, vehicles and manual work combine.
• Cuts and lacerations: sharp blades, sheet metal and exposed cutting edges cause deep wounds that can sever tendons and nerves.
• Burns: contact with hot surfaces or hazardous chemicals can cause permanent damage to the skin and underlying tissue.
• Repetitive strain injury: performing the same hand movements over long periods damages the tendons, nerves and muscles.

Your employer has a legal duty to protect you from all of these risks. The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 requires employers to provide a safe working environment.

The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) goes further, requiring machinery to be properly maintained and safe to use. A breach of either which causes injury gives you the right to claim.

You can claim for any hand injury caused by someone else’s negligence, from fractures and crush injuries to amputations and nerve damage. The most common hand injuries at work we handle include:

• Fractures and broken bones: from a single broken finger to multiple fractures across the hand and wrist.
• Crush injuries: caused by machinery, vehicles or falling objects, often resulting in lasting damage to bones and soft tissue.
• Lacerations and tendon damage: deep cuts that sever tendons can permanently affect grip and movement.
• Amputations: full or partial loss of fingers, a thumb or the hand itself.
• Burns: thermal and chemical burns causing scarring and reduced function.
• Degloving injuries: severe trauma where skin and tissue are torn from the hand, requiring extensive surgery.
• Nerve damage: loss of sensation, chronic pain or reduced dexterity following trauma to the nerves.
• Vibration white finger: caused by prolonged use of vibrating tools, leading to permanent numbness and circulation problems.

Whatever the nature of your hand injury, we will advise you on the strength of your claim and help you achieve maximum compensation. Call us today on 01507 609027 for a free assessment.

You have three years to make a hand injury claim, starting from the date of the accident or the date you first linked your injury to someone else’s negligence. Claims issued after this deadline will almost always be barred by the court.

There are two key exceptions:

• Children: the three-year period does not start until their 18th birthday, giving them until they turn 21 to claim.
• Mental capacity: where the injured person lacks the mental capacity to manage their own affairs, the three-year period does not begin until capacity is regained. If capacity is never regained, no time limit applies.

Making a hand injury at work claim is a straightforward process when you have the right personal injury solicitor behind you. Follow these five steps to protect your claim and give it the strongest chance of success:

1. Get medical attention. Your medical records become key evidence in proving the extent of your injury.
2. Report the accident. Make sure the incident is recorded in your employer’s accident book.
3. Gather evidence. Take photographs of the scene, collect witness details, and keep payslips to prove lost earnings.
4. Contact a solicitor. We will assess your hand injury claim for free and confirm whether you can proceed on a no win no fee basis.
5. Your claim is valued and negotiated. An independent medical expert assesses your injury, your claim is valued against the Judicial College Guidelines, and we negotiate your settlement or issue court proceedings where liability is disputed.

Most hand injuries at work claims settle without ever going to court. Call Nigel Askew Solicitors on 01507 609027 to start your claim today.

A maintenance engineer’s hand became trapped in an unguarded aperture on a large industrial saw, causing serious crush injuries to his hand and wrist. Liability was denied throughout. Settlement of £85,000 was reached after court proceedings were progressed.

Most personal injury firms operate on volume and pass your case between departments until it settles. At Nigel Askew Solicitors, one senior accident at work solicitor handles your hand injury claim from the first call to final settlement.

• We’ve secured millions in compensation for our clients
• Over 30 years’ experience winning hand injury claims
• No Win No Fee on all hand injury claims, with no hidden fees
• Home visits available across Lincolnshire and the surrounding areas if you are unable to travel due to your injuries.

If you suffered a hand injury at work within the last 3 years, contact our personal injury solicitors today. We regularly support clients throughout Lincolnshire, and the surrounding regions, including Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire, Leicestershire and Derbyshire.

Call Nigel Askew Solicitors today on 01507 609027 for your free, no-obligation consultation.