How Much is My Arm Injury Compensation Claim Worth?
By: Neil Worrall - Camps Solicitors | Posted: 18th May 2009
One of the questions accident solicitors get asked most often is "How much is my accident claim worth?" Many of our clients are understandably anxious to receive compensation to cover the costs of any treatments they might need after their accident, or because they might have out of pocket expenses such as repair bills or damaged property to replace. However the issue of damages is always a difficult subject, due to the huge number of different factors that can come into play when a judge is deciding a compensation settlement, or when an out of court settlement is being negotiated.
Whilst estimating the compensation amount depends entirely on the individual circumstances of each individual's accident, publications such as the Judicial Studies Board Guidelines give some idea of the likely level of compensation each particular arm injury will attract.
Fractures are some of the most common arm injuries we come across here at Camps Solicitors. These can range from simple forearm fractures, often caused by slips trips and falls whilst out and about or whilst playing sports to more complicated fractures where the bones of the arm may have been broken in more than one place.
A simple forearm fracture will attract a compensation claim payout somewhere in the region of £4,000 to £12,000 whilst serious fractures leading to permanent disablement of the affected limb would usually be compensated to the tune of £25,000 to £38,000. As with all injuries, the actual amounts depend on the length of time the injuries take to recover, whether they recover fully, or whether there are permanent symptoms (deformities or loss of movement). Injuries recovering relatively quickly and without and permanent symptoms would receive compensation towards the lower end of the range.
Injuries to the joints are usually treated slightly differently to broken bones, as the joints are more complex areas of the body, where healing takes longer and where there is a greater potential for permanent loss of movement. The main joints in the arm are the wrist and the elbow, with injuries to the wrist having an effect on the movement of the hand, and injuries to the elbow affecting the movement of the lower arm.
A minor elbow injury caused by a fracture, tennis elbow syndrome or a laceration which results in no permanent damage would not normally see a compensation settlement more than £8,000. At the other end of the scale, a severely disabling injury to the elbow, which may involve major surgery, or where the sufferer might be left with a significant disability, will see compensation payouts somewhere in the region of £25,000 to £35,000.
The wrist is a more complex joint than the elbow, due to the way the various bones and tendons also affect the movement of the rest of the hand. Therefore there is a wider variation in the compensation paid out to wrist injury victims in non-fault accident claims. Very minor wrist injuries which may only affect the soft tissue and which recover within a matter of weeks will usually only receive compensation of between £2,250 and £3,000. At the top end of the scale, the most serious wrist injuries which result in the sufferer being left with a permanent level of disability where there is little or no function left in the wrist will receive compensation of between £30,000 and £38,000.
As with all injury claim figures, it is important to remember that the final settlement figures for a particular case may fall outside those listed above, depending on the nature of the injuries you have suffered and the circumstances of a particular accident.About the Author
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Tags: circumstances, length of time, damages, solicitors, joints, playing sports, fractures, accident claim, compensation claim, pocket expenses, slips, repair bills, deformities, court settlement