How Much Compensation for a Broken Arm at Work?

If you’ve broken your arm at work and the accident that caused your injury occurred because of your employer’s negligence, you might be entitled to claim compensation for your suffering. In this article, we set out when broken arm at work claims might be possible and what evidence you could use to prove your case. You’ll also learn how much compensation for a broken arm you could receive if you go on to start a claim and it is successful.

You can receive free legal advice about claiming broken arm compensation if you contact our legal advisors for a no-obligation consultation. In your call, we’ll try to answer your questions and explore whether a claim is feasible. If it appears that you may have a strong broken arm claim, you could be connected with an accident-at-work solicitor. What’s more, they’ll represent you on a No Win, No Fee basis if you both agree to work together.

To arrange your free initial consultation now, you can:

• Call us on 0333 241 2519 and speak with a member of our team.
• Use our free live chat service to connect with us when it’s convenient for you.

Read on for more about how to claim for a broken arm at work or give us a call with any questions you might have.

What Types of Broken Arms Can We Help With?

For your information, throughout this guide, we will refer to broken arm and arm fractures. Both of these phrases effectively mean the same thing and are interchangeable.

Your arm consists of 3 bones. The humerus is the upper arm bone while the ulna and radius are the bones in the lower arm. When we talk about a broken arm at work, we mean where any of these 3 bones is fractured.

Here are some of the types of arm fractures you could claim compensation for if you can prove someone else caused it:

• Mid-shaft humerus fractures.
• Distal humerus fractures.
• Radial head fractures.
• Mid-shaft radius and Ulna fractures.
• Comminuted fractures.
• Open (Compound) fractures.

Some of the main symptoms of a broken arm include:

• Severe pain which can get worse when the arm is moved.
• Swelling and discolouration.
• Bruising and numbness.
• Deformities i.e. your arm looks an unusual shape.
• Difficulty using your hand or arm.

You may be diagnosed with many different types of arm fractures. Closed arm fractures are those where the bone does not pierce the skin. The opposite is true of open-arm fractures.

Displaced arm fractures are those where the bone breaks cleanly and ends up in two or more parts. Non-displaced arm fractures are where the bone is broken but does not separate enough to put the bone pieces out of alignment.

If you’ve suffered any type of broken arm at work injury, you should visit A&E or a minor injuries unit for proper diagnosis and treatment.

Can I Make a Broken Arm at Work Claim?

You could have grounds to claim compensation for a broken arm at work when you can show that:

• At the time you were injured, your employer owed you a duty of care.
• You were involved in a workplace accident in the last three years as a result of your employer’s negligence; and
• As a result, your arm was broken in the accident.

Establishing that your employer owes you a duty of care is not actually that difficult. That’s because various pieces of legislation mean they should take reasonable steps to try and prevent accidents. These might include:

• Training you on how to do your job safely.
• Maintaining and repairing workplace equipment so that it’s safe to use.
• Conducting regular risk assessments to try and identify hazards that can be removed.
• Providing PPE to keep you safe where other measures aren’t possible.

If you believe your employer has failed to uphold their duty of care towards your well-being and you’ve broken an arm at work as a result, we could help you to claim for the suffering you’ve endured.

What Types of Negligence Can Lead to a Broken Arm at Work Claim?

Here are a few examples of the types of accidents that could result in workplace broken arm claims:

• If your arm was crushed after poorly stacked items fell on you while working in a warehouse.
• Where you broke your arm during a fall at work caused by a wet floor where warning signs were not used to highlight the danger.
• If you fell down a flight of stairs and sustained a broken arm and wrist because a loose handrail gave way.
• Where you were knocked over on a building site and sustained multiple broken bones because a digger was being moved by an untrained driver.

Don’t worry if we’ve not discussed your accident at work here. So long as your broken arm was caused by your employer’s negligent actions (or lack of action), we could help you to start a claim.

What Should I Do If I Sustain a Fractured Arm at Work?

Like your employer, you have a duty of care when it comes to health and safety at work. As well as taking practical steps to prevent accidents, you may also need to take the following steps after breaking your arm at work:

• First and foremost, you should visit A&E to have your fractured arm properly diagnosed and treated.
• Tell your employer about the accident as soon as you can.
• Make sure that the incident is logged in the company accident report book.

These steps could enable your employer to make changes that would prevent anyone else from breaking their arm in similar accidents in the future. They may also mean you have some of the evidence you’ll need to make a successful broken arm claim if you decide to take action at a later date.

What Evidence Can Be Used for Broken Arm Compensation Claims?

Proving how you broke your arm, why your employer was to blame and the suffering you’ve endured as a result is vital if you’re to receive compensation. Therefore, you should collate as much evidence as you can to prove your case. In broken arm compensation claims, you could use:

• Copies of your medical records and any x-rays or scan results to prove the severity of your broken arm.
• Details of any potential witnesses to your accident in case statements are required.
• A copy of an accident report form to help prove where your accident occurred and when it happened.
• Video footage from a CCTV camera or mobile phone where available.
• Photographs of any visible injuries along with accident scene pictures.

Don’t worry if you’ve not collected everything we’ve listed here. If you call for a free assessment of your case, we’ll review your evidence and let you know if you have the grounds to proceed with a broken arm claim.

How Long Do I Have to Claim Broken Arm Compensation?

You might already know that personal injury claims in the UK have a 3-year time limit. This time limit is set by the Limitation Act 1980 and it also applies to accident at work claims.

Generally, broken arm claim time limits start from the date of the accident that caused it. Ideally, you should start the claim at your earliest opportunity as you could miss out on being compensated if you start the claim outside of the allowable timeframes.

Please call now if you’d like to check how long you’ve got to claim for a broken arm at work.

How Much Compensation for a Broken Arm at Work?

Any broken arm compensation you receive will normally be based on general and special damages.

General damages is compensation that covers the pain, suffering and loss of amenity caused by your broken arm. Loss of amenity could cover hobbies (like playing tennis, snooker, pool), family and social activities affected by your injury.

Solicitors often use the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) to put a value on your claim as it contains a list of injuries along with guideline settlement amounts. As such, your solicitor will gather medical evidence and reports to prove the extent of your injuries before looking at values in the JCG.

We’ve used JCG data in the broken arm compensation list below but please note that the amounts are not guaranteed settlements.

• £39,170 – £59,860 for serious forearm fractures which cause permanent damage.
• £19,200 – £39,170 for a less serious forearm fracture causing significant disability.
• £6,610 to £19,200 for simple forearm fractures.

Any settlement you are awarded might also include an element of special damages if your broken arm has caused you to lose out financially. Typically, special damages could cover:

• Medical and rehabilitation costs including physiotherapy and private hospital treatment.
• Loss of earnings.
• The cost of making adaptations to your home if your broken arm results in a permanent disability.
• Travel expenses linked to medical appointments for example.
• The cost of care and support at home.
• Future loss of earnings for longer-term conditions which affect your ability to work.

If you’d like us to assess how much compensation for a broken arm at work you could receive, please call our legal advisors now.

Can I Claim for a Broken Arm at Work if I’m Not a Full-Time Employee?

Earlier, we mentioned that employers have a legal duty of care with regard to the well-being of their staff. Importantly, this extends to all types of employees regardless of how they’re employed.

Therefore, subcontractors, agency staff, temps, zero-hours staff, consultants and the self-employed could all potentially claim for a broken arm at work.

Remember, though, you’ll only be compensated by your employer for a broken arm if you can prove that your employer caused the accident because they were negligent.

Please call our legal advisors if you’d like us to check your chances of being compensated.

Do You Need a Solicitor to Make a Broken Arm Claim?

Your employer is likely to hand your claim over to their insurance provider rather than dealing with it themselves. In some cases, this means your claim might be contested or the insurer might try to reduce the level of compensation you’re awarded.

Therefore, rather than having to deal with negotiations, complex legal questions and low settlement offers, you may find the claims process is easier if you take on a specialist solicitor.

If you work with one of ours, they’ll manage your case from start to finish and keep you updated as your case progresses.

Crucially, all broken arm at work claims they take on are processed on a No Win, No Fee basis. This means that you’ll need to sign a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) before your solicitor gets to work.

The CFA ensures that you won’t pay your solicitor for their work unless they win your claim and you receive a compensation payout. If that happens, a percentage of your settlement will act as the solicitor’s success fee. For your peace of mind, it’s worth noting that the maximum success fee percentage is set by law at 25 per cent.

To check if you could make a No Win, No Fee broken arm claim, please call us now.

How Long Do Work Injury Claims Take?

The time it takes for work injury claims to be finalised varies from case to case.

For instance, if you sustained a relatively straightforward arm fracture at work which healed quite quickly, you could be compensated in around 4 or 5 months if your employer admits that they were to blame for your accident.

If your injury was more complex such as a crushed arm with multiple fractures, it could take longer for medical professionals to be able to say how long your recovery might take. In this scenario, claims could take much longer. However, it is important to get a full understanding of the extent of your injuries because, otherwise, you might not receive the right level of compensation if your claim is successful.

Contacting Us About a Broken Arm at Work Compensation Claim

If you’ve decided that you would like to claim compensation after breaking an arm at work, please get in noe. You can do so by:

• Calling an advisor on 0333 241 2519.
• Connecting to our free online chat service.

When you get in touch, we’ll assess the merits of your claim for free. If the case is strong enough, we could connect you with one of our solicitors. Crucially, all broken arm at work claims that they take on are processed on a No Win, No Fee basis.