How does your UK solicitor decide how much compensation an arm injury claim is worth?
There are two main types of compensation which will form part of your arm injury claim:
1. Compensation for pain and suffering for your arm injury
Compensation for pain and suffering describes what the UK courts have decided over many years certain types of injury are worth.
Your lawyer will instruct a medical expert - most likely a consultant orthopaedic surgeon - to complete a medical report describing your injuries and giving a prediction into the future as to how long it will take for your symptoms of pain to resolves and whether there will be any future complications.
Your solicitor will use the description given in the medical report to find cases and court decisions made in the past for similar injuries and so determine the amount of compensation you should recover for pain and suffering.
2. Compensation for your financial losses and expenses
The financial losses and expenses you are entitled to claim in compensation will depend entirely on your circumstances.
For example,
you might have to have time off work to recover from a broken arm and so you can claim lost income; you might have medical expenses such as pain killers (keep your receipts and you can claim this money back); you might travel to the hospital and your GP for treatment (keep your receipts and however you travel you will be able to claim - even if it is a mileage rate should you travel in a friend's car); you could claim the expense of nursing help if you need a nurse to look after you your home (you could claim a rate for the equivalent of nursing assistance if a friend or family member helps you in the home - such as help with bathing and cooking whilst your arm is in a cast), etc.
Examples of compensation amounts for your arm injury claim
Examples of different types of arm injury claim and the amount of compensation you can claim for each in 2010, include:
1. Minor arm injury claim
If you suffer soft tissue injuries (muscles damage) and a simple fracture or broken bone in the forearm or upper arm - either the ulna, radius or humerus - and such fracture heals quickly with no ongoing problems: up to £4,200
2. Fractured forearm or upper arm with ongoing symptoms
If it takes some time for your broken arm to heal and you have some ongoing pain, but only to a small degree, you can expect your arm injury claim to be worth between: £4,200 - £12,3000
3. Arm injury with ongoing disability
If your arm injury heals, but leaves some significant symptoms, but these symptoms still allow your arm to function: £12,300 - £25,000
4. Serious arm injury claims
The most serious arm injuries, perhaps including multiple broken bones which do not heal correctly and leave significant disability and ongoing pain, but fall short of the need for amputation: £25,000 - £84,000
5. Amputation of your arm
In the most extreme cases your arm might have to be amputated. Amputation of the arm can take several different forms: either a below elbow amputation, an above elbow amputation or an amputation of the arm at the shoulder.
The more of your arm that is removed in the amputation the more compensation your arm injury claim is worth. The most compensation you can expect will be for both your arms being amputated at the shoulder.
The range of compensation you can expect for an arm injury amputation claim is :£62,000 - £192,000.
Summary of arm injury claim compensation amounts
On this page you have seen how much UK compensation your solicitor will attempt to recover in an arm injury claim settlement for various different injuries from the minor to the most severe amputations.
