A severe injury to your hand can turn your life upside down, and if you suffered an injury that was someone else’s fault, we could help. You may be eligible to make a burned hand claim. If you have suffered a burn injury to your hand caused by third party negligence whether in the workplace, in a public place, or a road traffic accident this guide may be of important use to you.
This article uses a typical example case study to illustrate how you could proceed with a compensation claim. We discuss how to prove negligence by looking at who had the duty of care to you and the evidence you would need in order to launch a successful claim against them.
Throughout, we provide links to websites containing further information to help you decide whether or not you could have a successful claim. To conclude the article we look at why using a No Win No Fee solicitor could be advantageous and finally, how to search for one.
Burned hand compensation
We hope you find it useful. If at any point during this article, you would like to proceed with a claim or would like further information on any of the topics discussed, please feel free to call us on 0800 408 7825. Alternatively, you can drop us a line here.
Select a Section
- A Guide To Calculating Burned Hand Compensation
- What Is A Burn Injury?
- Areas Of Financial Loss
- Common Causes Of Burn Injuries
- What Are Care Claims?
- Expert Settlement Estimates
- Case Study: £57,300 Compensation For A Burned Hand
- How To Get A Specialist Estimate For A Burned Hand Claim
- Who Can Use No Win No Fee?
- Use Specialist Personal Injury Lawyers
- Talk Today About A Burned Hand Claim
- More Reads
A Guide To Calculating Burned Hand Compensation
The process of launching a personal injury claim can seem fraught with complications. The purpose of this article is to help simplify it for you. If you decide to use a personal injury solicitor to pursue your claim for you they can take huge amounts of stress off your shoulders. They will have the experience to know what legislation to use to support your case. Solicitors will know to file your claim before it becomes statute-barred and what evidence will be useful.
There are three significant questions you should ask yourself before beginning any personal injury claim, which is as follows;
- Who had a duty of care to you?
- Was that duty breached?
- Did your injuries happen as a result of that breach?
We discuss the two types of compensation you could seek in order to maximise your final payout. The article goes further to discuss the medical assessment you will undertake and talk about care claims for those who needed to help you through their recovery.
What Is A Burn Injury?
A burn injury could happen when a person’s flesh comes into contact with something very hot. There are differences to a burn injury and a scaling injury. Although both injuries are graded using the same system. Symptoms of a burn injury usually include;
- Blisters
- Pain in the area
- Swelling
- Peeling skin
- Red skin
- White or charred skin.
Areas Of Financial Loss
The repercussions of an accident can be profound and far-reaching. As well as coping with the injuries themselves, you may suddenly find a negative impact on your finances if your ability to work is compromised. Any injury that disrupts your everyday routine could cause money problems.
Your No Win No Fee lawyer would be skilled at recognising these cost implications and reflecting them in your case under something called ‘special damages’. With vital evidence, your lawyer could prove that you were unable to work as usual due to your injuries, that you needed paid help, perhaps couldn’t drive or take care of yourself as usual, and became out of pocket as a result.
Special damages can include ways to maximise your potential payout for your burned hand claim for compensation. Speak to our friendly team today to see how we could help with your case.
Common Causes Of Burn Injuries
In the workplace, The Health And Safety At Work etc Act 1974 ensures the duty of all employers is to provide and operate a safe environment for you at work. Workplace accidents create some alarming statistics with over 690,000 reported injuries in 2019/20 alone. If you had an accident at work, it’s always essential to ensure that you record it correctly. A burn injury could occur in the workplace if the correct PPE is not supplied or training when dealing with hot surfaces or substances.
The Highway Code demands the same duty of care from all road users, irrespective of age or experience to demonstrate a standard of care and careful concern when driving. This code also states that road users should anticipate that some drivers will not show this requisite level of care. Burn injuries could happen in a road traffic accident if a car catches light. If you are burned in a non-fault accident call our advisors today.
If your accident happened in the street, out shopping in a precinct, or on any premises operated by a private company or local authority, The Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 aims to provide the same safety level to the general public. Any proximity to steam, boiling foods, hot liquids, and beverages all carry a potential risk if the operators are not fully compliant with health and safety.
If you have any questions at all, who if anyone could be liable for your burn injury call our advisors today. Through a free consultation, you can obtain answers to your queries.
What Are Care Claims?
With an injury such as badly burned hands, you may require immediate help with everyday tasks. Help from family and friends is called ‘gracious care’, and it is recognised as a valid expense as long as there are hourly invoices to prove that you needed their time and help.
If relying on family and friends is not an option, you might be forced to pay for your own care by using the services of a professional carer. However, you may find yourself using savings or relying on credit to meet these costs.
A sudden financial expense like this just to function, could be overwhelming for most people and would represent nothing short of a financial crisis. The last thing you need as you try to heal.
A No Win No Fee personal injury lawyer could advise you on claiming these costs back from your defendant by using receipts and bills as proof. Without them, that money may be lost to you.
Expert Settlement Estimates
Vital support to your burned hand claim will be a medical assessment, but there’s no reason to be anxious about this. A medical assessment will merely be a perfect opportunity to have your injuries validated by a professional, providing evidence that could significantly maximise your chances of winning the compensation you deserve.
Armed with the evidence that your hand injuries were a result of an accident you were involved in that was not your fault and not some previous or long-standing medical condition, your personal injury solicitor can then go on to seek compensation for you in the form of general and special damages.
General damages are for the pain and suffering your incur due to your injuries, both physical and psychological. A publication called the Judicial College Guidelines could be used to help value your compensation settlement.
For example, the JCG estimated that for a severe burn covering more than 40% of the skin surface, an award in excess of £98,000 could be made.
Case Study: £57,300 Compensation For A Burned Hand
Despite having informed her manager about the staff canteen’s problems before, Mrs Donaldson managed as best she could with some rather old kitchen appliances. Every day was busy, with over 300 staff in the office where she worked wanting lunch and two breaks in the morning and afternoon.
During the afternoon, on the day of her accident, the gas hob was particularly difficult to light. Short-staffed and rushing. Her manager said the problem would be considered later. She tried lighting it but it would not light. She decided she would try one more time. Unfortunately, this time it burst into flames. Her right hand was covered in burns. She was rushed to the hospital.
During her recuperation, Mrs Donaldon learned that she would suffer permanent damage to her hand, including the scarring and disfigurement. Very angry and upset, she spoke to a friend who suggested she might have a case against her employer.
She had witnesses to the accident plus a record of her previous unheeded warnings about the gas hob. When she called about her eligibility for starting a case, a personal injury lawyer agreed that she did indeed have a valid claim.
The Agreed Settmenet For A Burned Hand Claim
Guiding Mrs Donaldson throughout the case, the No Win No Fee solicitor was able to use collected receipts and invoices for various care help she had required, plus proof of missing earnings and other out of pocket expenses that were a repercussion of her no-fault accident. Her employer eventually admitted liability, and Mrs Donaldson received a settlement of £57,300.
This case is purely an example.
How To Get A Specialist Estimate For A Burned Hand Claim
Below we have designed a table so that you can see how a claim like this could include general damages as well as special damages.
| General damages | Special damages |
|---|---|
| Injury to hand and scarring total £32,000 | Loss of earnings from recovery – 16,000 |
| Carer costs £3000 | |
| Travel costs to hospital and specialist appointments – £300 |
|
| loss of attendance bonus – £2,000 | |
| Physiotherapy – £3,000 | |
| Cleaning and gardening £1000 |
Compensation is never guaranteed, and each case is different, but a skilled lawyer will be able to recognise costs that could be owed to you.
Who Can Use No Win No Fee?
You’re probably familiar with the expression, No Win No Fee. Also known as Conditional Fee Agreements (CFA), there are numerous benefits to using a No Win No Fee personal injury solicitor. Benefits to No Win No Fee solicitors are:
- No costs to pay them upfront.
- Nothing to pay them while the case is ongoing.
- Nothing to pay your solicitor if your case does not succeed.
- If you win, there’s only a small ‘success fee’ to pay your solicitors.
- The success fee is capped, ensuring that you receive the bulk of the money.
- You receive excellent legal advice and support throughout your case.
Whatever the nature of your accident, if you believe it happened because of others’ negligence, speak to our friendly team today.
Use Specialist Personal Injury Lawyers
So you’re sure that the accident you were injured in could have been prevented, you know who had a responsibility for your safety in that area and you’re confident that you can prove a duty of care was breached.
What do you do next about your burned hand claim? A quick internet search will generate thousands of options for law firms, and whilst reading company reviews can be helpful, it may be confusing to have so much choice. A few questions are useful to ask at this point, such as:
- How much would this firm value my burned hand claim at?
- Do they settle cases quickly?
- How is client communication rated?
- Do they need to be local to where I live?
- Have they got experience with personal injury cases like this?
- Have they had much success with personal injury claims like this?
Alternatively, we can help. Call our team today to see if we can introduce you to the No Win No Fee solicitors to handle your case.
Talk Today About A Burned Hand Claim
We hope that this article has helped in your decision to start your claim and getting in touch with us couldn’t be easier. If you’re ready to launch a burned hand claim for compensation or would like more information about the things we’ve discussed, you can get in touch in the following ways:
- Call and speak to our friendly team on 0800 408 7825
- Use the ‘live support’ option, bottom right
- Drop us a line at www.publicinterestlawyers.co.uk
More Reads
For further reading on some of the subjects we’ve discussed, please click below:
Information on accident hot spots, please click here
Further reading on claims against the council
Information on cycling accidents, please click here
Government statistics on workplace accidents, please click here
Information about burns from the NHS, please click here
Article by EA
Publishers; LA/NI