If someone’s negligence caused you to hurt you finger, you may have a case.
How Much Are Finger Injuries Worth?
The full value of the pain and suffering component is lowest if you just have a small cut or scrapes. The full value is higher is you have major damage to a bone, tendon or ligament in the finger.
Is Your Case Worth More if You End Up With a Deformity?
The full value of the pain and suffering component is higher if you have a bad finger injury that results in permanent deformity and loss of movement. However, the injured person has a duty to get medical treatment.
If you don’t get medical treatment, and your finger is deformed or loses function as a result, then the responsible party will argue that the deformity or function loss could have been avoided if you got medical treatment.
They will reduce the full value for settlement purposes accordingly.
Is Your Case Worth Less If You Have a Faster Recovery?
All things equal, the full value will be lower. A faster and more complete recovery involves less pain and suffering.
Common Types of Finger Injuries in Accident Cases
A cut or laceration may just pierce the skin. In this case, this is usually a minor injury.
On the other hand, it may slice through blood vessels, tendons or nerves right beneath the skin. The full value of the pain and suffering component is higher if this is the case.
Avulsion happens when some of the soft tissue or skin is ripped off.
Finger Amputations
In an amputation, the tissue is totally sliced or ripped away from the finger. The full value of the pain and suffering component increases with the amount of the finger that is amputated.
In other words, the full value of the pain and suffering component is higher for someone whose entire finger is amputated as opposed to just the tip above the top or middle knuckle.
Fingernail Injury Settlements (and Claims)
The nailbed is beneath the fingernail. If the nail is badly damaged, it may need to be removed.
How does having the nail removed affect the settlement value?
It increases the full value of the case for settlement purposes.
Does surgery to fix a nailbed that you injured in an accident increase case value?
Surgery increases the full value of the pain and suffering component of the case. It also increases the full billed medical charges. In turn, this often corresponds to a higher pain and suffering award.
Broken Finger Settlements (and Claims)
Some accidents will cause a fracture of the phalanx (bone in the finger). There is a good chance that this fracture will be accompanied with injury to the soft tissue, fingernails, ligaments or tendons.
If the fracture is associated with those injuries, it increases the full value of the case.
Should you go to the doctor if you have a finger injury from an accident?
Yes, if you’re unsure. Hands are very important for our numerous daily activities. Even a small finger injury can cause some loss of function.
You should always go to the doctor if you can see the bone or tendon.
Does the Part of the Finger that Is Injured Affect the Value?
Loss of function to different parts of the same finger have different values. You can get some sense of this by looking at relative impairment values in Florida.
Loss of function for your entire finger or from the Metacarpal-Phalangeal (MP) Joint to the tip of the finger is usually worth about the same.
The Metacarpal-Phalangeal (MP) Joint is below.
However, loss of function for your entire finger or from the MP joint to the tip of the finger is usually worth more than loss of function from proximal interphalangeal joints (PIP) to the tip of the finger.
Loss of function from proximal interphalangeal joints (PIP) to the tip of the finger is usually worth more than loss of function from the distal interphalangeal joint (DIP) to the tip of the finger.
Are Injuries to Certain Some Fingers Worth More than Others?
Yes. In a personal injury case, loss of function of your index or middle finger is usually worth more than loss of function to your ring or little finger.
Loss of function of your thumb is usually worth more than loss of function of any finger.
$445K Settlement for Finger and Leg Fracture (Motorcycle Accident)
See a case where a motorcycle rider got $445,000 after a truck hit him in Hialeah, Florida. He had surgery to fix his broken finger and the top of his lower leg bone (tibia).
$125K Settlement for Loss of Range of Motion of Finger (and Hand Fracture)
See a case where a driver got a $125,000 after a car cut him off and they crashed in Miami. He suffered a broken hand.
A hand specialist said that he noticed the range of motion of the fingers at the metacarpophalangeal joints is mildly restricted with pain at the 5th metacarpophalangeal joint metacarpal(s).
GEICO insured the careless driver. This is one of my many GEICO car accident settlements.
Nailbed Injury Results in $49,000 Settlement
A client injured his nailbed. He had surgery to fix it. We settled for over $49,000.
Passenger Gets $25K Settlement for Finger and Other Injuries
See a case where a passenger got $25,000 after a car rear-ended him in Key Largo, Florida. X-rays appeared to indicate a fracture to his index finger.
He also claimed that the crash caused or aggravated his herniated disc, shoulder labrum tear, and knee injury.
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