Missed Finger Fracture Claims Guide | No Win No Fee

By Danielle Parsons. Last Updated 8th November 2023. A missed finger fracture could lead to additional pain and suffering for many weeks or months to come. It could also lead to deformity of the finger or reduced grip which could have an impact on your ability to work as well as you did before. Therefore, this guide sets out to explain when you could claim compensation for medical negligence leading to a misdiagnosed finger fracture. We’ll look at the symptoms of finger fractures, how they’re treated, how they could be missed and when a doctor could be liable for your suffering.

Here at Medical Negligence Assist, we believe anybody should be able to claim for negligence that causes them to suffer without worrying about the cost of doing so. That’s why we offer free legal advice about claiming. Also, our advisors can provide a no-obligation assessment of any claim. Finally, if your claim has strong grounds, you could be introduced to one of our medical negligence lawyers who’ll operate on a No Win No Fee basis if they take on your claim.

To begin your claim today, please call our advisors on 0800 652 3087. If you’d prefer to find out more about claiming for a missed finger fracture before calling, please carry on reading our guide.

Missed finger fracture compensation

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When Are You Eligible To Claim For A Medical Misdiagnosis?

To claim for a medical misdiagnosis, it needs to be shown that there’s been a breach of duty and also avoidable harm. This means that if a breach of duty occurs, but there’s no adverse effect on the patient, a claim wouldn’t be possible.

Breach of duty is when a medical professional, such as a doctor, nurse or surgeon, provides care which is below the standard that could be reasonably expected by a competent physician. This might mean they’ve not used the right procedure or equipment during treatment.

Avoidable harm is where the breach of duty has led to suffering which wouldn’t have happened otherwise. For instance, in the case of a broken finger, you could claim for avoidable harm if the lack of treatment mean the injury got worse and you suffered more pain as a result.

How Long Do I Have To Claim For A Misdiagnosed Fracture?

When you contact a medical negligence solicitor, you’ll need to do so within the personal injury claims time limit.

As an adult, personal injury claims usually have a 3-year time limit as set by the Limitation Act 1980. This would normally start on the date of the accident that caused your injuries. However, as we’re talking about missed finger fracture claims, the time limit is more likely to start on the date your injuries were correctly diagnosed.

If you’d like claim on behalf of a child who’s suffered a finger bone fracture as a litigation friend, you have until they’re 18-years old to do so. If you want them to make their own claim, then they have 3-years from their 18th birthday.

Call our advisors to find out more about starting a missed finger fracture compensation claim.

Causes Of Errors In The Diagnosis Of A Fracture

As this guide is about claiming for a missed finger fracture, let’s look at reasons why a fracture might not be identified at the earliest opportunity. Some possible reasons include:

  • GPs failing to refer you to specialist because they diagnose a different condition.
  • The doctor at a hospital failing to refer you for an X-ray as they believe your symptom don’t warrant one.
  • Simply failing to see the fracture on your X-ray.
  • A short consultation because A&E is excessively busy or staff shortages resulting in an inadequate assessment.

How Do I Prove My Fractured Finger Was Misdiagnosed?

If you are eligible to make a medical negligence claim for loss of finger compensation, you will need evidence to support your claim.

Examples of evidence that could assist with your claim could include:

  • Witness details – Anybody who witnessed a medical professional’s failure to treat your broken finger could be approached for a statement at a later date.
  • Copies of your medical records stating your injury and the treatment you received for it.
  • Copies of any scans or X-rays of your finger fracture.
  • Correspondence with the medical institution where you received your treatment.

To learn more about the types of evidence that could support your claim or ask questions about what to do for a broken finger that was missed, you can contact an advisor. If you have a valid case, they could connect you with a solicitor from our panel.

GP Finger Fracture Misdiagnosis Claims

The main reason you might claim for misdiagnosis against a GP, in terms of broken finger claims, is because they failed to refer you to a hospital for further tests. This could happen if the doctor thinks that the finger is simply strained or bruised.

Although many doctors have limited time to assess their patients and offer treatment, they still have a duty of care to provide the correct standard of treatment. Therefore, if your GP failed to send you to a hospital on one or more occasions, and it was later determined that your finger had in fact been fractured, you could make a claim against them.

This could be the case if their delay in diagnosing the condition caused your injury to get worse, the pain got worse or the delay in treatment led to some form of long-term disability.

Please call our team if you’d like advice on whether you could claim against your GP or not.

Hospital Finger Fracture Misdiagnosis Claims

Whether you attend the hospital because you were advised to by your GP, you visited accident and emergency because you were injured or you arrived by ambulance, the doctor who treated you should perform a thorough assessment of any injuries you’ve sustained. Following that, the correct treatment should be provided to try and aid the recovery of those injuries.

Therefore, you could be eligible to claim compensation if any of the following led to further suffering:

  • The doctor dismissed your injury as a strain or other minor injury.
  • You weren’t sent for an X-ray.
  • The X-ray was misinterpreted.
  • Your doctor was too rushed to properly assess you leading to a misdiagnosis.
  • Or, finally, the doctor failed to ask a colleague for a second opinion if they were unsure if a fracture was present or not.

For free advice on claiming for missed fracture by a hospital, please call the number at the top of the screen.

Missed Finger Fracture Compensation Calculator

If you’d like to know how much compensation you could be paid for a missed finger fracture, then the personal injury claims calculator table below should help. It shows compensation amounts that could be paid for different finger injuries. The figures come from a document called the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This is something that insurers, courts and solicitors all use to try and determine compensation amounts.

Body PartSeverityRangeNotes
Fingers (d)Amputation£61,910 to £90,750


Amputation of the index and middle (or ring) fingers leading to very little use and weak grip.
Fingers (f)SevereUp to £36,740Severe fractures of fingers which may cause deformity or require partial amputation. They could also lead to reduced grip, function and sensation.
Fingers (p)AmputationIn the region of £21,810Amputation of the little and ring fingers.
Fingers (i)Loss£12,170 to £18,740Total or partial loss of the index finger. Total loss will be compensated at the higher end of the bracket.
Fingers (k)Serious£10,320 to £16,340Serious injuries to the ring or index fingers. Includes fractures and serious tendon injuries which cause deformity, affect dexterity and cause stiffness.
Fingers (j)Fracture£9,110 to £12,240Fracture of the index finger which mends quickly but grip has remained impaired and painful.

What Else Can I Claim For After A Finger Fracture Misdiagnosis?

Your settlement for your finger fracture misdiagnosis may also consist of special damages. This is to compensate you for the financial losses caused by the medical negligence.

In claims for missed finger fractures, you might be able to recover costs related to:

  • Travel expenses due to being unable to drive.
  • Loss of earnings, such as the time away from work to attend medical appointments or required to recover.
  • Medication costs, these can include over-the-counter pain relief as well as any prescriptions related to the medical negligence.

You should submit evidence of your financial losses, such as invoices, receipts, bank statements, and payslips.

Speak to an advisor from our team to discuss what else could be compensated for misdiagnosis claims.

No Win No Fee Finger Fracture Misdiagnosis Claims

If you would like to claim compensation following a missed finger fracture, you could do so with the support of a No Win No Fee solicitor specialising in medical negligence. They could offer you a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This is akind of No Win No Fee arrangement.

When your missed finger fracture legal representation is funded in this way, your solicitor will not take their fees upfront. Additionally, any ongoing costs will usually be covered by the funding arrangement. If your missed broken finger claim succeeds, a legally capped success fee will be taken directly from your award. If your missed finger fracture claim does not succeed, you typically won’t be expected to pay for your solicitor’s services.

Free legal advice about medical negligence claims is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from our advisors. Should you wish to pursue missed finger fracture compensation and our advisors believe you have a good chance of success, you could be connected to a solicitor from our panel. To speak to us:

Supporting Resources

Here are a few of our other guides as well as information form external resources too:

Other Misdiagnosis Claim Guides

If you have any questions about claiming for a missed finger fracture, please get in touch.