Hands are the most function-dense real estate on the body — grip, fine motor control, your livelihood if you work with them. That's why hand claims price on function lost, not on the size of the wound, and why the same fracture is worth different amounts to a surgeon and to a spreadsheet analyst.
Reviewed August 24, 2026 · bands map to the disclosed methodologyBased on the multiplier method used by insurers and attorneys. This is an educational estimate, not legal advice — every claim is different.
| Situation | Typical multiplier | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Contusion/sprain, full recovery | 1.5–2× | Soft tissue, conservative care, function fully restored. |
| Fracture or tendon injury with surgical repair | 3–4× | Pins, plates, or tendon reconstruction; months of hand therapy; measurable stiffness or grip loss. |
| Crush injury, amputation, or permanent loss of function | 4–5×+ | Permanent functional deficit in the body's most-used tool — top of the band, with future economic loss on top. |
These bands are the same disclosed multiplier framework used across this site (methodology) — where a specific injury lands inside it is driven by documentation, permanence, and liability clarity, not by the label on the injury.
The same injury to your dominant hand is a different claim — and to a hand you earn with (trades, healthcare, music, keyboard work) it's different again, because lost earning capacity enters the economic base. Get both facts into the medical record explicitly: which hand, what your work requires of it, and what you can no longer do at what speed. Grip-strength measurements and range-of-motion numbers from hand therapy are the objective evidence adjusters can't wave away.
Workers' comp schedules value hands explicitly — the federal reference schedule assigns a hand 244 weeks, and state schedules vary (Iowa 190, North Carolina 200, Georgia 160). The schedule pays regardless of fault, but it never pays pain and suffering — so if anyone besides your employer contributed (a machine manufacturer, a subcontractor), the third-party claim alongside comp is where the multiplier math above applies.
Run the band math: (medical bills + lost wages) × 1.5–2× for a resolved sprain, 3–4× for a surgically repaired fracture or tendon, 4–5×+ for permanent loss of function — plus lost earning capacity when the injury touches how you make a living. A $9,000 surgical fracture claim with $2,000 lost wages supports roughly $33,000–$44,000 before fault adjustments.
Yes, materially — dominance affects nearly every daily task and most occupations, which supports the upper end of whatever band your injury sits in. Make sure 'dominant hand' appears in the records, not just in conversation.
A malunion with function is still a permanent change — and visible deformity carries the same permanence logic as scarring. It typically supports the band above a clean-healing equivalent; a hand surgeon's assessment of residual deficit is the evidence.