Amputation Claims — Limb Loss Compensation Solicitors
Last reviewed: June 2026 · EA Personal Injury Solicitors
If you have lost a limb — or undergone surgical amputation — because of another party's negligence, you may be entitled to substantial compensation. Amputation claims cover traumatic limb loss in accidents and surgical amputation made necessary by a negligently caused injury. Compensation includes general damages, future prosthetics costs, care, lost earnings, and home and vehicle adaptations. No win, no fee is available for eligible claims.
TL;DR — Quick Summary
Key Points
- Covers both traumatic amputation (at time of accident) and surgical amputation necessitated by injury.
- General damages range from ~£96,000 to £240,000+ depending on limb and level of loss.
- Lifetime prosthetics costs are fully recoverable — including advanced microprocessor limbs.
- Lost earnings, care, adaptations, and rehabilitation add substantially to total awards.
- Workplace amputation claims are common — employers must guard against machinery hazards.
- Three-year limitation period applies from date of accident.
Types of Amputation Claim
There are two main types of amputation giving rise to a personal injury claim:
- Traumatic amputation: Loss of a limb at the time of the accident — for example, a hand or arm trapped in machinery, or a lower limb crushed beyond saving in a road traffic accident.
- Surgical amputation: Where a limb is amputated surgically because of injuries sustained in an accident that would not otherwise have required it — for example, a leg that cannot be saved following a crush injury. In some cases, surgical amputation is itself the result of medical negligence (failing to diagnose a compartment syndrome or vascular injury in time).
Common Causes
- Workplace accidents: Machinery entrapment, cutting equipment, conveyor belts, forklift trucks, and agricultural machinery. These cases often involve breaches of PUWER (Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations) or the Machinery Directive.
- Road traffic accidents: Severe crush injuries in car or motorcycle accidents.
- Falls from height: Major trauma leading to surgical amputation.
- Medical negligence: Failed diagnosis of vascular injury, compartment syndrome, or other time-critical condition that results in a limb having to be amputated that could have been saved.
Compensation — What Is Recoverable?
Amputation compensation covers both general and special damages:
- General damages (pain, suffering, loss of amenity): From approximately £96,090 (below-knee amputation of one leg) to £104,830 for above-knee amputation, up to around £240,790 for amputation of both legs above the knee (JCG figures).
- Prosthetics: A lifetime of prosthetic devices — including high-performance microprocessor-controlled limbs for active people — is recoverable. A specialist prosthetics expert will advise on the most appropriate devices and their costs over a lifetime.
- Care and rehabilitation: Rehabilitation at a specialist limb fitting centre, physiotherapy, and ongoing care assistance.
- Loss of earnings: Past and future earnings if the amputation has affected your ability to work — fully or partially.
- Home and vehicle adaptations: Costs of adapting the home and vehicle to accommodate your prosthetic limb and residual disability.
Employer Liability in Workplace Amputations
Employers have specific statutory duties to prevent limb loss at work. The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 require employers to ensure that dangerous parts of machinery are guarded so that workers cannot come into contact with them. Where a worker loses a limb because guarding was absent, defective, or bypassed, the employer is likely to be liable for the resulting injury and claim.
We obtain independent engineering evidence on the adequacy of machinery guarding in workplace amputation cases.