ACCIDENTS ON HOLIDAY - HOME AND AWAY!

June 24th, 2009 Hinchliffes

Published in Truckstop News July 2009.

In this month’s issue Steven Hinchliffe of the specialist Personal Injury firm Hinchliffes Solicitors will consider “ACCIDENTS ON HOLIDAY - HOME AND AWAY”.

If you were on holiday either in the UK or abroad and had an accident, as long as the “holiday package” was booked through a tour operator in the UK and what you were doing at the time of the accident was part of that package, then you may be able to claim compensation against the tour operator for your injuries and any related financial losses.

Tour operators are responsible for any shortcomings or negligence of the agents and hotels they use. In the above situation the claim would fall under the jurisdiction of the Courts of England and Wales and can therefore be handled by any UK solicitors experienced in Personal Injury work. This means that the process is much more straightforward than having to make a claim against the actual negligent party direct.

Under the Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992 a tour operator can be held responsible for all of the services provided as part of a package holiday. This can include:-

hotel accommodation - including the food provided and any facilities, such as swimming pools
cruises
air travel
coach or car transfers
excursions that were booked as part of the main holiday package

They have a legal duty to their customers and must take reasonable care to ensure that holiday makers do not suffer from avoidable accidents or become ill while on holiday. If the tour operator or their agent (eg hotel staff, cruise ship personnel, etc) fail to uphold this duty then the tour operator themselves may be liable to pay accident compensation.

The Regulations state that a “package” means:-

“The pre-arranged combination of at least two of the following components when sold or offered for sale at an inclusive price and when the service covers a period of more than twenty-four hours or includes overnight accommodation -

transport
accommodation
other tourist services not ancillary to transport or accommodation and accounting for a significant proportionof the package”

If you booked the holiday using a credit card you will have additional protection and may also be able to direct the claim to the credit card provider.

The Regulations relate to all package holidays, whether taken abroad or in the UK, and also offer protection to business travellers, as long as their trip falls within the criteria set out above.

However, it is important to note that the standards of health and safety that apply in the UK are not always matched by the standards applied in other countries. No matter whether a claim is made under the Regulations or directly to the negligent party, the criteria for success would depend on whether the local standards of health and safety were met. If those standards were not high, the case is likely to fail.

It is also important to be aware that the Regulations do not apply to all foreign accidents. If you booked travel and accommodation separately, then any compensation claim would have to be pursued against the negligent party direct using the local legal system. If, for example the accident was in a hotel on a small Mediterranean island, you can imagine the difficulties that would arise in pursing and winning the claim.

The same applies if you booked a local excursion to visit a place of interest and you suffered injury because of the negligence of the day tour provider. Only if the excursion was booked through your UK tour operator when the holiday was arranged would the Regulations be available to protect you.

Of course, if you were on a UK package holiday and for example took a spur of the moment boat trip, and suffered injury because of the owner’s negligence, you would not have to rely on the Regulations as the owner would have insurance to settle any claim made direct.

A final point to bear in mind is that claims following road accidents that happen abroad that were the fault of a foreign driver can be quite complicated and each case needs to be carefully considered.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

I was on holiday in Italy and when opening the door of a wardrobe it fell off the hinge and landed on my foot. My holiday was ruined and I had to come home early. Is there anything I can do?

If you booked the flights and hotel together through a UK travel agent, the Regulations would apply and you can claim personal injury compensation from the travel agent. If so, you are likely to have a strong claim and could also include loss of enjoyment of your holiday. However, if your travel and accommodation were arranged separately, you would need to take advice from solicitors who have experience of making claims under Italian law.

My family were staying in a campsite in Cornwall. My wife went to have a shower, but the shower unit fell off the wall and landed on her foot, breaking several toes. Does she have grounds for a claim?

This is another clear case of poor maintenance and she would have a strong claim. As the accident happened in England, she could claim against the owner of the campsite directly, and it would be handled by their insurers.

ENDS

PERSONAL INJURY CLAIM SOLICITORS:-

If you have suffered any form of accident or contracted an industrial disease contact personal injury specialists Hinchliffes Solicitors for immediate legal advice, to find out if you are entitled to make claims for injury compensation. All cases are conducted on a No Win - No Fee basis, where the Client keeps 100% of the compensation recovered.

Call now on 0800 138 1348 to speak direct to a personal injury lawyer or go to our Start Your Claim Now page to submit details of your personal injury claim online.