Claiming For an Injury On a Package Holiday

It’s that time of year again, your bags are packed, your passports checked and you are ready to head off for a well-deserved break. You arrive at your destination and everything is perfect – until the unthinakble happens. You are involved in an accident.

If you are in the UK, as with any accident claim, there are various laws and regulations which protect your safety and provide you with an option to claim for compensation in the event you have suffered injury as a result of someone else’s negligence.

If, unfortunately, your accident has happened outside of the UK (it is estimated 60% of Britons, ie over 33 million people holiday abroad each year), the law of the country you visited applies and many do not have a forum for compensation to be paid for injuries suffered, no matter how serious. You would therefore be required to approach and likely pay for a lawyer in the individual country to see if a claim for compensation is possible.

However, if you have booked a ‘package’ holiday, defined as booking travel and accommodation together, you may be able able to seek compensation directly from the travel company with whom the booking was made. The Travel Package Regulations 1992 allow injured travelers to pursue a claim for compensation on the basis that the hotel their staff, contractors or others had failed to use reasonable care and skill to ensure the injured person was kept safe and/or whether the cause of injury complied with local safety standards. If this can be proven, then you may be entitled to compensation for both your injuries and any financial losses you have suffered as a result.

Our Top Tips

1. Make sure you have adequate travel insurance for every member of your party;
2. Check the exclusions on the insurance, for example, does it include waters sports or other dangerous activities?
3. Ensure any excursions are booked with reputable companies who have adequate insurance in place for the activity undertaken;
4. Report any problems to your travel operator at the earliest opportunity either via the UK hotline numbers or the local representative.
5. Take photos or videos of the cause of the problem as these will help;
6. Obtain ant reports of the accident and witness contact details for future use;
7. Obtain local medical records (in the event you require medical treatment) if you can.

If you have had an accident or injury abroad and it wasn’t your fault, click here and contact one of our expert team today.

FREE ADVICE CLINIC

On Saturday, October 5th from 9am – 12pm, we will be running a free advice clinic for those who have been affected by an accident or injury on a package holiday. Please pop in and have a no-obligation chat with one of our personal injury experts. They will be able to let you know if you have a claim and what the next steps are in order to pursue this claim for compensation. You will find our Cardiff office address in the footer below.