Trafford Law

Holiday Sickness and Accident Claims

 

The most important thing to remember for holiday sickness and accident claims is that holiday operators owe you a duty of care, meaning that they are legally obligated to provide you with their services in a safe manner. If they fail to do so and it ruins your holiday with discomfort, illness or injury then it is understandable that you would want to seek holiday accident compensation.

Holiday Sickness Claims 

If you have suffered from food poisoning at a hotel or on an all-inclusive holiday then the chances are you can claim against your tour operator for providing you with food or drink that is not fit for purpose. Bacterial infections usually present themselves within 6-72 hours of eating contaminated food or drinking contaminated water and typically last from a few days to a couple of weeks.

It is important to make a note of what you have eaten in the few days leading up to your sickness and if you have eaten in a restaurant within the resort that was an additional cost, or outside of the resort, then it will be unlikely that your tour operator will take responsibility for your food poisoning. The holiday company will also want to see:

  1. Bank statements to see if you went on any excursions whilst you were on holiday
  2. Photographs of your holiday with metadata relating to the date and time they were taken to establish when you were ill
  3. All social media posts whilst on holiday
  4. Text messages sent whilst on holiday which relate to your illness

You should make a note of anything you find unusual in the restaurant areas such as whether foods are kept hot or allowed to cool down and quickly become lukewarm; if you see evidence of staff probing food with thermometers; whether the foods are covered against outside vectors such as flies, birds or even cats; whether staff wore gloves or hairnets; if there are sanitiser gels readily available; if the same service utensils are used for different dishes allowing cross contamination etc.

A recent case, Wood v TUI suggests that a person must prove others have been similarly affected at the hotel by food poisoning, so if you hear of or see any other guests who are ill, then make a note of their names if possible.

Always report your illness to the receptionist or your tour operator’s representative and make a note of their name.

Claims for sickness or accidents abroad may include compensation for the injuries and illness suffered, loss of enjoyment for you and your family, reimbursement for the proportion of the holiday during which you were ill or injured and loss of income due to time off work and costs to help with medication.

Holiday accidents 

Holiday accidents

Holiday accidents

The number of UK residents requiring hospitalisation after an accident on holiday or on a business trip is rising year-on-year.

When we use the phrase “Holiday Accidents” we don’t just mean accidents in a hotel, but also injuries on boats or cruises, travelling in cars or rental vehicles or even on the beach. If you have suffered an injury or illness whilst on holiday or business abroad or even in the UK, then you may be entitled to make a claim for compensation.

Holiday accident claims can be sought for a number of possible reasons including:

Additionally, compensation need not only be sought as a result of the conditions or your treatment in a hotel. Specific cruise liner and air accident compensation claims, for example, can be just as common and cover you should anything happen to you in transit. Air accident compensation can cover not only incidents involving commercial airlines but also helicopters and light aircraft.

Claims for accidents abroad may include compensation for the injuries or illness suffered, loss of enjoyment for you and your family, reimbursement for the proportion of the holiday during which you were ill or injured and loss of income due to time off work and costs to help with medication and rehabilitation.

How to pursue a holiday accident claim

Compensation for holiday accident claims can be somewhat more difficult to obtain than others for various reasons. Perhaps one of the biggest of these is, if you are not on an all-inclusive holiday, claims for accident compensation abroad can often be subject to the laws of the country the accident happened in which is termed “Local Standards”.  One of our personal injury specialists can help you to work out whether you have a valid claim for personal injury compensation for your fact sensitive circumstances.

Road Traffic Accidents Overseas

One of the most common accidents on holiday is road accidents, whether that is in a car, bus, motorcycle, moped or pushbike. Or as a pedestrian or taxi passenger.  Even if you did not book through a tour operator, you could make a traffic accident compensation claim if you were travelling in the EU; under the 4th EU Motor Directive 2003, drivers and their insurance providers are listed on a central database to facilitate compensation claims for car accidents abroad.

Time limits on claims

It is important to pursue your holiday injury claim as soon as possible, as there are strict timescales in which you can bring these claims. The timescales to bring such claims can differ depending on where you were on holiday and what activity caused your accident.

To read about a successful claim click here – Holiday Accident Case Study

Contact one of our personal injury specialists

If you have sustained an injury following a holiday accident which was not your fault and wish to discuss how to pursue a claim for compensation, please contact us today by completing the claims consultation form above or calling us on 01213 696969 and speak to one of our personal injury specialists.

All our initial consultation advice is free of charge and without obligation. If you do have a valid claim you wish to pursue we will be able to do this on a no win, no fee basis.