I don’t know whether it’s just me, and that I have a particularly impressive ability to find stories about holiday illness, or whether it is more that recently there seems to have been quite a few ‘holidays from hell’. A lot of the news articles I have flicked through have seen high numbers of tourists win compensation for the bugs they have caught whilst on holiday. For instance, the Daily Mail has today run a story which involves 138 people who have won compensation from their tour operator having contracted illness whilst on holiday in Bulgaria.
The Daily Mail reports that these 138 tourists had to put up with poor food hygiene, rooms with frogs, could not flush their toilets, were unable to wash, had to go without electricity and water for a few days, and travel through mud to reach reception. As such the tourists began to complain of things like sickness, diarrhoea, and stomach cramps. In a recent judgment, those affected have been awarded compensation; the level of which each person is to receive is still to be decided. However, in the meantime, a £300,000 interim payment has been raised to help those who suffered illness whilst on this holiday.
As the victim’s legal representatives suggest, ‘What our clients experienced…was simply unacceptable…Many of those who became ill have gone on to suffer years of pain and torment, all of which could have been avoided had Thomson and the management of the hotel acted reasonably and put their clients’ safety first.’ And they are exactly right! Your tour operator has a duty of care to its customers to ensure your health and safety whilst on holiday. If there is an outbreak of sickness at your accommodation, your tour operator must ensure that you are aware of this and provide you with advice as to how to deal with this. Your tour operator must also make sure that your hotel is up to standard. For example, the sanitary conditions must not put you at risk.
If you have been ill whilst on holiday abroad, you may have a claim for compensation. Just because your illness did not occur in the United Kingdom does not mean that you are not entitled to compensation. A claim can be made against your tour operator when you get back home. It is therefore important that if you have sustained an illness whilst on holiday, you get free legal advice from a quality injury lawyer.
