Everyone looks forward to their summer holidays – sun, relaxation and usually a healthy dose of alcohol! There aren’t many things that sound better to me personally.
However, while holidays abroad are all well and good, if something goes wrong and you are a long way from home, what can you do about it?
If you have booked a package holiday in the UK and have suffered an injury in your accommodation or in a place where the company that you booked with were looking after you then you may have a right to compensation through the Package Tour Regulations 1992.
In order to bring a claim under these regulations you must have booked onto a package holiday in the UK. To be a package holiday it must:
- Be sold or offered for sale as a package
- Be sold at an inclusive price
- Be pre-arranged
- Be overnight or for longer than 24 hours
- Include a minimum of 2 out of the 3:
- Transport (plane, ferry etc.)
- Accommodation
- Other tourist service (not alongside transport or accommodation) which makes up a significant proportion of the package, such as a tour guide.
Even mix and match packages that may be offered for sale over the internet may be covered by the regulations as long as they fall within the above guidelines.
The regulations don’t just tell us what a package is though; they also impose responsibilities on the providers of package holidays and set out what their responsibilities are. Two good examples are that the provider must give you clear information on the package and must provide you with a copy of the contract. It is my suggestion that you read these before you travel as they contain a lot of useful information about what your provider needs to do for you and your rights should they want to change your plans.
However, regulation 15 is that with the most impact, it requires providers of package holidays to be liable for failures of hoteliers, suppliers and services included in their package. This means that if you are injured on holiday as a result of something dangerous in the hotel or one of the service providers on your holiday (e.g., the airline) then your package holiday provider will be responsible for that injury and you will be able to claim compensation against them. It is important to note that while this does mean that facilities will have to be reasonably safe and well maintained for you this maintenance only need be to local standards. Therefore any claims you did want to make may be assessed on this level.
You must ensure that any injuries or faults that cause you injury are reported to the provider as soon as possible and that on your return home you write to them within 28 days of your return. The holiday provider will have to look into the circumstances of your complaint and they may investigate. If they can prove that the accident was your fault, unconnected with any of their suppliers/hoteliers or comes out of unforeseeable circumstances then they may be able to defend the claim. Either way you have to let them know what went wrong.
So if you have been injured on holiday and you feel that your package holiday provider was to blame then seek expert legal advice as soon as possible by calling The Injury Lawyers.
