The nightmare situation – you’re on holiday and you’re supposed to be relaxing and enjoying the time off work or school, but instead you end up injured and the whole experience is ruined! Well whether you have been injured here in the UK or abroad, you may have the right to make a claim for personal injury compensation, and this article aims to discuss how making a claim for an injury caused on holiday can be different.
We will look at what you can claim for and briefly look at the law when it comes to accidents here in the UK and abroad.
So when you make a claim for personal injury compensation you are entitled to claim for two heads of loss: General Damages, and Special Damages. General Damages is for the injury itself, and Special Damages is for losses and expenses.
The injury claim is based on how badly you have suffered, so we can take into account the fact that you have been injured on holiday and this may have had a bigger impact on you. We value claims by sending you to see an expert who will provide a report for us which outlines how you have been affected.
This report can detail the fact that your holiday has been ruined. If this was your only holiday for the year then we can take this in to account. It may have even had an impact on those who are holidaying with you as well. All of this can be detailed in your report to reflect the fact that your treasured time away may have been ruined.
When it comes to Special Damages we can include any extra costs or expenses on your holiday that have been incurred as a result of the accident. There is an element of the claim called “loss of enjoyment of holiday” and this can mean some money back off what you paid to reflect the fact that the holiday you have paid for has been jeopardised.
The law – in the UK and abroad
In the UK you are covered by UK jurisdiction so we should be able to help you. If the accident happened abroad then you may be subject to foreign jurisdiction – but that doesn’t always mean you need a foreign lawyer.
Firstly if you have booked the holiday as a package, and your injury was caused by something that forms a part of that package, then you may be able to sue the package provider. For example if you slip in a hotel and the hotel was booked as part of a package holiday, you can try and claim from the tour operator.
Foreign claims can be tricky though but we do represent victims who are claiming abroad so definitely get in touch and we will always see if we can help you out.