Accidents abroad – so how do they work? You may or may not know that most of us specialist personal injury solicitors can only really deal with claims in the UK – but we can in the majority of instances deal with accidents abroad on holidays! So how does it work?
Well, if you have an accident abroad on holiday, which was booked through a package holiday, and the accident occurred on premises inclusive on the package, or perhaps during an activity included or related to the package, then you can in most cases actually claim against the package holiday provider!
Its covered under (see if you can guess the name!) The Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992 (www.opsi.gov.uk), and it’s a key pieces of legislation us lawyers need when it comes to pursuing this type of claim on behalf of the client.
So here’s an example – you book a package holiday through a reputable firm that includes your flights, hotel, and travel arrangements to and from various site-seeing tours:
- You have an accident at the hotel: you slip on some water from cleaners mopping the floor where no warning signs had been placed. You can pursue a claim through the package holiday provider – they provided the hotel in the package!
- You contract an illness from a meal at the hotel restaurant. You can pursue a claim through the package holiday provider – they provided the hotel in the package!
- Whist being ferried from the hotel to a sight-seeing tour as part of the package, the bus has an accident of which the driver was at fault. You can pursue a claim through the package holiday provider – they provided the transport as part of the package!
These are of course just a few examples, but the main idea is that if you are injured or suffered and the cause was related to the package, then you may be able to bring a claim against the provider.
And here’s a recent example of a major claim against First Choice Holidays I came across on the Mirror website today! According to the source (Mirror news source), more than 650 tourists have launched a claim said to be worth £5m (Yes, 5 million pounds!!!) after they were subject to a violent illness from a four star resort. According to the report, guests at the Holiday Village Hotel in Sarigerme in Turkey were served uncooked chicken, and the swimming pools were contaminated with human faeces! Personally, that just doesn’t bare thinking about…
The claim has been issued at London’s High Court, and First Choice have admitted liability for the incidents. They have reportedly stated that safety checks will be increased in light of the incident. Certainly not just a simple example of this important piece of regulations’ uses – this is one heck of a claim!
We at the Injury Lawyers are claims specialists – and we have the knowledge and expertise to pursue claims against package holiday providers. We suggest that you speak to an expert personal injury lawyer for advice if you have suffered a holiday from hell!
