Injured in an Accident on Holiday Abroad? Understanding your Rights

Each year, approximately 66 million British citizens go to Europe, the vast majority are on holiday. Unfortunately, a number of them have an accident during the course of their holiday, often requiring hospitalisation. The injuries vary from minor injuries to life-changing injuries requiring ongoing care and treatment. Often the injured person is entitled to compensation, if the injury was not a result of their own actions. 

Holiday accidents can occur in many situations, road traffic accidents, water sports and swimming pool accidents, poorly constructed hotels with uneven paving and stairs with no handrails, food poisoning, faulty lifts. These and many other circumstances can result in a serious accident. 

In the aftermath of an accident the focus is, of course, on the injured person. The perception of how an accident arose and where the responsibility lies is not always clearly noted. 

Information that should be acquired in the Event of an Accident

Regardless of the type of accident, here are the steps to take:

• Put in writing all the circumstances of the accident, including your opinion of the cause of the accident.
• Where and when it happened, who was involved and who you believe caused the accident.
• Obtain contact details of any witnesses.
• Photograph the site of the accident and the surrounding area.
• Photograph the vehicle involved, if it is a road traffic accident and obtain contact details of the insurance company of the vehicle involved
• Note the weather conditions
• Photograph your own footwear and clothing.
• Report the accident to the police if appropriate.
• Obtain contact details of the emergency services staff and of any police who attended
• Obtain any documentation outlining your injuries from the emergency services and the hospital, if you were treated in the hospital.

Often the injured person dismisses an accident as a minor incident and their injuries as inconsequential. However, sometimes what is considered a slight injury can develop into something more serious on your return home. If your injury was caused by the negligence or recklessness of a third party or organisation, financial compensation can be sought, particularly if the accident has a permanent effect, such as the inability to work for a period of time, the need for full time care or in the case of serious injury there is a consequence to the injury where long term disability requires lifetime care.

A claim for compensation is time limited, a victim has three years in England and Wales within which time they can claim compensation. During which time they can claim for compensation. The three-year time limitation extends from either from the date of the accident or from the date when it was recognised that the injuries will have a serious impact on the health and well-being of the victim. 

Some of the Costs you can Claim Compensation for

• All medical expenses directly incurred to your injury.
• Travel expenses.
• The cost of long and short term care needs that are required as a direct consequence of the injuries received in the accident.
• Loss of earnings, both immediately following the accident and future losses due to sick leave.
• The cost of rehabilitation, including residential rehabilitation and the cost of a professional that specialises in the type of injury.
• Compensation for damage to a vehicle or personal possessions in road traffic accidents.
• The purchase of specialist equipment that becomes necessary as a result of your injury
• The cost of any structural adaptions to your property to enable you to live in your residence.
• The cost of any prosthetics required.
• Legal costs such as Power of Attorney and other measures required due to lack of capacity.
• Compensation for the pain and suffering endured, including mental health issues.

When establishing liability for an accident, you should seek guidance from a personal injury lawyers. Liability is subject to what is often known as the “but for” test, meaning that “…but for the conduct or negligence of a third party or organisation, the accident would not have happened…”. Establishing such liability, particularly at a distance of time, requires both legal expertise and experience and possibly the services of other professionals such as accident reconstruction experts, medical experts and engineering and technical experts to navigate through the excuses and spurious arguments that will doubtless be presented.

Building Standards Abroad

Building standards can be very different from country to country and in the case of accidents due to a poorly constructed balcony or staircase in a hotel abroad, it may be necessary to commission a Local Standards Report to support a claim for compensation for injuries. 

A Local Standards Report is compiled by an expert outlining the statutory, regulatory or customary building standards in the relevant country. The Report will illustrate whether the building standards were, in fact, contravened or confirm that they meet the building standards in the country concerned, whilst less robust than in the UK and match to those that are acceptable in that country where the accident took place and therefore there is no negligence or liability.

If it is found that the safety standards of the country where the accident occurred have been compromised and that the lower standards that are discovered were instrumental in causing the accident, liability will have been demonstrated. 

There are circumstances where a Local Standards Report is not required, for example, when the circumstances of the accident are said to “speak for themselves” (res ipsa loquitur), for example, the lack of a safety rail along a narrow walkway that is high or dangerously crumbling staircase which is the only access to the hotel.

Case Study

Giambrone & Partners assisted an older lady who suffered a broken arm and other injuries whilst on holiday in Greece, having fallen down stairs in a hotel. She applied for compensation for her injuries and was met with false accusations alleging that she had caused her own injuries due to extreme drunkenness and had been “staggering” whilst wearing shoes with heels. Our client contested the allegations pointing out she wore flat shoes and that neither she or her husband consumed alcohol as they had a long drive the following day. Despite the spurious evidence that “witnesses” associated with the hotel management provided the court accepted her version of events that the accident was actually caused by the staircase having no handrail and held the hotel liable for compensation.

If you have suffered an injury through no fault of your own whilst on holiday abroad our personal injury lawyers can assist you to obtain compensation from the person or organisation that was responsible. An individual should adequately recompensed, not only for their injury but also their ruined holiday.

If you would like to know more about how to claim compensation for an accident abroad please contact us at clientservices@giambronelaw.com or please click here.