Compensation claims for personal injury must be made within three years of an accident or illness caused by no fault of your own

As a degree of normality returns following the Covid 19 pandemic and people look forward to travelling abroad for a holiday.  Many people understandably look forward to a welcome break overseas; the Office of National Statics (ONS) reports that there were 93.1 million visits abroad by UK residents in 2019.  Unfortunately, many tourists have accidents abroad that they were not responsible for, caused by the negligence or deliberate action of a third party.

A person injured in an accident through no fault of their own may be able to claim compensation for their injuries.  The Association of British Insurers (ABI) reports that 3,000 holidaymakers every week need emergency medical treatment abroad at a cost of £3.9 million each week, many of them having had an accident or were suffering from an illness, such as food poisoning, caused by the actions of another person.  The cost of an air ambulance from Europe alone can be between £12,000-£25,000 depending on the severity of the injury.  The travel insurance industry dealt with a total of 510,000 travel insurance claims in 2017, with 159,000 medical expense claims accounting for 52% of the claims outlay. 

Nobody goes on holiday expecting to have an accident but a surprising number of people fail to insure themselves against injury. Giambrone & Partners' personal injury lawyers have years of experience in helping individuals with personal injury compensation claims across Europe and are only too familiar with the problems that arise when an injured person has no insurance or inadequate cover.

If you have had the misfortune to have an accident on holiday abroad, travel insurance will cover your medical expenses and may also cover your legal expenses when making a claim for compensation up to the amount indicated on your policy.  It is extremely important to read and understand the terms of your travel insurance policy so that in the event of an accident you are immediately aware of whether you can make a claim and can start gathering evidence to support a claim.

The personal injury lawyers at Giambrone & Partners point out that even if an accident and the resulting injury was not your fault, your claim may not be accepted if you were under the influence of drugs or alcohol, regardless of whether this behaviour had no bearing on the accident.  Extreme sports such as skiing and white water rafting may require an extension to your policy or the purchase of a separate policy in order to provide cover for the activities deemed to be risky.

Claims for compensation for an accident or other event resulting in injury or illness are time-limited and must be made within three years of the injury or from when the time when an injury was recognised to have caused a detriment. There are some limited exceptions.

Giambrone & Partners’ personal injury lawyers strongly recommend that you take steps to prepare for every eventuality including the possibility of an accident whenever, you travel abroad you take out comprehensive insurance cover and read the policy to make absolutely sure you are protected and that there is provision for costly medical treatments and legal claims included in the policy.  You should also give contact details relating to your insurance policy to your travelling companions so that in an emergency you will receive the best treatment straight away.

If you had an accident in the past and the consequences of that accident resulted in an injury that is now impacting negatively on your health now you may be able to make a claim.  Our lawyers can help and will review the evidence and where appropriate, help you bring a claim for compensation.

If you would like to know more about whether you have a claim and how to make a claim for personal injury compensation, please email Helena Balster on HG@giambronelaw.com or please click here