Holiday Accidents & Injuries Abroad – How To Sue For Compensation

You may be entitled to compensation if you’ve been injured while on holiday. Understanding when and how to sue for a holiday accident could help you to claim for your pain and suffering, recover financial losses and hold the responsible party to account. A specialist solicitor from our panel could help you navigate the personal injury claims process and may even be able to help you on a No Win No Fee basis.

Key Points

Get help or advice with your package holiday accident claim by speaking to one of our advisors. Speaking to an advisor is free, and they can provide a claim consultation that will look at whether you have a valid claim, how much compensation you could be eligible for and discuss what items you could submit as evidence.

A guest checks in to a hotel.

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How To Sue For A Holiday Accident

You could sue for a holiday accident if your tour operator is legally responsible for your injury or illness. Under the aforementioned legislation, UK-based package tour operators have a duty of care to customers. Holiday accident claims could be brought for accidents and injuries in hotels or other parts of your package, such as pre-booked excursions.

To make a holiday accident claim, you must show,

  1. The tour operator owed you (or a loved one) a duty of care. This is the case where you booked a package trip or where multiple elements of a holiday were booked together.
  2. They breached this duty of care. For example, a hotel may have failed to fix broken and damaged flooring around a swimming pool.
  3. You (or a loved one) were injured or became sick. In the above case, you tripped and fell, suffering a head injury.

Holiday accident compensation claims could also be brought against individual hotels, airlines or other service providers in the country where the incident occurred. These claims would be pursued under (and be subject to) that country’s legal system.

Contact us to learn more about how to sue for a holiday accident. Next, we look at what compensation could be paid.

What Compensation Can Be Paid For Accidents On Holiday?

Compensation could be paid for physical injuries and financial losses. Compensation claims may be made up of 2 heads of loss. These are general and special damages, respectively, covering physical pain and suffering and out-of-pocket expenses. How much compensation you are awarded will depend on the severity and type of injury.

For example, a severe injury, such as quadriplegia, could be awarded between £396,140 and £493,000 for the pain and suffering. These are guideline figures taken from the Judicial College (JCG). The Judicial College publishes guideline amounts of compensation for different degrees and types of injury. Personal injury solicitors may refer to the JCG when calculating what you are eligible to claim.

The following table takes figures from the JCG. These figures are not guarantees of what you will be awarded. Note, this first figure does not come from the JCG.

InjurySeverityGuideline Damages Amount
Multiple types of serious injury + special damages, such as the cost of medical treatment.Serious to severe.Up to £1,000,000+ inc special damages for lost income.
Paralysis.Quadriplegia/ tetraplegia - A£396,140 to £493,000.
Knee injury.Severe - A (ii)£63,610 to £85,100.
Psychiatric damage.Moderately severe - B.£23,270 to £66,920.
Ankle injury.Severe - B.£38,210 to £61,090.
Achilles tendon.Most serious - A.Around £46,900.
Neck injury.Moderate - B (i).£30,500 to £46,970.
Leg injury.Less serious - C (i)£21,920 to £33,880.
Back injury.Moderate - B (ii)£15,260 to £33,880.
Shoulder injury.Serious - B.£15,580 to £23,430.

Can I Reclaim Financial Losses When Suing For A Holiday Accident?

Yes, you can reclaim financial losses when suing for a holiday accident. As a result of being harmed, you may have had to meet various out-of-pocket expenses. These may be reclaimed under special damages.

You could reclaim,

  • Lost earnings, incurred due to taking time off to recover from your injury.
  • Medical expenses, such as paying for medical treatment abroad or after returning to the UK.
  • Travelling to get medical treatment.
  • Care costs, whether provided by a loved one or healthcare professional.
  • Emergency medical repatriation costs, if you needed to fly home for medical care.

You must provide evidence to reclaim any financial losses. This must show the losses or expenses incurred and its connection to your accident. You may submit wageslips, letters from an employer, bank and other financial statements and invoices.

Please contact us to learn more about how holiday injury claims are valued. An advisor can also estimate how much compensation you could be entitled to for your accident abroad claim.

Passengers sit on an aircraft.

The Common Holiday Accidents And Injuries That Could Occur^^

Holiday accidents and injuries can happen in hotels, on transport and excursions and in restaurants. Accident abroad claims could involve incidents caused by a lack of safety warnings, poor maintenance or even hygiene failures.

Common holiday accidents and injuries could include,

Slips, Trips And Falls

Slip and trip accidents could be caused by uneven paths, broken tiles around swimming pools, or unmarked wet floors.

For example,

  • Tripping over a broken path could cause a soft tissue injury, such as a twisted ankle.
  • Slipping on an unmarked wet floor could cause you to land on your knee, fracturing it.

Hotel Accidents

These could include burns from exposed heating pipes, sharp edges on staircases, handrails or other facilities, or be due to lift malfunctions, such as being stuck in a lift.

For example,

  • You could suffer burn injuries due to coming into contact with an exposed heating pipe which was not covered up and had no warning sign.
  • You could become stuck in a lift which broke down due to a lack of proper maintenance. You may experience anxiety and emotional distress.

Allergic Reactions And Food Poisoning

Allergic reactions may be caused by missing or improper allergy information, whilst food poisoning may be caused by improper storage or cross-contamination.

For example,

  • Cross contamination occurs between raw and cooked ingredients leading to your suffering a food related illness requiring hospital care.
  • You informed a server at your hotel you have an allergy, they still brought you food you were allergic to. You suffered a severe allergic reaction requiring a stay in hospital.

Road Traffic Accidents

These could occur during a pre-booked airport transfer, on airport vehicles or during pre-booked excursions.

For example,

  • You could be injured in a car accident involving your airport transfer. The transfer vehicle had not been properly maintained, causing the brakes to fail and an accident to occur.
  • You are struck by a work vehicle at an airport. The driver had not been properly trained.

Discuss your case with us and find out how to sue for a holiday accident by getting in touch with an advisor.

What Do I Need To Sue For A Holiday Accident?

To sue for a holiday accident you will need a comprehensive body of evidence. Without strong evidence your personal injury claim may be dismissed or may fail. Evidence which may support package holiday accident abroad claims includes,

  • Photographs of the accident scene or visible injuries.
  • Video of the accident taking place.
  • Medical records, showing how you were injured. These may be obtained either from a local doctor abroad, or your GP/ hospital on return to the UK.
  • Records of how the accident happened and copies of any accident reports.
  • Copies of medical bills or invoices/ receipts for other costs incurred whilst out of the UK.
    Travel documentation including tickets, invoices and receipts and hotel confirmations.

Collecting these forms of evidence and documentation can help you to build a stronger claim. In addition, you must also ensure that you make a claim within the applicable time limit. Personal injury cases must be filed within strict time limits.

If you are making your package holiday accident claim under UK legislation, how long you have to claim is set by the Limitation Act 1980. This allows you to start legal action up to 3 years after an accident. It does allow for exceptions to this time limit. Notable circumstances include,

  • Where someone was a minor when the accident occurred. The time limit does not begin  until they are 18.
  • There is no time limit where someone does not have the (mental) capacity to claim themselves.

Please note, that if you are suing for a holiday accident abroad, that country’s time limits and legal process may vary.

You may make a claim for your loved one whilst the time limit is not in effect. For further information on how to sue for an accident on holiday, contact an advisor.

An injured holidaymaker boards a boat.

Get Help With A Holiday Accident Claim From How To Sue

You can get help from How to Sue if you are thinking about making a holiday accident claim. The solicitors on our panel can offer a nationwide service, helping you no matter where you are based. One of the single biggest benefits of working with a solicitor from our panel is the No Win No Fee service they could offer.

Using a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) you won’t have to pay any solicitor’s fees for the work they provide prior to starting a claim or whilst it is progress. You would also not have to pay a solicitor’s fee in the event of an unsuccessful claim. If you win, your solicitor would deduct a legally limited success fee as a percentage of your compensation. Hence, these arrangements are called ‘No Win No Fee’.

A solicitor from our panel could provide you with expert and individually tailored services, putting your needs first. We ensure that we listen to what happened to you and support you through the entire claims process.

Some of the advantages of working with How To Sue include,

  • Help gathering evidence in the UK or abroad.
  • Help accessing specialist services, such as therapists and physiotherapists. This may include creating an individual care plan.
  • Regular updates about your case, keeping you informed about the progress of your claim.

The solicitors on our panel have decades of combined experience helping people to sue for accidents and injuries and could help to explain how to sue for a holiday accident.

Get In Touch With Our Advisors

Get in touch with one of our advisors about your case by,

A solicitor explains how to sue for a holiday accident.

Frequently Asked Questions

This section answers some of the frequently asked questions about holiday accident claims.

Can I Sue For A Loved One’s Accident On Holiday?

Yes, you can sue for a loved one’s holiday accident if they lack the mental capacity to do so themselves or are a minor. Suitable adults may do so by acting as their litigation friend.

Do I Have To Be Back In The UK To Sue For A Holiday Accident?

You do not have to be back in the UK to sue for a holiday accident. Solicitors based in the UK can handle claims remotely, allowing you to begin the claims process before you have returned home.

If I Sue For A Holiday Accident, Will I Need To Travel Abroad?

You will not usually need to travel abroad to sue for an accident on a package holiday. However, if your claim is brought under another country’s legal system you may be required to do so.

How Long Will Suing For Accident On Holiday Compensation Take?

How long suing for an accident on holiday will take depends on the complexity of your case. Where liability is disputed or cases involving serious injuries, such as a spinal injury, claims may take longer to conclude.

Learn More

Learn more about how to sue for different types of accident and injury in these guides.

References.

We hope you now know more about how to sue for a holiday accident. Please contact our team if you have any further questions.