Holiday Injury Claims

Welcome to the website of Boris Kremer, a UK personal injury solicitor.

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Overview of holiday injury claims

We are handling a number of compensation claims against British tour operators, in respect of injuries sustained on holidays abroad.

Normally, tour operators handle such claims "in-house". They often put up firm resistance, even in cases where there is obvious negligence.

The insurers acting for package holiday firms normally contest holiday accident claims on the basis that there are lower standards of safety overseas.

One frequent example concerns slipping accidents in hotels in Southern Europe. Marble is commonly used for floors and staircases in the region, and UK holidaymakers often find such flooring excessively slippery.

Under the pre-action protocol for foreign injury claims, we have to allow the defendants 6 months in which to investigate the claim and report their decision on legal liability.

Unlike with claims arising from accidents at work or vehicle collisions, seldom do holiday injury claims reach settlement before court proceedings are issued.

The relevant law

We normally rely on the Package Travel Regulations, which were introduced in 1992.

Under the Regulations, a holiday injury claim can be brought in the UK, despite the injury having been sustained overseas.

For the Regulations to apply, the injured person must have purchased a package holiday. Within the price must be included both the accommodation and the flight.

If one of those two features is missing, then the only other alternative is to start the claim in the foreign jurisdiction, with the assistance of local lawyers. This can be a complex and uncertain process.

Case studies

We have previously acted for a number of individuals who have made a compensation claim following a ruined holiday. Such claims have included:

• Knee injuries suffered by a woman who collided with a glass sliding door that failed to open automatically
• A slipping accident, resulting from a swimming pool attendant allowing the pool to overflow
• Head injuries while on a "champagne dive", where the holiday rep threw a champagne bottle, striking the client on the head
• Facial lacerations suffered by a child, as a result of defective flooring at an overseas hotel.

Holiday injury claim