No win, no fee Legionnaires Disease compensation claims
You can be represented by a highly-experienced accidents and illness abroad lawyer at no upfront cost to you. Under our No Win No Fee agreement you only pay a pre-agreed percentage of the compensation awarded if your case is successful.
Legionnaires’ disease holiday claims
Legionnaires’ disease can be serious and statistics show you are more likely to contract it when abroad, with more than 1,000 travellers contracting it every year.
It can be contracted by breathing in tiny droplets of water-containing bacteria that cause an infection in the lungs.
Clear regulations are in place with regards to the steps which must be taken to prevent Legionella as it can be a very dangerous, if not fatal, illness which is entirely avoidable.
It is commonly a problem in buildings shared by many people and which have complex water systems, so is often an issue in hotels, holiday resorts or cruise ships.
Specialists in Legionnaires compensation claims
At Hudgell Solicitors, our expert holiday accident and illness solicitors have supported many people who have returned home from abroad with Legionnaires’ disease.
Causes of legionnaires disease in the cases we have seen have included hot tubs, showers, spas, gyms and air-conditioning systems, but it can also be found in indoor fountains and water features, cooling towers, condensers, misting and irrigation systems and food displays that use humidified air.
If you contracted the illness while on holiday you could be entitled to Legionnaires’ disease compensation. The amount you can claim depends on the length and severity of your illness and the impact on your health and finances.
Symptoms of Legionnaires’ disease
Legionnaires’ disease symptoms usually present as similar to a severe cold or ‘flu’ and can lead to a headache and fever, with chills and aching muscles. This is often followed by a dry cough which can progress to having difficulty breathing.
It is important to stress that most people who have been exposed to legionella bacteria will begin developing symptoms anywhere from 48 hours up to 10 days following that exposure, so often that can be after returning from holiday.
If you have the symptoms of Legionnaires’ disease and you are still on holiday you should report it to the hotel, cruise ship or holiday operator representative as soon as possible and seek an appointment with a doctor. If you’ve returned home, see your GP immediately.
It is important that any outbreak is recorded with health officials to ensure it is investigated and actions taken to make the environment safe for other holidaymakers.
Making a claim for compensation
Hudgell Solicitors will support you through making a claim for compensation for contracting Legionnaires’ disease whilst on holiday abroad.
This will include contacting the hotel, cruise operator or package tour holiday company to request information as to the outbreak and the source of the bacteria.
We will request information with regards to the policies and maintenance of water systems to control legionella, to check to see if standards and requirements have not been met.
Investigations by our team in the past have led to it being uncovered that a number of guests staying in the same complex had developed Legionnaires’ disease, strengthening the case for compensation.
Compensation settlements secured for clients
Our team secured compensation for a woman who was taken so severely ill after returning home from a holiday abroad that she needed hospital treatment.
The woman, from the West Midlands, had been on a package holiday booked through tour operator TUI. She was diagnosed with pneumonia and Legionnaires’ disease.
As part of the case, an independent medical expert was of the opinion that the infection was likely acquired from the hotel where she was staying, most likely from a mist fan, but also possibly from the air-conditioning or showers.
How to make a Legionnaires Disease claim
Make a claim in six easy steps
Free Initial Advice
Call us, request a callback or complete our online claim form and we will assess whether we think you have a claim.
Funding
We will help you to decide how best to fund your claim. Usually we will be able to offer you a No win, No fee agreement.
Letter Of Claim
We will send a letter to your opponent with details of your claim, setting out why we think they are at fault.
Obtain Medical Records & Medical Reports
We will request copies of your medical records and instruct a medical expert to prepare a report about the extent of your injuries.
Prepare Claim Valuation
We will put together a schedule of loss setting out the losses you have incurred and the extent of the injuries you have sustained.
Negotiate Settlement
We will send all the evidence to your opponent inviting their settlement proposals. If we cannot agree a reasonable settlement, we will prepare court proceedings.
Start your claim today
Feel free to give us a call or begin your claim online
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FAQs
Will I be able to make a package holiday claim for contracting Legionnaires’ disease?
If you were travelling as part of an organised package holiday, you will be able to bring legal action against the tour operator if it can be proved that Legionnaires was contracted in the hotel you were staying at, or on the cruise you were travelling on.
If you were travelling as part of a larger group, and others were confirmed with having contracted legionnaires’ disease, you can undertake a group action or group litigation that combines the experiences of your whole party into a single claim.
For your claim to be successful, our solicitors need to be able to prove who was liable for the infection and that it was caused by negligence, or a failure to follow health and safety procedures.If you’re unsure whether your circumstances mean you’re eligible to make a claim, our solicitors can help.
How long do I have to make a claim?
The time in which you can make an accident or illness abroad claim against the package tour operator is usually up to three years from the date of the accident or onset of legionella infection. If the legionella infection was contracted on a cruise ship, the time limit is two years.
We’d always recommend starting a claim as soon as possible after the incident so that we can begin the process and work towards securing the compensation you deserve.
What will my Legionnaires’ disease compensation claim cover?
- A specialist legal team – Working with foreign law experts across Europe, America and beyond to get justice for those who contract Legionnaires disease when staying in a hotel abroad, or from a holiday on a cruise ship. This will include contacting the defendants to secure information relating to their standards for controlling legionella in water systems, and details of any other people affected.
- Independent expert opinions – We’ll arrange for independent experts to provide their opinions on your case, such as medical experts to assess your illness to ascertain its impact on your health, and health and safety experts to provide an opinion on the management of water systems and likely source of contamination.
- Settlement negotiation– We will calculate how much compensation we believe you are entitled to, based on the severity of your illness and the impact it has had on you, including loss of holiday enjoyment, the cost of ongoing treatment, potential loss of earnings, and costs incurred due to changes to your holiday plans. Should we secure an offer of a financial settlement, we will advise you throughout that process, based on our many years’ experience of handling similar claims.
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Why it’s important to highlight the risks from Legionnaires’ disease as travel abroad increases
You can get Legionnaires’ disease if you breathe in tiny droplets of water containing bacteria that cause an infection in the lungs, which can be serious. Poor conditions at a hotel, a holiday resort or on a cruise ship could be responsible for the infections because of their complex water systems. The two main factors […]
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