Whilst travelling for a holiday to Australia, our client suffered burns to her forehead and left forearm after a flight attendant tripped and spilt boiling water on her whilst she was asleep.
These injuries meant that our client was unable to truly enjoy her trip to Melbourne.
Our client received medical treatment from a doctor at Hong Kong airport during a stop-off;
She was advised to keep her head bandaged for the entire trip. Our client’s ability to enjoy the holiday was significantly impacted by her injuries and she needed to avoid the sunshine.
Simple tasks such as washing her hair were impossible and she incurred additional expenses in having others assist her.
Thankfully the injury healed quickly after the holiday and, whilst there are faint marks left from the burns, no noticeable scarring remains.
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The Legal Case
Our client contacted Hudgell’s Travel Litigation team. Headed up by the Legal 500 ranked Solicitor, Paul McClorry, the travel team at Hudgells are recognised as experts in their field.
Due to the nature of this incident, the claim was brought under the Montreal Convention which ensures that whatever the injury suffered in-flight, a holiday accident claim can be made.
Under this rule, a passenger with a claim of this nature would not need to prove that the airline was negligent, just that the injury was unexpected and not their own fault.
Our client was not at fault for her injury, therefore a finding of negligence on the part of the airline was not required,
Liability for the holiday injury claim was admitted and the matter settled quickly in spite of industry wide Covid19 related delays; we are able to secure an appointment with a plastic surgeon allowing the matter to progress in spite of the current pandemic.
In this instance, our specialist accident abroad lawyer was able to successfully secure a settlement of £5,000 to compensate our client.
Hudgell Solicitors comment:
Lucy Hughes, Travel Litigation Specialist, said: “It’s never nice for anyone travelling away for a holiday of a lifetime to have it ruined before it’s even started with an incident like this. An accidental trip by the airline attendant caused physical and financial disruption for our client, and whilst this was an accident, that the Montreal Convention ensures that passengers are recompensed.
“It is such a shame that our client wasn’t able to enjoy the holiday she had planned and was so looking forward to; we are however pleased that we were able to achieve a financial settlement that might just help towards a future trip. We hope this matter offers a little peace of mind to others who have similar misfortune, that legal support is available if you suffer injuries whilst travelling abroad.”
