A woman had to cut short her holiday to Portugal with a friend after she fell on a wet floor at a hotel while carrying two cups of tea, striking her head and scalding herself.
She was walking across the dining room in the hotel carrying the drinks when, suddenly and without warning, she slipped, fell backwards and struck the back of her head on the floor.
A small section of the floor had just been mopped by a member of the hotel staff, but no wet floor signs had been placed in the area and no efforts had been made to warn the woman of the slip hazard.
The woman, who hadn’t realised the floor was wet, was left with scalding injuries to her arms and neck after the hot tea went over her, which took around four weeks to heal.
She also sustained a back sprain with bruising and continues to suffer mild neck symptoms which continue to hinder her day-to-day activities.
Woman makes accident abroad claim over holiday injury
The woman instructed Hudgell Solicitors’ expert Travel Litigation team to make a claim for compensation against the hotel after making an enquiry through our website.
Our client was able to prove the floor was wet by taking a video. She also kept the hotel’s accident report form, which was signed by the hotel manager and confirmed she slipped on a wet floor and no wet floor signs had been used.
As part of the legal case, it was alleged that a member of staff was directly at fault and that the hotel is liable for its employee.
Lucy Hughes, Travel Litigation Executive at Hudgell Solicitors, who represented the woman, said: “When the member of staff finished cleaning the floor, they should have put up a sign warning guests of the wet floor.
“If a warning sign had been used my client would have taken extra care and would not have slipped and sustained scalds and soft-tissue injuries.
“My client and her friend booked flights and travelled home early because of the injuries. She saw her GP when she returned home and continued to take regular pain killers.
“Because of the accident abroad she suffered, my client struggled with activities such as gardening, running and yoga for around a year.”
Holiday injury claim ended with ‘successful outcome’ for our client
The defendant holiday company in the case continued to deny liability and requested that we correspond directly with the hotel’s solicitors in Portugal.
But Ms Bevis added: “This was not an attractive option because the legal procedure is different in Portugal and there could be potential language barriers.
“We insisted that we would not deal with overseas solicitors and that the holiday company must deal with the claim.
“Shortly after this, my client received an offer from the holiday company which we rejected, but then it came back with an increased offer of £8,000 which my client accepted.
“I was pleased that we were able to achieve a successful outcome for my client without the need to go to court and she was very happy with the amount received.”
Click here for other examples of clients we have helped make a claim after an accident abroad >>
