A holidaymaker who missed her flight home and was unable to work for months after slipping on a hotel’s wet floor has been awarded compensation by the travel operator TUI.
The woman, from Lincolnshire, was on a package holiday at the Blue Medina Gardens, Marrakesh, Morocco in 2022 when, on the final day of the break, she slipped hitting her head on a wall and dislocating her elbow.
“We needed to change before travelling to the airport to catch our flight back to Manchester and as we had already checked out, the hotel gave us a disabled ground floor room to use,” she recalled.
I didn’t see the wet floor and I went flying, I hit my head and was unconscious.
My husband ran to reception asking for a first aider but was told there wasn’t one. Eventually he found someone we met on holiday who was a nurse, and she came and put me in the recovery position.
The couple travelled by taxi to a local hospital and after an X-ray was taken a dislocated elbow was diagnosed and the arm was placed in a brace. Then, after paying the medical expenses they left for the airport.
Even though the plane hadn’t taken off, we were told it was too late to check-in.
TUI told us we’d have to wait ‘till the following week for another flight and we’d have to pay for our own accommodation until then. I was in so much pain.
The husband managed to book a Ryanair flight for the next morning and when they returned home, they went to their local A&E department.
They said the hospital in Marrakesh had done a good job. But I was off work for 11 weeks on statutory sick pay and those were difficult times.
We really had to cut back, it got depressing and I was angry about how TUI had treated us, they didn’t provide any assistance, they didn’t take any responsibility and I was in pain and losing a lot of wages and I felt that wasn’t right.
Arrange a call back
The woman contacted Hudgell Solicitors accidents abroad legal advice on the recommendation of a friend.
She was represented by Marc Dando, a specialist lawyer in accidents abroad, who believed that as the couple had booked a package holiday, TUI had a duty of care to look after them.
We believed the tour operator had been negligent. Guests should feel they are reasonably safe when they are at their hotel. But, in this case the floor in the hotel room was wet because the hotel staff had not cleaned it or checked it after it had been used by a previous guest.
Not ensuring it was maintained was a breach of duty – they had exposed our client to a hazard – using a room with a wet floor when it wasn’t safe to do so.
The injury was significant and seriously affected our client’s ability to work for almost three months.
In an out-of-court settlement, a compensation award of £6,750 was agreed.
I’m glad it’s over and we’ve had the cost of the medical bills, the taxis and the extra flights back covered. But I’ve had to change jobs as I can no longer lift heavy things which I was doing when I was a cook.
I didn’t know if I would get anything, but I thought it was worth trying and TUI have now taken some responsibility and I found the legal process really good, I was always informed and kept up to date.
Package holiday claims
Package holiday tour operators have a duty of care to their customers no matter where in the world you travel.
If you’re taken ill or injured in an accident abroad through no fault of your own, you could be entitled to claim compensation. The most common types of accidents and illnesses we see are:
- Slips, trips and falls.
- Injuries as a result of faulty furniture or electrical appliances.
- Guests walking into unmarked glass doors.
- Food poisoning and bacterial infections.
- Bed bug infestation.
- Bus and coach crashes.
Package holiday accidents and illnesses can result in serious problems, and many are entirely avoidable, so if you’ve suffered while on holiday abroad talk to us and find out if you can claim.
Read more: Package Holiday Injury & Illness Claims
