One of the aspects of holidays abroad people enjoy most is relaxing beside the hotel swimming pool and dipping in and out throughout the day to make the most of the sun.
However, in our work supporting those who claim for accidents on holiday, swimming pools are a common causes of injuries.
Thankfully, most of the cases we see result in injuries which don’t have a long-term health impact, such as cuts, bruises and lacerations.
However, they without doubt cause pain, discomfort, anguish and bring an abrupt end to holiday enjoyment for the injured party, and those with them.
There are also some cases where injuries are more severe, such as head and spinal injuries, often related to issues around safety, swimming pool depths and warnings.
We have successfully helped many people secure compensation following successful holiday accident claims involving swimming pools when they have travelled as part of a package holiday, led by a UK holiday bookings specialists.
As part of the terms of package holidays, people are protected by an agreement that the facilities and services provided will be of a satisfactory standard, and maintained with reasonable care and skill to ensure they are safe.
The common failings we see in which basic standards of maintenance and management have not been met, leading to injury, include;
- Damaged tiles surrounding the swimming pool area.
- Damaged / missing tiles within the swimming pool.
- Defective or broken drainage systems / grids around the pool.
- Lack of safety signage in and around the swimming pool.
Arrange a call back
£3,500 damages secured for girl who needed hospital treatment
In a recent case led by our team, damages of £3,500 were secured from national holiday operator TUI after our client, a 12-year-old girl who was on holiday with her family at the Odessa Hotel in Cyprus, suffered a deep cut to her big toe on her right foot, caused by a cracked step beside the pool.
She needed to be taken to hospital by ambulance for the wound to be cleaned and dressed, had to return to the hospital two days later so they could re-dress the wound, and then again on the day they family left the resort.
On returning to the UK she needed to see her GP twice a week to have the dressing changed, and when she returned to school she was still walking on crutches.
Damaged pool tiles caused cut to toe which ruined rest of holiday
In another case in which damages were agreed with TUI another client suffered a foot injury when getting out of the swimming pool at the Grand Palladium Punta Cana Resort & Spa in the Dominican Republic.
The swimming pool floor was found to have a number of tiles missing or not laid properly and sharp edges were exposed. The injury caused significant bleeding and our client was taken to the doctors by a hotel staff member.
Although again only a relatively minor injury, our client needed to change the dressing three times a day, could not apply pressure to the injury and was limping for the duration of his holiday, forcing him to cancel two planned excursions.
Can I make a claim for being injured in a swimming pool on holiday?
In cases where the injury has been caused by a hotel’s failure to maintain its pool and the surrounding area to expected standards, damages can be pursued to compensate for the injury suffered, and the loss of holiday enjoyment at very least.
We would advise making a complaint to the hotel and requesting that a written report of the incident be recorded.
When we take a case on we will often request to see the hotel’s accident book entries for an extended period prior to the accident, as this will highlight if any areas of concern were not appropriately addressed.
We will also check staff training record and qualifications, and investigate inspection and cleaning records, audits and customer service reports, to ensure standards were as they should have been. We will also check that the facilities comply with relevant local standards.
Specialist holiday injury compensation specialists – no win no fee
Our expert lawyers work with foreign law experts across Europe, America and beyond to get justice for those affected by preventable injuries and injuries overseas.
Claims are usually pursued on a no win, no fee agreement, which means you won’t have any financial risk surrounding your case.