The rules governing travel abroad have been overhauled and a simplified traffic light system in England came into effect on October 4 – when the current red-amber-green country lists was scrapped for a single red list of no-go destinations.
Furthermore, numerous countries have been removed from the red list, including popular holiday destination Turkey.
During the 18 months of restrictions, our expert Travel Litigation team at Hudgell Solicitors helped secure accident abroad compensation for numerous travellers who made holiday claims after suffering an injury that occurred before the Covid-19 pandemic.
One of these cases involved a 39-year-old man instructing our holiday claims solicitors after breaking his left wrist in Turkey. Our client booked a 14-night package holiday with TUI for his family at the Hotel Aqua, Icmeler, Turkey, in August 2019. The five-star hotel had an indoor swimming pool as part of its facilities, where the man was injured three days into his holiday.
He was walking from the swimming pool to the changing rooms, which involved going down a flight of tiled steps. As he got to the bottom of the stairs, the man slipped as the floor was wet and he fell heavily, landing on his left wrist after putting his hand out to stop himself. There was no rubber matting or other non-slip flooring and no signage at the time of the accident.
The next day he saw the hotel doctor and he was taken by ambulance to the Ahu Hospital, Marmaris, where X-rays showed he had broken his wrist in two places. He was then given an injection into the bone before three doctors manipulated the wrist back into place and a Plaster of Paris cast was applied.
Man made holiday injury claim after accident left his arm feeling ‘like it was on fire’
Tracy Stansfield, Associate Solicitor in our Travel team, who represented the man in his holiday accident claim, said: “Understandably, the rest of the holiday was not as enjoyable as it could have been. My client couldn’t play with his children as he would otherwise have done and he could not get his arm wet.
“For the rest of the holiday, our client could not shower properly, eat properly or get dressed properly as he said his arm ‘felt like it was on fire’.
“He couldn’t even sit out in the sun and spent most of his time in his room where there was air conditioning and he felt more comfortable.”
On his return to the UK, our client underwent physiotherapy after his cast was removed after five weeks.
The accident was reported to the TUI rep and the hotel staff in Turkey. The area where it occurred was covered by CCTV, but neither camera was working at the time of the accident.
The steps and area in question were the only way to and from the swimming pool and everyone had to use them. There were no signs around the hotel or the area warning about the floor being slippery when wet or advising guests to have footwear on at all times. Mats were then put down after the man had suffered his holiday accident.
Ms Stansfield helped the man initiate a legal case against TUI, who acknowledged the accident abroad claim, but then failed to provide a liability decision.
She subsequently made an application to court and at that point TUI made an offer to settle and, after negotiation, our client accepted £7,000 in holiday accident compensation.
Ms Stansfield commented: “I’m pleased to have been able to obtain some redress for my client who suffered a lot of pain and whose holiday was ruined. This was not a straightforward case and we often see tour operators trying to fight these cases. However, my client was pleased with the successful outcome and has made a good recovery.”
Click here for other examples of clients we have helped make a claim after an accident abroad >>