UK Government figures show around 2,500 British people find themselves in a foreign hospital each year – many of those will be on their summer holidays.
Hudgell Solicitors’ specialist accidents abroad legal team has been giving advice to radio and TV audiences this week about what they should do if they’ve been injured while on holiday. If you’ve booked a package holiday this summer, then your tour operator has a duty of care to keep you safe.
Our travel legal experts Tracy Stansfield and Marc Dando have been giving advice on who may be at fault, what you can claim for and, whether it’s best to bring a claim for compensation through your travel insurance or a legal representative.
The most common types of accidents holidaymakers experience are:
- Accidents in airports, planes and transfer buses – including injuries from items falling from overhead lockers and burns and scalds from hot-drinks spillages
- Injuries in hotels – from falls in poorly lit areas and slips on wet surfaces to accidents involving glass doors
- Swimming pool injuries – from poorly maintained swimming pools and surrounding areas leading to serious cuts and injuries
- Activity accidents – from injuries on water-taxis to quad-bike and race day accidents.
- Accidents on booked excursions.
- Road Traffic Accidents.
If you’ve been injured in an accident abroad through no fault of your own, you could be entitled to claim compensation. Hudgell Solicitors’ travel specialists support people whose holidays turn into nightmares due to unexpected accidents.
Holidaymaker awarded compensation after fracturing her spine
Our client says she feared for her life after suffering a fracture to her spine on a water taxi crossing between Fuerteventura and the island of Lobos.
The woman, of Chelsea, London, was holidaying with her daughter and had spent the day on the uninhabited island and nature reserve after a calm crossing from the mainland that morning.
However, by the time they were due to make the return journey at around 3pm, she says conditions in the Atlantic Ocean had changed drastically, meaning they faced huge waves, on a boat without fixed seats or lifejackets.
The woman, 54, who was recently awarded a £15,000 damages settlement for the injuries she suffered recalled:
It was absolutely horrendous, one of the worst experiences of my life,
The crossing in the morning was fine, and I must admit that at that point I’d not really been concerned by the fact that there were no fixed seats on the boat, or the fact that we weren’t given life jackets. It was a pleasant experience.
However, when it was time to return, the sea was really rough, so much so that the captain struggled to get the boat to the area where we had to board the boat. It must have taken him about 15 to 20 minutes to get to the steps where we were waiting.
Once we got out to sea the waves were huge, probably about 8ft high, and I was immediately uncomfortable with the conditions and how fast he was going.
We went over a huge wave and I was thrown up into the air and I was slammed back down into my seat. I immediately felt the most excruciating pain in my back and I was completely unable to steady myself,
Because I screamed out so loudly and was clearly in so much pain he stopped the boat, but because the sea was so rough it felt like the boat was going to tip over, and that would have been me in the water, with a broken back and no life jacket.
On returning home the woman contacted Hudgell Solicitors’ specialist injuries abroad compensation claims team, and a claim for damages was made on her behalf against the boat trip operators, Fuertecharter, which is based in Corralejo, Las Palmas.
Solicitor Paul McClorry said it was a challenging case, which ultimately saw Fuertecharter and their insurer served with English legal proceedings, to ensure the best outcome could be secured.
Couple seriously injured in Greece after being hit by motorbike
Zoran Kittlety and Alisha Owens from Bath were left with a broken leg and a fractured skull in the accident abroad which happened on the first day of their Greek holiday in February 2023.
After they eventually arrived home Alisha was unable to return to work as a children’s nursery and Zoran did not return to his role as a manager at a builders’ merchants for three months.
Tracy Stansfield, holiday accident claims expert and associate solicitor at Hudgell Solicitors said:
Both my clients suffered severe injuries where the long-term impact is still unknown; this was through no fault of their own.
At Hudgell Solicitors we leave no stone unturned to ensure our clients are fully compensated for the accidents abroad they suffer, but the legal landscape for such claims has changed. Holidaymakers should be aware that if they are involved in a road traffic accident in Europe, the legal process can now be more complicated.
Hudgell Solicitors is now obtaining independent medical evidence from a range of specialist consultants to assess the impact of Alisha and Zoran’s injuries.
Amateur golfer suffered second-degree burns from his hotel shower
Peter Leak, who was 50 when he booked the golfing break with friends, says the scalding water temperature at the hotel was an accident waiting to happen and the outcome could have been much worse if it was a child or an older person.
I was in hospital for ten days and couldn’t work for six weeks; I had time to think about it and I thought, ‘this shouldn’t have happened’.
He is represented in his package holiday accident claim by Hudgell Solicitors who have claimed that as the trip had been booked as a package holiday the tour operator should have ensured the accommodation, facilities and services supplied would be of a satisfactory standard and safe.
We are also aware that others had complained about the hot temperatures before, but the hotel did not act on those concerns, if it had done it may have prevented these nasty injuries.
Read more: Experts in Holiday Injury & Accidents Abroad
