Holiday Claims
Going on holiday is normally the highlight in any person or family’s year. Not only are holidays exciting but they can also be very expensive. However all too often holidays of a lifetime can quickly turn into holidays from hell.
When things do go wrong on holiday the injured parties are normally determined to claim for their losses.
Common Holiday Complaints
So what are some of the most common holiday complaints?
1. The hotel/resort was of poor quality and not how it was represented in the brochure or by the tour operator
2. Getting food poisoning
3. Suffering a personal injury whilst abroad either at the hotel or on a trip
4. Serious flight/travel delays
If either you or one of your travel party suffered one of the complaints above (or indeed any other type of loss or injury) then you may well be entitled to bring a holiday compensation claim. When you do bring a holiday claim you will be able to claim amongst other things the following:
- Loss of the Holiday Experience – obviously your holiday which you have been looking forward for a long time has been ruined. You will be able to claim for this loss of enjoyment from the date you suffered the injury and your holiday was ruined.
- Recovery of Personal Expenses – you will be able to recover all out of poclet expenses you incurred as a result of the injury or loss. These would include for example medical bills, taxi expenses, interpreter costs, travel insurance excess etc.
- Loss of Earnings – you can claim back any loss of earnings you have suffered as a result of not being able to work as a result of the loss/injury.
- Future Losses – you will be able to claim for future losses you may suffer as a result of the loss/injury. This can include future earnings, future costs (eg medical costs) and possible pension payments that may be forfeited as a result of the accident or injury.
- Care Costs – if you require full time care as a result of the accident or injury then you will be entitled to claim for these costs.
- Costs for any Pain and Suffering – finally you will be entitled to claim for all pain and suffering you had a result of the accident. You should note that to succeed in claiming money under this head then the pain you suffered has to be very severe and for a reasonably long time.
Holiday Package Claims For Cruises
If you booked your holiday cruise through a holiday package company then the Package Travel, Package Tours and Package Holidays Regulations 1992 may apply to your claim if your cruise or was included in your holiday package and you did not enter into a separate contract of carriage. The regulations will then make the tour operator or other holiday organiser liable for all elements of the holiday which are provided as part of the packaged holiday including the boat cruise.
Group Claims
In some cases it is usual for a lot of people who stay at the same hotel to suffer the same loss or injury. For example, in cases of food poisoning at hotels or on a cruise ship, a lot of guests will suffer. In these cases, it may be useful for all the injured people to bring a claim together. The reason for that is that it can be quite difficult to prove food poisoning in a one off case. The hotel, tour operator or ship liner will do all they can to protect their reputation and cover up the illness as much as possible. The more people who bring the same claim then the greater the evidence that something did indeed go wrong on holiday. This will also hopefully bring enough pressure on the tour operator or liner company to settle.
It is therefore important that if you go on holiday and suffer an illness or injury or loss (eg the hotel was of a poor standard) that you think other guests might have suffered, to try and locate these people, exchange details, compare notes and try and bring a coordinated response together.
In these type of cases it may be best to see a lawyer together and he will advise on the merits of bring a group claim or not.
What To Do On Your Return
If you have suffered a loss on holiday then upon your return to the UK it is vital that you do the following:
- If you have suffered an injury then see a doctor, explain what happened and get him to conduct all necessary medical tests which might corroborate your claim (eg taking stool samples in the case of food poisoning)
- See a lawyer who can advise you further on how best to proceed with your claim. Most lawyers operate under a No Win No Fee policy for this type of work so if they consider you have a good claim then it will not cost you any money to bring a claim.
