How to Claim for Holiday Accidents

Having an accident while on holiday is an extremely unfortunate situation, and depending on the accident, can have long-term impacts on your quality of life.

If you have been injured while on holiday, whether this is abroad or in the UK, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries.

To assist you with your claim, we’ve compiled all the most important information you need to know about holiday accident claims to ensure your claims process runs as smoothly as possible.

Four of the most common types of holiday accidents

People who have been injured often do not claim compensation as they simply do not realise that they may be entitled.

It can also be difficult to know if you have the grounds for a claim or not, depending on the type of accident you had.

Below are four of the most common types of holiday accidents:

  1. Slips, trips, and falls

Slippery and/or uneven walkways and poorly maintained railings and bannisters can all result in you slipping, tripping and/or falling during your holiday.

  1. Road accidents

Local laws and customs around driving, crossings and traffic lights can often catch tourists out during their holiday. Additionally, you may be involved in a road traffic accident during arranged transport, such as your transfer from the airport to your hotel.

  1. Food poisoning

The hot climate can cause bacteria to grow and spread rapidly and so extra care needs to be taken around riskier foods such as chicken and seafood. Unfortunately, in some instances, restaurants may slip up, causing you to get food poisoning. 

  1. Sports and excursions

When on holiday, you may take part in activities that you never normally do, such as paragliding, for example. Sporting and excursion accidents can occur if you do not receive a proper briefing before the activity, or if the equipment is faulty.

What is the process for holiday accident claims?

The process for claiming differs for each country, as well as the type of holiday. For example, the process will be different if you injured yourself on a package holiday and everything was booked through an agent rather than a holiday that you booked directly yourself.

In order for personal injury solicitors to determine the next best course of action, they’ll need to clarify a few details, such as:

  • Did you book the holiday directly or through a package holiday provider?
     
  • If the holiday was booked yourself and you had an accident at the hotel or during an excursion, we’d need to determine the correct point of contact.
     
  • If the holiday accident was during a package holiday, and everything including flights and accommodation was booked through them, then package holiday injuries are under the package tour regulations and ABTA. In this case, we can pursue a normal claim in our jurisdiction.

Our standard procedure for holiday accident claims is as follows:

  1. Register the claim through the online initial claims system portal – this is for claims worth up to £25K.     
  1. If the case is more serious, we can send a letter of claim to the tour company alleging negligence.
                                   
  2. If we can’t resolve it through those means, then Court proceedings will begin.

No matter what route we decide t