Ways to File a Personal Injury Claim for Accidents on Holiday
11/24/09
If you are injured in any accident while enjoying your holidays either in the UK or any other country, and you have booked your holiday package through a tour operator, as well as your movements or activities at the time of accident were part of that package, you can file a personal injury claim against the tour operator. If the tour operator belongs to the UK, the personal injury compensation claim would come under the jurisdiction of the Courts of England and Wales and would be dealt with by a UK solicitor expert in personal injury claims.
A tour operator is answerable for all the services offered in the holiday package under the Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992 Act. These services can be hotel accommodation, food, cruises, air travel, coach or car facility, and expeditions. According to the Regulations 1992 Act, a package means, “The pre-arranged combination of at least two of the following components when sold or offered for sale at an inclusive price and when the service covers a period of more than twenty-four hours or includes overnight accommodation-a) transport; b) accommodation; c) other tourist services not ancillary to transport or accommodation and accounting for a significant proportion of the package.”
Booking the holiday package through a credit card gives you extra protection. The Regulations apply to all package holidays booked through UK tour operators and provide safety to business travelers also. Health and safety standards may be different in different countries. Therefore, local standards of health and safety must be taken into consideration while applying for the compensation claim. All foreign personal injury claims are not covered under the Regulations.
If someone has reserved travel and accommodation separately, in that case the responsible party can be sued directly using the local legal system. Similarly, if someone gets injured during a local tour while seeing a place of interest due to the carelessness of the day tour organizer, he can file a case against that organizer also. The Regulations would help you only if you have reserved your tour through UK tour operator. It is always sensible to consult some experienced accident claims lawyers before filing any case. Generally, the lawyers offer a free, no win no fee service.
