What to do If You’ve Had an Accident on Holiday

When you’re getting on the plane, the last thing on your mind is suffering an injury or having an accident. You’re thinking about blue skies, calm seas, and sunny beaches, not spending your holiday in a hospital or laid up with a broken leg. Unfortunately, accidents can happen when you’re on holiday, anywhere and at any time. It could be in the airport, at the hotel, on a boat, in a car, on the ski slopes and even on the beach. Being prepared for such an eventuality and knowing what to do will go a long way, so here are some things to bear in mind.

Making a Holiday Accident Claim

If you’re involved in an accident abroad and it wasn’t your fault, you should be able to make a claim for compensation. This type of claim is a little more difficult as you’ll need to make it in the country where the accident happened. If you travelled on a package holiday, you can get support from bodies and regulations that have been set up to help on such occasions, including The Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992.

Reporting the Accident

As soon as an accident happens, you must report it to the hotel management, a representative in the resort, or your package organisers head office. The accident must be recorded in an accident book, and you should ask for a copy of the entry. If you’ve taken out travel insurance, you also need to notify the insurance company.

Getting Medical Attention

It’s important you seek medical assistance as soon as you’re injured. If you wait, it may affect your compensation claim. Ask for copies of the medical report and keep receipts for any charges you pay. It also helps if you take the details of any witnesses to the accident or what caused it and check they’re prepared to make a statement if required. Photographs of the accident, what caused it and your injuries are also going to be helpful. Write down what happened and draw a sketch of the scene. This helps when it comes to remembering what happened.

What to do When You Get Home

You should always seek legal advice as soon as you get home. A personal injury Manchester solicitor such as Pabla and Pabla Solicitors will be able to offer expert advice and assistance in making a compensation claim. There are several things you can claim for such as loss of enjoyment, out-of-pocket expenses, and a claim for loss of earnings if your accident is serious.

Conclusion

Nobody wants to think about accidents when making plans for a holiday. However, more and more people are choosing to holiday abroad, so it’s vital you know what to do in case the worse happens. Being involved in an accident is not always clear-cut whether it occurs in the UK or anywhere else in the world. Getting advice from a specialist who knows what they’re doing will help you move on from such an incident and get on with your life.

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A mum, a traveller and a blogger, never happier than when holiday with my family but love writing about my travels and listening to yours too. Say hello if you come across my writings online x