International/foreign accident claims

More and more people are now taking holidays, working and even moving abroad. So what would happen if you suffered a personal injury whilst in a foreign country?

Claiming for injury or illness abroad can be difficult and can often involve complex issues.

Common injuries that we are seeing abroad are often as a result of:

• Defective flooring in a hotel
• Injuries from day excursions
• Participating in sporting activities
• Injuries from transport on holiday
• Food poisoning and poor standards of hygiene

In the past claiming for compensation used to be excessively difficult as it used to be subject to the law of the country where the accident happened. It’s different to the UK as your fees may not be paid. However with recent changes in UK and European law it is now easier to make claims for accidents abroad. New regulations called Package Travel, Package Holiday and Package Tour came into action in 1992. As well as these, in 1993 the Motor Insurance Directive arrived. These regulations made it possible to make a claim in the UK after having an accident abroad.

However not all holidays are part of a package. Anyone that has organised their own holiday or business trip and has suffered an accident whilst over seas may have to follow the laws of the country the accident happened when making a personal injury claim.

If you have arranged your holiday with a tour operator, it is their duty to make sure their customers are in accommodation that is safe and hygienic and where they are not exposed to the risk of injury, disease or infection. If this duty is broken and you suffer because of it you may have a claim against your tour operator in the UK.

Anyone involved in a road traffic accident in Europe may be entitled to compensation; this can be claimed from the driver’s insurance company and done in the UK due to the Motor Insurance Directive in 2003.

It is essential to have the best help and advice when claiming for an accident that has occurred internationally. The complications that you may well face will be best handled by Professional experts that have years of experience within no win no fee claims, Accident Consult are those experts.

With your free consultation, Accident Consult can answer all of your queries and give you access to all the information you need to know.

Tags: accidents, accommodation, business trip, europe, flooring, food poisoning, holidays, insurance, insurance company, motor insurance, package holiday, personal injury claim, risk, road traffic accident