US Personal Injury : Holiday Claims

As each year more Britons take their holidays in the U.S. and especially Florida, the incidence of holiday accidents is rising and holiday insurance is often insufficient to cover losses.

If you were injured in the U.S. while on holiday, you may well be able to claim compensation in the U.K. Accidents occurring abroad while on a package holiday are subject to the U.K.’s Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992. The tour operator has duties to you during your holiday and is strictly liable in relation to any act or omission of their agents who are providing part of the holiday package. An agent may include hotels, airlines, cruise ship operators, excursion organisers, transport companies, etc… If you suffer injury or illness during the course of activities arranged as part of the package, you are entitled to bring action against the tour operator in the English courts. Where an injury did not occur in an activity which was part of a holiday package, the regulations will not apply although you may still in some circumstances have the choice of bringing a claim in the U.S. or U.K. courts.

You should consider your options in the U.S. before bringing an action in the U.K. It is important to note that laws very from state to state and to be aware of the different limitations periods, jurisdictional prerequisites, recoverable damages, the option of bringing claims not available under English law, your or third parties’ insurance policies, and the treatment of medical and legal costs and expenses. Other matters may require consideration, in relation to sea cruises, the Athens Convention, and in relation to flights, the Warsaw Convention.

Whether you are still on holiday or already back in the U.K., you should seek immediate advice from lawyers who practise both U.S. and U.K. law. Bennetts has the international knowledge and experience needed to handle your claim.