Although you might not believe it from looking out the window, but we are well and truly in summer holiday season. As we can never rely on the Irish weather and as the Irish economy thankfully continues to grow, many people have planned to holiday abroad. Unfortunately, every year a portion of people’s holidays are ruined, when they are injured in accidents* while they are abroad. So do these people have any recourse in the Irish courts?
This depends on how the accident occurred and more particularly how your holiday was booked. Under the Package Holiday and Travel Trade Act 1995, if you suffered personal injuries in an accident whilst abroad, on an organised package holiday, you can successfully bring a claim against the company or the tour operator who organised the holiday. This is obviously dependant on you showing that the accident was caused by the negligence of a third party that was or should have been under the control of the Tour operator.
Tour operators have a duty care to their customers, and are liable to compensate you for any damage caused by their failure to perform the contract or by the improper performance of the contract they have with you. This duty of care extends to third parties engaged by the tour operator, such as the hotel or the transport providers. As such, they are obliged to provide you with safe and hygienic accommodation and transport.
Therefore, if you are injured because you are caused to slip and fall at the poolside because it is excessively wet and not monitored appropriately or you are injured by a hazard in the hotel or you get food poisoning due to the unhygienic preparation of the food at the hotel, you may be able to bring a personal injury action* against the tour operator, through the Irish Courts.
If you are unfortunate enough to be in such an accident*, you should immediately report it to both the hotel manager and your tour operator. However, you should never discuss the issue of compensation until you have sought the advice of a solicitor who specialises in personal injury law*.
For further information in relation to accidents or indeed any aspect of personal injury law*, please do not hesitate to contact Hanahoe and Hanahoe solicitors on 045 897784 or at info@hanahoeandhanahoe.com.
This article is merely for information purposes and is not and should not be taken as legal advice. If you have any queries in relation to this or any other aspect of personal injury* law, you should consult with a solicitor who specialises in personal injury law*. No solicitor/client relationship or duty of care or liability of any nature exists between Hanahoe and Hanahoe solicitors, until you receive written confirmation that we are acting as solicitors on your behalf.