How to claim compensation if you are injured on holiday or abroad

By Ian Morris | Updated June 12th, 2024

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When it comes to making a holiday injury claim it is much harder to know if you have a right to do so, or how to go about it. Most specialist no win no fee injury compensation solicitors working within the United Kingdom are only able to pursue claims against companies or organisations based within the UK. In the majority of cases, we can only help people claim injury compensation if they have had their accident and sustained their injuries in this country. But there are some exceptions…

Package holiday injury claims

The most common type of claim we see from those injured on holiday are slips and trips, particularly in hotel lobbies. Claiming injury compensation after a fall like this is usually an easy process if the accident happened in this country, but in a foreign country it is never as simple. However, if you have slipped (or suffered any other kind of injury) in a hotel, for example, that was booked and organised through a UK-based tour operator as part of a package holiday, you may well have a valid claim as we would attempt to hold the UK tour operator liable for placing you in a hotel that failed to ensure your safety at all times.

As with all claims for injury compensation, it is important that the details of any accident are correctly recorded and reported to the right people. In the case of an accident overseas, you should report the details to the venue and also demand that your locally based tour operator representative records the details and their cause, and then advises the UK office of the tour operator of the incident. This would give your injury compensation claim the equivalent of an accident book to refer to for evidence. You should also obtain medical treatment as soon as possible and in most cases when you have medical treatment overseas, you will need to pay for that service and then claim the costs on your travel insurance.

Holiday road accident claims

Another common kind of injury overseas are as a result of road traffic accidents. Claiming compensation for injuries in a road traffic accident in a foreign country is usually not something that a UK-based solicitor is able to assist with unless they have qualifications to operate in that country or can refer you to a solicitor based there. It is quite common for injury compensation solicitors to be qualified in English law as well as Spanish or American law, for example.

Why not see if you can claim?

If you have been injured whilst on holiday, you have nothing to lose by contacting us to discuss the details of your accident. Even if you think there is no way on earth that you will be able to claim compensation for your injuries, you may be wrong. One of the things that makes Direct2Compensation so special is our network of expert solicitors who can help people with all sorts of claims, from common scenarios through to the unusual or complicated ones such as overseas accidents.

At Direct2Compensation it won’t cost you anything to seek advice from a solicitor and it won’t cost you anything if your claim fails. You have nothing to lose and plenty to gain, so contact us today and let us find out whether or not you can claim injury compensation for your overseas travel accident. Please call our team on 01225 430285, or if you prefer, we can call you back.

78 questions have been answered on this subject - ask us your question

Comments & Questions

Read on for questions and advice about claiming, plus holiday injury claim examples...

Hi I slipped on some steps while on holiday in Cape Verde the cleaner was mopping them, I broke my wrist. On returning home my holiday insurance put me onto a solicitor to see if I had a case to sue tui for personal injury. I have given all details and paper work to them 2 months ago and still waiting for them to tell me if they will take the case. Is it normal to wait this long?

When you say you have waited 2 months, is that for the Solicitor to advise you as to whether or not they are willing to pursue a claim for you? If so, that is too long. You really should expect a decision from a Solicitor on whether or not to run a claim within a few days – say a week at most. If on the other hand, you have instructed a Solicitor and they have submitted a claim to the defendant, 2 months is not excessive in terms of waiting for their response. Indeed, you would anticipate a further couple of months before they respond to the claim.

My wife slipped on a damaged step in a Mexican hotel in June 2019, she suffered a triple leg break resulting in surgery and extensive after care. Not only was the step itself badly cracked and damaged but was also wet with no warning signs present post a tropical storm in the area. We have been trying to pursue a claim but so far have been unsuccessful. My wife hasn’t worked since the accident and continues to work towards her recovery now. Response from travel company is “nil” and we are therefore advised as they haven’t accepted liability the claim is unlikely to be a success.

It goes without saying that because of the geographical location of the accident, pursuing a claim for compensation becomes a much harder process. Whilst you may well have booked through a UK tour operator, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they have a responsibility or vicarious liability for the accident in the hotel.

If the travel company can show that they had carried out initial adequate inspections and sought the relevant assurances from the Hotel as to health and safety etc, it is unlikely that you can hold them liable. As the hotel is located in Mexico, you can’t pursue them directly under UK law and would have to seek the services of a Mexican law specialist to do so.

I am in Slovakia on a medical spa holiday since 14th October and due to return to London on 4th November.
Yesterday I went to have a massage and on the way I slipped in the locker area due to water on the floor. I was taken to hospital for x-rays and fortunately nothing is broken however am in a lot of pain in my back shoulder and hip and finding it difficult to sit. I was unable to have the prescribed spa treatments yesterday or today will be seeing the hotel doctor tomorrow for my weekly checkup.
I would appreciate it if you could advise me if it is reasonable to ask for the hotel to pay for my medical expenses as well as compensate me for loss of treatments already paid for and pain caused due to negligence of water on the floor. I have reports from both the hotel doctor (who came to attend to me yesterday and sent me to hospital) and the hospital.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Travel Insurance and what you are covered for is something that will depend on the particulars of the insurance policy that you have. As your accident happened in Slovakia, your rights in terms of compensation and claims will rest under Slovakian law. However, it would seem that it is totally reasonable to ask the Hotel to cover your costs as a minimum in this situation.

I have returned from benidorm and fell due to a pot hole in a pedestrian walkway in road. We was on our way out for a late evening show starting at 10 pm so was not under influence of alcohol as this was the start of the night.
Was seen by hospital next day due to pain and not weight bearing, strapped for a sprain and given crutches. I now will see my gp as i am unable to fully move some toes. Do i have a claim please?

If your injury happened whilst in Benidorm (Spain) you cannot pursue a claim under UK law or with a UK personal injury specialist such as ourselves – unless the cause of your fall was within the grounds of a hotel complex that you had booked via a UK based tour operator.

If the pothole that you fell in was on a public street in Spain, any right to make a claim would need to be exercised under Spanish law and via a Spanish Solicitor.

I was on holiday in Lanzarote, on the 24th of june i was walking back after playing a game of crazy golf. It had been raining as i entered the pool area i slipped i suffered a fracture pelvis, soft tissue damage to left leg. Spent 3 days in hospital. Since returning to uk i’ve attended gp and accident and emergency. I now have to see a doctor at soft tissue clinic as injuries are severe. I am in constant pain, cannot drive, my husband who is self-employed has to be with me because i cannot do anything. Can i make a claim against the hotel or the flight company? Thank you.

Any action you may be able to take, would have to be pursued under Spanish Law as the accident happened on Spanish soil. Therefore, we cannot advise you on this occasion.

On holiday in Majorca an amplifier fell and just missed the back of my husband’s head. The band were erecting the equipment and the person could not fit the amplifier properly. It crashed onto the table and smashed glass everywhere and hit my husband’s knee. The waiters came and helped us and got him up but he was not seriously hurt but very shaken as I was. Our granddaughter had died the week before we came out and family insisted we went on holiday as she would have wanted. We were very stressed and upset. The hotel knew this and were very sympathetic and one of the owners said he would like to do something so report it to TUI. It was recorded in the accident book and we reported it to the TUI rep. We contacted ABTA who said contact TUI. Despite numerous letters they say we suffered no injury and had no medical expenses. The hotel says without report from TUI there is nothing they can do although they want to. Do we just give up?

As this incident happened in Majorca, there may well be a need to have any potential action pursued under Spanish Law. You mention that your Husband’s knee was ‘hit’ in the incident. Did this cause injury? If so, is there any evidence available to demonstrate the injury? If there are no medical reports, are there photographs of the knee?

TUI may well be correct in their response to you if there was no injury but further, would then have responsibility for the mishap caused by whoever was erecting the speaker stand?

I fell heavily because of wet floor in hotel here in Majorca. Easyjet / Zurich have agreed to get me home to London etc. I have pics and hospital report, but hotel refuses to help with accident book. They called initial doctor and reception have helped extensively. Director says I need to email a hotel address, given by him. outlining details. I argued that there should be an accident book, but he said not. I have a small broken bone in coccyx and will have extensive pain for some time to come.

Given that you were injured whilst in Majorca, any requirements as to accident reporting and any possible claim for compensation will be subjected to Spanish Law. With this in mind, you will need to seek the advice of a Spanish law firm.

Hi, may be a long shot!! However i recently visited Lanzarote, on arrival i walked up to the local supermarket to buy some food items, as i came out i walked down the public slope outside the supermarket, not sure if this is owned by the local council though, as i walked down the slope, i slipped and fell and smashed the side of my face on the adjoining flowerbed/pavement area, and hit my face on a sharp rock, the slope was like an ice rink, intended for public use!!! My face swelled straight away, i returned to the hotel, a 100 yards up the road and informed them, they called their on call health provider, who applied ice packs to my swollen face (cheekbone area) this was three weeks ago, i returned to work almost straight away after returning home, so have not had time to see a doctor!! It was recorded with the Thomas cook rep in resort…However three weeks later my face is still throbbing, i wonder if i has fractured my cheekbone, it is obviously very dangerous.

The site of your accident certainly sounds as if it needs some attention to reduce the risk of injury. Unfortunately though, as the accident happened on public land in Lanzarote, any pursuit of compensation would be subject to Spanish law. There are many English speaking Spanish Law firms due to the large number of ex-pat British Citizens living in the country, so it may well be worth taking this matter up with such a firm to see whether you can pursue a claim for personal injury compensation under spanish law.

After going in a hot tub at a holiday apartment I slipped down 6 steep steps which I had already warned my daughter about as there was no rail. my feet were wet and I had flip flops on but i approached slowly and with caution. However regardless of this my foot when flying from beneath me and i didn’t have anything to grab hold off and one of my legs got bent underneath me as i bumped down the stairs. I was in agony and scared to move. An ambulance was called.

is it worth pursuing this?

The provision of a handrail is not a prescribed legal requirement. Therefore falling simply because there is no handrail is unlikely to be sufficient to pursue a claim. However, if the steps are not marked with a slip warning sign and have no non-slip surface, you could have a valid claim.

You mention though that you were on Holiday. The issue here could be whether or not we can assist you. If your accident happened overseas (outside of the UK), it is unlikely that we can help but if you were injured within the UK, it would be worth letting us look in to this further for you.

I was on holiday at an all inclusive resort abroad organised through thomas cook. was walking from one side of the swimming pool to the other to collect belongings. I wasn’t coming wet from the pool. I was dressed and wearing flip flops. I wasn’t drinking, i wasn’t running and I was simply walking at a slow pace concentrating where I was going. Around the pool they usually have a front row of sunbeds, and then one row at the back with an area in the middle which people use as a pathway. My left left slipped and I twisted it and heard a snap. Taken to Egyptian hospital and operated on my now broken ankle. When I initially was helped off the floor some of the reps came to help and take photos and they said there was no obstruction. I know there wasn’t as I slipped on the footway. Around the rest of the hotel there are yellow signs put out when they are mopping but they have no signs around the pool despite people getting in and out of the pool dripping wet. After my slip they did put a yellow sign at the spot for a few days but it is now gone. I wondered if i could claim as I now have months of immobility due to no fault of my own.

As you may appreciate, we cannot take any legal action against the overseas Hotel in this matter as such action would need to be taken within the legal system of the country in which the Hotel is located. However, you may be able to pursue a claim against the UK tour operator as they could have a vicarious responsibility for your Health and Safety whilst in a premises that they have ‘sold’ to you as part of your Holiday.

As with all injuries sustained in an accidents, it is vitally important that you make sure that a full detailed report of the accident is made with the travel companies resort representative. You should also then follow this up by reporting the accident and your injury to the Tour Operator once you are back in the UK. Given what you have said here, it is important that you mention the lack of any hazard sign where you fell – until after your accident, as this could be a vitally important factor.

On your return to the UK, you should contact us. We would be very happy to present the details of your claim enquiry to our specialist Solicitors in order that they can properly consider the specific details of your accident and advise you as to whether or not your claim can proceed against the UK tour operator.

Hi
I have suffered a fall at a holiday property I was stay at. Whilst stepping off the porch the ground gave way and a small sink hole appeared and my foot sank in the hole. I suffered cuts and bruises. There was no visable sign when I stepped off.
Do I have any rights to compensation?

You do have a right to make a claim for compensation in this matter, but whether or not the holiday property owner will be held liable will depend on the exact cause of the hazard that caused you to sustain injury.

If the hazard was caused by a newly developed sink hole that appeared at the time of your injury, it is unlikely that you would be able to demonstrate negligence on the part of the property owners as the courts would find that they had no way of knowing of the risk to your health. However, if the sink hold was already in situ and had not been cordoned off or marked with a sign to warn you of the risk to your health, you would have a strong claim.

If the sink hole was caused as a result of some adjacent construction or similar, you may be able to claim against the relevant persons if their actions can be shown to be negligent. You may wish to call us on 01225430285 to discuss your thoughts on this matter.

Were on holiday and my son has slipped over by the entrance of our apartment as it’s so slippy from people accessing the pool! There are no mats out anywhere and while my son was taking his shorts off before entering the apartment he’s slipped over and chipped his 2 front teeth (adult teeth). I’ve informed the manager and he didn’t really care about how slippy the floor gets. There are no signs out nor is there anyone around trying to dry the floors. Can I claim for my sons teeth to be treated for the rest of his life?

If the accident has happened in the UK, we would certainly be able to further investigate making a claim on behalf of your son. The fact that pool water is likely to be trodden around the areas adjacent to the pool side and in to the apartments buildings is foreseeable and therefore, it would be reasonable to expect the Apartment Management company to place warning signs and some non-slip matting to reduce as far as possible the risk of slipping.

If the accident happened outside of the UK, it is more problematic for us – but if the holiday was booked and paid for via a UK registered tour operator, it may be possible to bring a claim against them for the losses and injuries as they would have a responsibility to ensure that you are not placed in an accommodation where risk of injury is present.

In either case you must make sure that the details of the accident – the lack of matting and hazard signs as well as the injuries – are properly reported and recorded both locally with the apartment company/reception and also to any organisation with whom you have booked this holiday.

Hi we are on holiday at the moment in the uk. I don’t know if we have a Case but On the second night of our stay my husband was getting our daughter into the bath when he leant down to help her in, he gently opened the bath door out to help her in and it fell off and hit him on the side of the temple (he was low down so it fell a long way onto his head so it hit him with a lot of momentum behind it), this door was extremely heavy (so much so I couldn’t lift it and it needed two men to come to remove it) he has still got a large lump on the side of his head from his temple to the middle of his skull and he has suffered with very bad headaches, pressure in his ear and dizziness for the past few days since. Had this of fallen onto our 4 year old we fear that it would have been a very bad outcome and she would have been seriously hurt! Again we reported this within minutes and we were told that a medic would check my husband over and someone would be round to fix it as it was 7pm and reception didn’t close until 8pm. No one came round at all and we waited in all evening. We reported it the next day again and again it was not fixed. When they finally logged an incident form the member of staff actually could feel and see the lump on my husbands head two days later. The door was removed from the lodge but not replaced and so we could not use our ensuite shower the rest of our break.

The next evening I was opening my the Wardrobe door in kids room to get their clothes out and the one next to it just fell off it’s hinges and just missed my sons head as he was sitting on the bed but it then went on to landing on my foot causing tenderness and bruising. Again this was only fixed the next day.

Do we have a case to put forward for negligence of the equipment and repairs during our stay?

Your Husband would appear to have a valid claim here. The holiday company/home owner will have difficulty in defending such a claim unless they can provide substantiated records for maintenance that demonstrate that they have an adequate regime in place.

You should also report your own accident and foot injury as you could probably succeed with a claim for that also.

We would be very happy to help you further with these enquiries.

Whilst on holiday abroad I was walking up a spiral staircase, fell and broke my wrist in two places with actually 3 breaks, not 100% sure if floor was wet or not, when reported to rep I was told that they he couldn’t of been wet as they don’t mop those stairs but a couple of days later there was a caution wet floor sign at the bottom of the same stairs, not sure if I can make a claim?

Claiming compensation after an accident that has happened overseas is something that can be done, but only in certain circumstances and situations. In your case, you would only be able to claim if there was a fault with the stair case that you could identify and if the staircase in question was in a hotel, apartment or property that you were booked in to or taken to by a UK registered tour operator – booked from within the UK.

Hi I tripped whilst stepping up a kerb, it was on a holiday site and the kerb had been painted with a smooth finish white paint, it was raining and the smooth wet paint was as slippery as ice. I fell damaging clothing, property and my shoulder.
Would I have grounds to claim?

You do have the right to try and pursue a claim for compensation in this instance and we would like to put this to our specialist Solicitors to get their opinion for you. Do you have photographs of the kerb in question and was the accident reported to the Reception of the Holiday site?

Hi whilst staying at a UK holiday park chalet style apartment with big heavy patio sliding doors, we had just arrived I put my 9month old lay on the floor to play with his toys safely whilst I was unpacking his things into a cupboard, my daughter has gone to leave the chalet she has slid the door a few inches when she shouted me to say the door was stuck IV turnerld and looked and the door was off at the top, Iv immediately screamed and ran for my son,and as IV swooshed him to one side out of the way the door has fell and hit my head and trapped my hand my daughters hand also got trapped and injured, my son managed to get away with just a bruise on his knee where he his oxygen regulated when I swooshed him out of harm’s way if I would have been a second longer he would have no doubt in my mind been crushed to death, I have pictures, the maintenance man who came to fit it said the runner had gone on the bottom and replaced it.. do we have a claim?

We should definitely place the details of this accident to our specialist Solicitors. We couldn’t at this stage state for certain whether or not you would succeed with your claims, but it is clear that there is sufficient information within your description of the incident to warrant making a claim for compensation – both for yourself and your daughter. It sounds as if your Son was extremely fortunate and managed to avoid injury.

To successfully defend this claim, the holiday company will have to demonstrate that they carry out adequate maintenance inspections to each chalet and that the doors and sliding mechanisms of the chalet in which you were injured (particularly the door that caused your injury) had been recently checked and inspected. It is unlikely that they will be able to defend such a claim.

We would very much like to put your claims to our Solicitors and allow them to advise you and pursue your claims on a No Win No Fee basis.

hi – while on a short break in a caravan – the steps of the caravan completely came away from the side of the caravan while i was stepping down them. injury occurred to my leg and hand (still sore 5 months later) – contacted a well known solicitor who has only just told me they are not willing to take my case to court as caravan site can prove they had the relevant quarterly inspection records for the steps and that no other accidents like this have ever happened. bitterly disappointed as we have photos of corroded holes in caravan, photos of the stairs lying on the ground, photos of my injuries. Just because they say the have inspected the stairs and they couldn’t have foreseen this happening i’m left with nothing but memories of a ruined holiday and a sore leg.

Karyn

I can appreciate that the news your previous Solicitor has given you is disappointing and left you feeling somewhat let down. This is understandable, given that you have suffered a painful injury and also had a ruined holiday.

The courts have taken a view that as long as a landowner carries out regular inspections and has an appropriate maintenance regime in place, that they can be absolved of liability should a hazard arise in the periods between inspections. The key thing here though is that the inspections MUST be adequate and that the maintenance regime must carry out adequate repair work.

However, on the basis of you having photographic evidence of corroded holes on the caravan it may be that your Solicitor could argue that their inspection regime was inadequate in that the corrosion would not have developed in a 3 month period. Indeed, an argument here would be that the inspection carried out previously should have noted signs of corrosion if it were an adequate and thorough inspection. This would have have lead to maintenance work being carried out that would have avoided your accident and injury.

Whilst we cannot guarantee that we could re-open the claim and succeed, we would certainly be able to have one of our partner solicitors obtain the file of papers from your previous solicitor to review them and then discuss with you as to whether or not they feel that there is a sound argument to be made about the inspection regime being inadequate.

I hope that this helps.

Yours sincerely

Ian