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Legal matters

Injury to DS while on holiday - advice please

14 replies

SarkySpanner · 30/08/2011 17:44

Hi. I'd really appreciate some advice on how best to deal with an accident that happened to Ds while we were on holiday. Any maybe also some sympathy :)

We've just got back from 2 weeks in France staying in a mobile home on a site owned by a big French company. The plan was to spend 2 weeks by the pool or on the beach, but things didn't quite go to plan.

On the first day of the holiday DS1 (age 6) fell in the shower and because the metal drain cover had not been fitted correctly the sharp edge of the cover came out of place and sliced his toe in a rather gruesome way. He needed 10 stitches to put it back together and was unable to walk properly or go in the pool for the rest of the holiday. We also had to spend much of the holiday waiting in for the nurse to come to change the dressing on his foot.

The site manager was pretty rubbish - he made no effort to help us in any way - and so we decided to wait until we got back from holiday before contacting the company about the issue. I have no idea about what (if anything) it is reasonable to expect in terms of compensation. In my opinion the accident was competely preventable and I do feel like they 'owe' us something. But I realise that i'm not particularly objective about this. I guess that the next step is to write to the cutomer service manager?

I'd really appreciate any advice about what is reasonable to expect from them, and about how best to go about this.

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Collaborate · 30/08/2011 20:51

You need a French lawyer to advise you on this one.

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bigbadtiger · 30/08/2011 20:56

I agree that you are reasonable to want compensation. How easily you will get it is another matter. I have found that holiday companies tend to be very reluctant to refund money.
Do you have photos of the wound and a copy of the doctors notes on it?

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babybarrister · 30/08/2011 21:17

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SarkySpanner · 30/08/2011 21:51

Thanks all.

So am I being naive to think we can sort this out without lawyers?

Tbh we were a bit shit about getting copies of records at the time. We just wanted to put our efforts into having a half decent holiday. But i do have a photo of the injury (after stitching) and a photo of the drain cover. The manager also took photos.

Should I contact the hospital for records at this point? Or contact the holiday company first?

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SarkySpanner · 30/08/2011 21:51

And any thoughts on what would be reasonable in terms of compensation?

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beck79 · 31/08/2011 13:35

Really sorry to hear about the injury to your son's foot - not nice when the holiday you work all year for is ruined for you all.

Once you instruct a solicitor, they should take care of obtaining all of the medical records, so I wouldn't rush out to obtain copies (plus you might find you have to pay for them!).

I agree with babybarrister, if you booked your holiday as a package then you could pursue your claim under the Package Holiday Regulations.

As far as the value of your son's claim is concerned, this would depend on the medical evidence your solicitors obtain and the extent of any scarring, numbness etc. It would be really difficult to value the injury through this forum really, particulary without seeing any photos.

Let me know if you need any more info and I hope you manage to get away for another holiday soon.

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LIZS · 31/08/2011 13:41

You should certainly report it to the holiday company, if only from the H and S pov. Would your insurance not cover loss of enjoyment/amenity, although this may only apply to cancellation of prebooked activities due to injury. Do you have a medical certificate advising no swimming etc and any records of visits made ?

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SarkySpanner · 31/08/2011 13:41

Thanks.

I don't think that we can claim under the package holiday regulations - we just booked the accomodation itself (which included the on site facilities).

I don't think there will be any long term damage, only some minimal scarring.

I've now discovered that although all the campsites are in France, the company seems to be registered in the UK - does this make things easier?

Do I really get a lawyer involved at this stage? I presumed that I'd give the company the change to deal with this appropriately before getting the lawyers involved? Is this naive?

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SarkySpanner · 31/08/2011 13:43

Our insurance only covers direct medical expenses and not 'loss of enjoyment'. It also doesn't cover any legal action of this type against the holiday provider.

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cheeznbreed · 31/08/2011 20:01

I don't think it would be unreasonable to expect a decent chunk of the cost of the holiday to be refunded, certainly as a bare minimum the proportion attributable to your son.

Getting lawyers involved as a first step might be a bit OTT, you may as well write a strongly worded letter to them and see how they respond.

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SarkySpanner · 31/08/2011 23:02

Thanks.

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beck79 · 01/09/2011 09:41

Sadly I tend to find that a large proportion of people who want to put in personal injury claims are fueled by a poor response or no response following their letters of complaint.

However, cheeznbreed is right, there is nothing stopping you sending a strongly worded letter. I hope they send you a decent reply!!

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rainbowinthesky · 01/09/2011 09:47

We put in a successful personal injury claim through our home insurance legal help thingy. It might be worth checking, if you have it, your policy to see if you have this cover?

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SarkySpanner · 26/09/2011 18:33

Hi all.
Quick update...

I sent a stern letter demanding full refund. Lovely man from customer services phoned last week and agreed to refund in full.

Very happy :)

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