YIL Client Receives £3000 Settlement for Holiday Claim

In November 2013, having booked a holiday through one of the country’s largest tour operators, Mr T travelled to Spain with his wife to stay in a five star hotel in Marbella.

He had been to that hotel before and all went well until on the third night when he had to get up to use the lavatory, he slipped and fell on a mat that had been placed in the bedroom the previous day.

He thought he could deal with this case himself and, with the assistance of his son, he contacted the tour operators who eventually passed it to their solicitors.

After numerous reminders they eventually said that they were prepared to make an offer of £1,000 but this was the maximum sum that they were prepared to pay.

Mr T then contacted Yorkshire’s Injury Lawyers and, having considered the file, we wrote to the tour operators’ solicitors informing them that their offer was wholly unsatisfactory and unless they were prepared to make a higher offer then we would obtain a detailed medical report and proceed through the Courts if necessary.

We took the view that the offer was far too low bearing in mind the spoilt holiday and the injuries sustained by Mr T.

The lawyers did not respond and accordingly we obtained the medical report, served it upon the solicitors and warned them that unless they made a more satisfactory offer within twenty-one days we would issue legal proceedings.

Within that period they contacted us and put forward an offer of £2,500 which we rejected and, after further e-mail exchange, they increased the offer to £3,000 which sum the client accepted.

This case shows that tour operators rarely deal quickly with claims, hoping that holiday-makers will lose interest after they have returned home and the holiday becomes a more distant memory.

The advantage of taking legal advice is clearly evidenced by the eventual settlement of this claim.