Accidents Abroad and What To Do
As the school holidays loom many of you may be starting to think of packing your bags and heading off for that well earned break abroad. Sadly accidents can happen away from home - being injured is bad enough, but when it happens in a foreign country with different procedures, different laws and a different language, it can be even more frightening.
Personal injury experts Lanyon Bowdler offer some useful tips for those of you travelling abroad this summer, in the event you find yourself injured in an accident.
- Report any accident to your holiday representative or tour operator, if you have one.
- Report any road traffic accident to the local police and be sure to note down the registration number of the other vehicle and name of the driver.
- Be sure to take lots of photographs of the accident scene, any damage and your injuries.
- Keep all documentary evidence of your holiday booking as well the brochure and receipts for any expenses incurred as a result of the accident, such as medical fees.
- Immediately contact your travel insurer
Important new developments in the law mean that if you are injured in a road traffic accident in another EU member state, you can now bring your case against a foreign insurer in your home country rather than the country where the accident occurred. It is also possible to bring your case in the UK arising from other accidents depending on the circumstances. There are often big advantages to bringing your case in the UK as opposed to a foreign court including control, language, length of case and damages.
One final important point to remember is that although you have a period of three years in which to bring a claim under English law, the period is often shorter in other countries. In Spain, for example, the period can be as short as one year! So if you find yourself, or someone you are travelling with, the victim of an accident abroad in which you were not to blame, make sure you contact a solicitor who specialises in accidents abroad as soon as you get home.
Find out more about Lanyon Bowdler's Personal Injury solciitors here.