Holiday Insurance Claims

smalldino

Hi Guys,


I don't know if this is the correct place for this but hope someone maybe able to help.


We were recently on a family holiday to Majorca and on the last day (3 hours before getting picked up) my 12 year old daughter ran full speed into a double glazed door on a roof terrace. She smashed the outer pane of glass and needed 10 stitches in a nasty gash on her nose. My wife and daughter had to stay for an extra 2 nights in a hospital and my daughter had to have an MRI before getting the all clear to fly.


The insurance were great and sorted out the money for the hospital and also sorted out flights home for my wife and daughter.


My points are that the roof terrace should not be open to the public as there is nothing on it except some old air con units and the walls are very low where kids could fall over. Also about half an hour after my daughter had her accident I went up to the door on the first floor of one of the buildings as I thought I might need photos of it for the insurance. When I got there the Hotel handy man was there and was putting stickers on the glass, the type that shows people its glass and not an open doorway.


A few people have said we should look into possible legal action against either the hotel or the holiday firm we booked with.


Firstly does anyone have any opinions on whether this should/could be done and also as we booked through On the Beach should we contact them first or the hotel direct.


Any advice or guidance will be gratefully received.

k3lvc

smalldino wrote: »

Hi Guys,


I don't know if this is the correct place for this but hope someone maybe able to help.


We were recently on a family holiday to Majorca and on the last day (3 hours before getting picked up) my 12 year old daughter ran full speed into a double glazed door on a roof terrace. She smashed the outer pane of glass and needed 10 stitches in a nasty gash on her nose. My wife and daughter had to stay for an extra 2 nights in a hospital and my daughter had to have an MRI before getting the all clear to fly.


The insurance were great and sorted out the money for the hospital and also sorted out flights home for my wife and daughter.


My points are that the roof terrace should not be open to the public as there is nothing on it except some old air con units and the walls are very low where kids could fall over. Also about half an hour after my daughter had her accident I went up to the door on the first floor of one of the buildings as I thought I might need photos of it for the insurance. When I got there the Hotel handy man was there and was putting stickers on the glass, the type that shows people its glass and not an open doorway.


A few people have said we should look into possible legal action against either the hotel or the holiday firm we booked with.


Firstly does anyone have any opinions on whether this should/could be done and also as we booked through On the Beach should we contact them first or the hotel direct.


Any advice or guidance will be gratefully received.

Only advice is get off the compensation gravy train, move on, accept other countries have different cultures/views/rules from us and keep an eye on your kids

smalldino

so, no advice from you then.

huckster

You would have to fund legal action yourself and given that this involves a Spanish hotel, i should imagine that it would involve looking at Spanish health & safety standards. There may be no requirement to put warning stickers on glazed doors.

Your first port of call would be to send a written complaint to the British travel operator you booked the holiday with. They will have responsibility for checking that the hotels they use meet required standards.

If you were given any advice by Doctors in Spain to have further check ups when back in England it is important this is done, just in case there is any lasting effect from the accident. You don't want to weaken any case, because you had not done what was advised.

k3lvc

smalldino wrote: »

so, no advice from you then.

Absolutely - my advice is above though you're unlikely to take it

With a proper package holiday and a fair amount of luck you may have been offered some compo - with OTB you're either in it for the long haul with a foreign court case or your 'complaint' becomes toilet paper

Out of interest what exactly is it you're expecting to achieve/win ?

smalldino

To be perfectly honest with you I would be happy if the hotel just made sure all of the doors were labeled and that particular one locked so kids can't get out on to the roof. I understand that accidents happen and I did not even think about this before someone else mentioned it to me. I would be happy if we got our excess of £100 back because we actually plan to go back to the same hotel next year, but as I have already said I don't know if it's the right thing to do and I don't want to " jump on the compensation gravy train"

dacouch

If you booked a package through a UK tour operator, they will be jointly liable with the hotel.

You can sue the tour operator in the UK courts

Your travel policy may include cover for legal costs for this or otherwise check your home insurance or union membership

takman

smalldino wrote: »

To be perfectly honest with you I would be happy if the hotel just made sure all of the doors were labeled and that particular one locked so kids can't get out on to the roof. I understand that accidents happen and I did not even think about this before someone else mentioned it to me. I would be happy if we got our excess of £100 back because we actually plan to go back to the same hotel next year, but as I have already said I don't know if it's the right thing to do and I don't want to " jump on the compensation gravy train"

Don't ruin it for everyone else! Some people may enjoy going onto the roof terrace. It was an accident, simple as that!.

There are already too many restrictions due to people like you making claims for accidents that are no one's fault!.

I bet you haven't put stickers on your glass doors at home or restricted access to the garden so people don't run into the door on the way in! :rotfl:

huckster

While i generally agree that accidents can happen anywhere and no amount of precautions can stop them, i don't think anyone can make assumptions about this case. We have not seen the hotel involved and made any assessment. The OP stayed at the hotel and will know more about it.

There is also the assumptions being made about the motives of the OP. Being that they know their daughter better than us and will know whether they are accident prone and whether this was an accident waiting to happen etc. The OP might simply want to protect his daughter as a sensible parent, just in case there is any ongoing medical issue. Also the OP might be concerned that other people might have the same accident. The fact that the hotel put stickers on these glass panels after one was broken reveals that they became aware of the problem.