SSP, Holiday Allowance and a Car Accident

Leo2020

On the first day of our holiday a car went into us.

We were walking wounded but still needed a trip to the local hospital. We were on our way to Trecco Bay caravan park in Wales from Sheffield. We were about 10 mins away from the site when it happened. The accident happened on the approach to a roundabout, the other driver foot got stuck on the accelerator and instead of following the curve of the road as he came off the roundabout he went straight across and into the front side of the car.

We had our two young children with us (3 at the time and a 6 year old). They had bruising from the seat belts and were shook up from what happened. The dashboard collapsed on my husband's legs, luckily it only caused bruising. The impact from the air bag caused my face and lips to swell up and I had a seat belt burn. We both have general aching in our backs, shoulders, neck and chest, etc. My husband suffered more because he was driving and the car went into the driver's side.

A sick note from the hospital was not on our minds at the time, just getting safely to our caravan was the only thing really on our minds. It was late at night and the kids were tired and hungry.

My understanding is that if you are sick on the first day of your holiday you can claim SSP instead and use your holidays another time?

My husband has just been signed off for work for 2 weeks but they GP said they can't back date the sick note. We didn't get anything from the hospital. So looks like he will lose his holidays. Or is there anything that can be done? His GP just said she couldn't back date it and that was it. My husband also didn't self certify to his employers other than telling them he had an accident the following day and you can only self-certify for 7 days and the accident happened on the 3rd of August and he was meant to be going back to work tomorrow. There was probably things we were mean't to do but being so far from home with no luggage, car or family/friends to help we didn't really think about things like losing holidays.

Thomas_The_Tank_Top

Did you cancel the caravan Holiday ang go back home? Or did you stay?

sangie595

You can't backdate a claim for sickness - the employer should have been notified immediately, and, to be honest, I doubt they would have accepted it had you continued to remain on holiday. I don't know what they do in Wales, but A&E don't generally issue fit notes anyway because they don't see you for long enough to assess your longer term fitness for work. Most hospitals that I have dealt with only issue fit notes where there is an specific procedure performed, such as an operation.

Leo2020

It was around 10.30 p.m. ish when we were discharged. We had no car or luggage. Just sitting in a taxi for a 20 minute ride to the caravan site was uncomfortable and the pain from a car accident doesn't kick in straight away. There is no way we could have travelled back to Sheffield straight away. My husband couldn't physically drive and a taxi or train would have also been uncomfortable/ painful. We may have been on "holiday" but it was not a holiday, we are both still suffering from the accident both physically and mentally.

We came back early, going home last night instead of today to avoid traffic. It was not comfortable for either of us.

Leo2020

So in order to claim we would have had to returned straight away and been in considerable pain in doing so? We stayed longer to give us more time to recover before driving back. Although this was the most sensible thing to do from a recovery point if view it seems it isn't from a SSP point of view.

poppy12345

Leo2020 wrote: »

We came back early, going home last night instead of today to avoid traffic. It was not comfortable for either of us.

There's a lot of people that would do that i'm sure, to avoid the traffic early the next day. I know i've certainly done that many times in the past, especially when my children were smaller.

Comms69

I think this is one of those times where you're better off using the holiday as atleast you have a decent income through this all - especially since you'll probably need time off from work now you're back

Leo2020

To add the employer was notified on the Saturday morning. It happened around 4.30 p.m. on the Friday. We didn't leave the hospital until around 10.30 p.m. so in my eyes the employer was notified pretty quick under the circumstances. There was several fire engines involved, ambulances and an air ambulance for the other driver. I appreciate it is not the employers fault but I will give more details so maybe you can understand why after an accident things arent straight forward after having an accident.

My husband watched the car coming towards us but there was nothing he could do. He says he saw it happen in slow motion. His door had to be forced open due to the damage. He had burn marks from the air bag. Bruises on his legs and on his chest. He may have broken ribs - hospitals don't x-ray for that so we don't know. He has not slept properly since he has nightmares about the accident - he sees the car coming for him and then wakes up.

I looked like i had botched plastic surgery as the air bag caused my lips and face to swell up. My face felt like it was on fire apparently his is due to the explosives in the air bags. I had a large burn mark from the seat belt. I don't remember exactly what happened but my husband said something and the next thing I saw was a flash of red (this was the other car) and next being smacked into an air bag. It took me a few seconds to take in what had happened. The thing that sticks in my mind is the sound of my youngest screaming in terror - a sound I hope I never have to hear again.

I appreciate none of this is the employers fault but neither of us have been a 100% since the accident. The children seem OK but still talk about it and about not wanting to be in an accident again. The bruise marks from their seat belt is not something normally seen. The doctor at the hospital said even in motorway accidents children don't usually get seat belt bruises.

Leo2020

Comms69 wrote: »

I think this is one of those times where you're better off using the holiday as atleast you have a decent income through this all - especially since you'll probably need time off from work now you're back

Would it all be classed as holiday? How would this work? Never been in this situation before so not sure how it works. He would rather have the holiday back but I'm not sure if he would get any back?

D_M_E

Cannot comment on SSP but, if you had to get a taxi from A&E to the caravan then your car must not have been driveable since the "dashboard fell off".

Have the police been notified?

Did they attend the incident?

Remember to keep all receipts for things such as taxis and the journey back home and claim for these from the other party's insurance, and ask if you can also claim for loss of holiday - yes, you stayed in the caravan but could not enjoy it - and also loss of income as well.

bspm1

I have read this a few times and I cannot understand what you are saying.

You had an accident, on holiday (or on the way to a holiday) you carried on with the holiday, you got holiday pay for that holiday so why are you after SSP?

Obviously you must make a claim on the Insurance for injuries, that is a given, but I cannot understand why you are expecting your partners Employer to pay him SSP when he was on holiday, getting holiday pay.