Confirmed Salmonella from Resort in Dominican Republic

Chrislfc007

Hi All,
I am really just looking some advice, my wife and I went on a 9 night, 10 day holiday to Dominican Republic , and on the second morning I had 2 x eggs which in my opinion were under done, and when I woke up the next day I had really bad Diahoroea, which got. extremely bad, to the point I had to get the local Doctor. At that stage, I didn't Know what the problem was, but I couldn't leave my room, I was so weak and running to the toilet every 15 minutes, after day 5, I decided I needed to just get home, so, I stopped drinking water, to able me to travel back to UK.
I attended A&E and after a few days tests, drips etc, Salmonella was confirmed.
I just want to know, where do I stand asking the Hotel for possible compensation, as I literally only had 2 x days out of 9 nights holiday, my wife also missed out on the experience as she was left on her own, some staff were lovely to her, but I feel they could have done more ! I do not think an Insurance claim is the way forward with this, as the flight changes and costs were very minimal.
All advice appreciated, in 30 years of travelling, nothing like this has ever happened.

eskbanker

There's nothing stopping you from asking the hotel for compensation, but it's highly unlikely that they'd be under any legal obligation to pay out, even if you were able to prove that your illness was caused by their negligence.

Alan_Bowen

I will make a few assumptions, you were on a package holiday booked with TUI? If so, then the law imposes an obligation on the operator to compensate for illness caused by any supplier, in this case, the hotel. It would certainly be a lot easier than trying to seek compensation directly from the hotel.

However, it isn't necessarily easy. If it was food poisoning, it would be very unfortunate if you were the only person affected, did you hear of anyone else who was similarly ill? You really need a good lawyer to help you, the travel industry hates a firm called Irwin Mitchell which is known for action in this area so it might well be worth having a look at their website, they offer no win no fee claims.

Scarily, my first TV appearance was 34 years ago surrounded by 100 people who had gotten sick on holiday in the Dominican Republic, things were supposed to have improved since then, and food poisoning can happen anywhere, my only experience was in Hull of all places!

TELLIT01

Did you inform the hotel and the tour operator rep of the problems whilst in resort?  If not I suspect you have little chance of anything now unless there was a confirmed outbreak of Salmonella during the dates you were away. 

Chrislfc007

Hi all, thanks for your advice, I have contacted the Hotel, they know the whole story from day 1, they have kept in touch, and asked for medical proof, which I have sent them the Hospital medical report confirming Salmonella Poisoning over a week ago, but no reply.
We booked the package with British Airways, but I doubt they will be interested, so maybe a solicitor is the route !

Thanks again

Alan_Bowen

Your contract is therefore with BA Holidays, not the hotel and you should contact them to make a formal complaint under the 2018 Package Travel Regulations. If they don't respond satisfactorily, then do consider taking legal advice. The firm I mentioned above was in the Supreme Court last week on behalf of a client who travelled with TUI and suffered food poisoning, they don't give up easily!

NoodleDoodleMan

Chrislfc007 said:

Hi all, thanks for your advice, I have contacted the Hotel, they know the whole story from day 1, they have kept in touch, and asked for medical proof, which I have sent them the Hospital medical report confirming Salmonella Poisoning over a week ago, but no reply.
We booked the package with British Airways, but I doubt they will be interested, so maybe a solicitor is the route !

Thanks again

Is there any chance you might have picked up the food poisoning by eating out of the hotel at some point ?

twopenny

Salmonella can also be picked up from hard surfaces so if you've been outside the hotel there is a chance it could have come from anywhere.

What you need to know is if there were more people than you that became ill.

To make the hotel liable it should be a group of people who ate the same thing at the hotel and had it at the same meal - or day in the case of hard surfaces.