Compensation how much should I claim for fractured elbow caused by a trip hazard in Geneva Airport?

oliveoil54

Week before Christmas was excited to be spending the holiday with my Son & Family who live in Switzerland & had planned lots of activities. I am 69 & have severe Osteoarthritis in my hips & knees, walking & standing for long lengths of time is difficult. So had booked disabled help. Was met by Airport Representative at Geneva on aircraft & agreed I could walk the short distance to the transport. Myself & another disabled traveller followed the Rep outside towards the minibus, it was quite dark & area had no lighting, the Rep & other passenger were directly in front of me & blocked my view of the ground. Unfortunately I fell over a large triangular rubber doorstop that are used to prop the heavy outside doors open, but had been left right in the middle of the pathway. I fell straight on my knees, put my hands out & cracked my forehead on the concrete path. How the young Rep managed to get me up & into the bus I don’t remember. Upset & in a lot of pain, he eventually got me to arrivals where my son was waiting for me. The Rep filed an accident report & we left. This really spoiled Christmas & left me unable to participate in any of the activities they had planned for for me. On my return flight to Geneva I was asked to get in touch with GVA Assistance regarding the Rep’s accident report. By this time my knees were quite swollen & badly bruised & my wrist was swollen & causing sharp pains up my arm. I’d left my car at Manchester Airport & had to arrange for my daughter & husband to collect me, so one of them could drive my car back. I’m a widow & live on my own, so getting help wasn’t easy. I saw the GP when I got home & was sent for X-rays, fortunately my knees were just badly bruised (I’m waiting for replacement ops for hips & knees), & forehead was sore & I had a black eye but no lasting damage. I was surprised to find I had a fracture of the radial neck of my elbow, not my wrist where the pain was presenting. Its obviously had a knock on effect with my daily life, unable to drive dependant on others. 

I was asked to fill in a report form regarding the incident, GVA Assistance at Geneva have accepted responsibility for the injury to me & given the circumstances have agreed to find an arrangement with me. They phoned tonight & virtually asked how much did I want. Having never experienced anything like this before I have no idea what is classed as acceptable given the circumstances, & definitely did not want to fill in any of those Injury Claim Forms that immediately popped up on Google on my initial search for advice. So I turned to my favourite website for some honest hopefully expert advice? Thank you in advance.

Nearlyold

That's very hard to read,  any chance you can break it up into paragraphs please.

theoretica

I hope you are healing well - which is very important.  You don't want to get a figure accepted and then discover that the break affects you more and for longer than you anticipated. 

DullGreyGuy

As the accident happened in Switzerland you are going to have to find someone who knows Swiss law and their processes for things like bodily injury. Even across Western Europe (the geographical region not political) compensation for the same injury varies vastly, can be 10x difference between one country and the next.  As such any indication of what a UK settlement would be is irrelevant in your case. 

You could look at your Home insurance to see if it has Legal Expenses cover but that normally has a UK territorial limit as they don't maintain global networks of solicitors.

If you do try and engage a law firm, make sure from the outset you are clear the location of the accident else you could waste time, and money, with a law firm that doesn't have the relevant expertise. 

jimi_man

There is a fair amount of information here. 

https://www.legalexpert.co.uk/personal-injury-compensation/holiday-accident-claims/switzerland/time-limitation-period-for-a-personal-injury-claim-in-switzerland/#:~:text=If%20you%20suffer%20an%20injury,traffic%20accident%20injuring%20a%20person.

Worth a read. 

twopenny

I'm guessing you aren't working?
In this country at least you establish how much income you've lost. E xtra incurred expenses. If you've had to get personal carers etc.

It is very hard to monitise the pain and misery. Good on them for getting in touch but would have been easier if they'd just offered a free return flight so you could visit your family when better.
Perhaps that plus car parking?

DullGreyGuy

twopenny said:

It is very hard to monitise the pain and misery. Good on them for getting in touch but would have been easier if they'd just offered a free return flight so you could visit your family when better.
Perhaps that plus car parking?

It's not hard to monetise pain and misery... it's called general damages and normally is said to cover "pain, suffering and loss of amenities". 

For some injuries its very simple because you have the likes of the Whiplash Reforms which there is a fixed tariff where you look at the duration of the whiplash and the table says to the penny how much you get. There is a 14 chapter guide that covers all other injuries but its much more subjective where on the scale a settlement should be. 

What you are talking about is special damages, like loss of earnings, @twopenny but even that varies massively between countries. Whereas in the UK for example following a major injury the insurer would either have to payout for life time care using the Ogden tables to calculate a lifetime value (or may be ordered to set up a periodic payment for the rest of the life - ie basically an annuity) in other countries care is seen as the duty of the state and so rather than having to pay £1m+ they pay nothing. 

Eldi_Dos

@oliveoil54
            Would your son who lives in Switzerland be able to access local advice through his work or insurance policies he may have.