A ruined holiday can be a huge disappointment having saved all year for a relaxing break from work or some quality time with the family.
At Bott and Co we deal with a range of holiday complaints and we’ve recovered millions of pounds for consumers over the 16 years we’ve been in business.
If your holiday has been ruined for whatever reason and want to know if you can recover compensation, then give our friendly legal team a call on 01625 415850 or request a no obligation consultation.
Want To Complain About Your Holiday? – What are your legal rights?
When a holiday doesn’t live up to expectation the list of possible complaints is long and could include any or all of:
- Delayed Flight or disrupted travel plans.
- Suffering an accident or injury while on holiday.
- Getting ill or being unwell while abroad.
Our specialist flight delay compensation and holiday claims teams can recover compensation for flight delays, holiday illnesses, or accidents abroad all on a no-win no-fee no risk basis.
Bott and Co specialise in helping holidaymakers claim compensation in the following circumstances.
- Your flight has been delayed or cancelled.
- You’ve been ill on a package holiday or while staying at an all-inclusive resort.
- You’ve been injured in an accident while abroad.
You can complain directly to the holiday tour company if something has gone wrong, and you don’t feel you’ve received the level of service and holiday you expected, or you could contact our team for a free, no obligation consultation.
There are a number of laws that protect you when traveling abroad.
The Package Travel Regulations 1992 provides holidaymakers abroad with the same level of protection that you would receive if you were in the UK. This means that the holiday tour operator is responsible for all aspects of your trip, including transport, accommodation and “other tourist services” such as food and entertainment.
The Regulations define a “package” holiday as the pre-arranged combination of at least two of the following components when sold or offered for sale at an inclusive price and when the service covers a period of more than twenty-four hours or includes overnight.
The Package Travel Regulation can cover a multitude of circumstances from accidents, sickness to bed bugs.
The Athens Convention 1974 is there to help if you may have suffered illness or injury on a cruise.
These laws don’t provide protection in cases where you simply didn’t enjoy your holiday, or the problem was out of the tour operators control such as if the weather was bad.
What To Do When Injured Or Sick Abroad.
If you find yourself in a situation where you’ve become ill, or have suffered an accident, we recommend you take the following steps.
Contact your tour operator representative, and or hotel reception and explain the situation. You can either report directly to your holiday rep or contact your tour operator’s head office via phone or email. This will give them the opportunity to provide you with support, resources and advice as quickly as possible. Don’t forget, if they are unaware of your complaint, they may be unable to help.
Keep a record of any communication that you have made, either with the tour operator or your holiday rep.
Please note that in some instances if you have already accepted compensation while on holiday, this may compromise your legal rights to claim further once you return home.
We suggest that you contact us for more information before accepting any level of compensation.
Compile evidence. You don’t have to gather any information whilst you’re still on holiday but there are a number of steps you can take to give yourself the best possible chance of making a successful compensation claim.
This may include taking photographs of anything you think could support your claim such as food left uncovered, unhygienic work surfaces, poorly maintained facilities or dirty restaurant facilities should you have become sick, or taking pictures of the accident scene if you’ve been involved in a road accident.
Make a note of relevant contact details. Make sure to get the full contact details of anyone else who may have been involved in an accident with you.
Likewise, should you have become ill, make a note of the contact details of anyone else who has suffered similar symptoms to you.
How To Make A Holiday Complaint When You Return Home.
Some people choose to complain directly to their tour operator, and each business will handle complaints in slightly different ways.
Should you wish to complain directly, we’ve provided the links to complaints department of the most popular travel companies in the UK.
Additionally, you can contact ABTA and ATOl for financial protection in addition to reviewing your travel insurance policy and if the consumer credit act may offer protection if you purchased your holiday using a credit card.
If you have made a complaint and the tour operator has responded with an offer of compensation, you won’t know if the offer is fair or not until you take legal advice.
Our free consultation service can offer advice on the potential value of your claim if you want to make a complaint regarding a holiday illness, or an accident abroad or tap your flight details into our flight compensation checker to get an instant answer on your flight. Both options will save you the time and hassle of dealing directly with the tour operators.
How Much Compensation You Can Claim
Compensation amounts can vary depending on the nature of the complaint. Lost baggage and dissatisfactory accommodation can mean hundreds of pounds in compensation whereas accidents or illness abroad can result is tens of thousands of pounds.
Flight delay claims have set amounts depending on the distance travelled and length of the flight and vary from €250 to €600 per passenger. Our flight delay checker will give you an instant decision on your flight and the amount you may be able to claim.
If you’ve been ill on holiday, and have evidence to prove that the cause of your illness was the food you had eaten in your hotel, you may be able to claim considerable amounts of compensation depending of the severity of your illness.
Average Claim Amounts For Holiday Sickness
| Severity of illness | Ave. amount |
|---|---|
| Mild food poisoning | £700 – £3,000 |
| Moderate food poisoning | £3,000 – £7,000 |
| Severe food poisoning | £7,000 – £40,000 |
We also have considerable experience handling holiday accident claims. If you’ve been involved in a car accident abroad, or suffered injury while travelling you may be able to claim compensation.
Additional Out Of Pocket Expenses
In addition to the compensation for the injury we will recover any out of pocket expenses and in some cases the entire cost of the holiday from the third party.
If applicable to your circumstances, you may also be able to claim for the following.
Diminution in Value – If your injury or illness has caused a reduction in your ability to enjoy your holiday, such things as the cost of accommodation could be recovered while you’re not 100%.
Out of pocket expenses – You may be able to claim for any expenses you’ve incurred due your injury or illness. This could be for costs of a doctor’s appointment while abroad, the cost of the medication prescribed, through to taxis to get to the doctor or hospital.
Loss of enjoyment – In cases where enjoyment of your holiday has been lost, such as you or your family members being confined to your hotel room for the length of your holiday, a claim could be made for the loss of the enjoyment you could have expected if you hadn’t been confined to your room.
Why Choose Bott and Co
You may wish to make your complaint to your tour operator without legal advice, but there are a number of things you should remember if that’s the route you choose to take.
- Whatever you say to the travel company may be used against you in your claim.
- Be aware of what the complaint is worth so you don’t accept a lower settlement offer.
- Keep a record of all the correspondence with the travel company.
- Keep original copies of all the evidence (photos, medical reports etc.)
- If you accept a ‘goodwill offer’ this might prevent you from recovering further compensation if you don’t get better.
Our award-winning legal team know all the tricks and jargon used by travel companies to try and settle complaints for as little as possible and we know how to negotiate with them.
Our services are offered on a no win no fee basis, meaning you’re at no financial risk to make a claim.
We recover many times more compensation than our clients are offered when the go direct to the travel company or third-party insurer.
With our no-win no-fee no risk guarantee you can relax with peace of mind that your claim is in safe hands.
To find out more about our services arrange for a free consultation or call our friendly team now on 01625 415850.
Andrew Peters
Andrew heads up the Holiday Illness department using his extensive experience across a wide range of civil litigation matters.
A member of APIL and The Law Society, Andrew has a keen focus on travel related litigation including foreign claims involving food poisoning, he works hard to ensure that the right amount of compensation is recovered on a no win no fee basis for clients.