claim after an accident abroad
Two questions decide these cases before anything else is discussed: which country’s court can hear it, and which country’s law decides what it is worth. They frequently have different answers.
The single most useful thing to know
If you booked a package holiday from a tour operator in the United Kingdom, you can usually sue that operator here, in a Scottish court, for what went wrong abroad. That is by far the strongest position to be in, and it is the reason the way you booked matters more than where you were hurt.
Package holidays
Where you bought a package — flight and accommodation together, or a linked travel arrangement — the organiser is responsible for the proper performance of the services in the package, including those carried out by hotels and local suppliers. A defective balcony rail, a hotel pool without adequate supervision, food poisoning at a hotel restaurant, a transfer coach crash: all of these can be brought against the operator here.
That means a Scottish solicitor, a Scottish court, correspondence in English and a defender with assets and insurance. Compare that with suing a hotel in another country in its own courts.
If it was not a package
Booking the flight and the hotel separately, hiring a car directly, or being injured while living or working abroad puts you in a different position. Jurisdiction then depends on who you are suing and where they are based, and since the United Kingdom left the European Union the position on suing an EU-based defendant here is less straightforward than it once was. It is often still possible. It is never automatic.
Which law decides what it is worth
The court can be Scottish and the law foreign
As a general rule the law that applies to the claim is the law of the country where the injury occurred. So a Scottish court may hear your case but assess your damages under Spanish or Greek law, which can produce a very different figure from a Scottish assessment, and often a lower one. Foreign limitation periods can apply too, and some are considerably shorter than three years. This is the single biggest trap in these claims.
The claims we see most
Hotel and resort accidents
Slips on wet tiling around pools, defective balconies and railings, poorly lit steps.
Food poisoning
Illness from hotel or resort catering, usually on an all-inclusive basis where everything was eaten on site.
Excursions and activities
Quad bikes, boat trips, water sports and organised excursions, where the question is who arranged it.
Road accidents
Hire cars, coaches and taxis. Some European road accidents can be pursued against the insurer directly.
Working abroad
Offshore, on ships and on overseas contracts, where the employment contract often decides everything.
Cruises
Governed by their own international conventions, with notably short time limits.
What to do now
- Report it to the hotel, the operator or the police at the time, and get a copy of the report.
- Photograph the hazard before it is repaired. It usually is repaired.
- Keep the booking confirmation and invoice — whether it was a package is often the whole case.
- Get medical attention abroad and again when you get home, so the injury is documented in both places.
- Take advice quickly. Foreign time limits can be much shorter than the Scottish three years.
A note on this page
This is general information about how the law works in Scotland. It is not advice about your situation and it cannot be, because we do not know your circumstances. Nothing here should be relied on as a substitute for speaking to a solicitor about your own case.
Tell us what has happened
We accept enquiries about personal injury and medical negligence claims. If you send us your details, we will read your enquiry and, where it falls within an area we cover, pass it to one Scottish solicitor practice that handles this type of work so that they can contact you.
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