Holiday Injury Compensation

If you are injured in an accident while on vacation, or suffer an illness due to a lack of hygiene while abroad, you may be able to claim holiday injury compensation. The rules governing holiday injury compensation claims can vary depending on whether you sustain an injury or an illness in Ireland or overseas.

Your claim for compensation for a holiday injury in Ireland falls under public liability laws – which means you can use the Injuries Board process for the assessment of your claim. You can also use the Injuries Board process for injuries and illnesses sustained on an overseas holiday if the holiday was booked through a travel agent located in the Republic of Ireland. Holiday injury compensation claims for injuries and illnesses sustained abroad are more complicated to resolve depending on the laws relating to public liability in your vacation destination.

For practical and impartial advice about holiday injury compensation – whether your injury was sustained in Ireland or abroad – you are invited to call our Legal Advice Centre and discuss the circumstances surrounding your holiday accident or illness. Our solicitor will be happy to answer any questions about claiming holiday injury compensation in Ireland and guide you through the relevant claims procedures for your individual situation.

Tayto Park Fall Leads to €25k Compensation Settlement for Boy (13)

October 8th, 2017. By Compensation News.

Conor Bolger, aged 13, has been awarded €25,000 in personal injury compensation, for a Tayto Park fall that occurred on March 25 2012, following High Court approval for a proposed compensation settlement.

Mr Bolger, now 13 years old, of Briarfield Road, Kilbarrack, took the personal injury compensation action against Ashbourne Visitor Centre Ltd, Co Meath (trading as Tayto Park) through his father Brian Bolger. He underwent a surgical operation to insert pins in his lower arm to treat a fractured elbow, due the injuries he suffered in the fall.

The legal team acting on behalf of the Bolger family claimed that the tower where the accident occurred, one of the main children’s attractions in the Park in 2012, was overcrowded with people. It was also alleged that the ground surrounding the tower had insufficient protective wood mulch. They also argued that, as there was not an adequate system of safety inspections in place in the area, this went unnoticed by employees of Tayto Park, The added that if these inspections had been carried out Conor Bolger may have suffered less debilitating injuries.

Legal counsel for Ashbourne Visitor Centre (Tayto Park) David McGrath SC denied these allegations as, they believed, Mr Bolger “just fell” and there was no safety issue with the tower itself. The Bolger family, the court was told, were content with the proposed injury compensation settlement of €25,000.

The Tayto Park Fall compensation settlement was approved by High Court Justice Kevin Cross who stated that Mr Bolger’s scar, following the surgical procedure to insert pins, was not “too upsetting” and also commented that the boy would have suffered through being unable to play basketball for a period of time after the accident happened.

Compensation Approved for Childhood Holiday Accident

July 10th, 2016. By Compensation News.

A judge in Dublin’s High Court have approved a six-figure settlement of compensation for a teenage girl who was scarred in an accident whilst on holiday as a child.

The teenager in question, Shauna Burke, was aged just ten years old when the accident occurred. Shauna was staying at the Slattery Caravan Park, Co. Clare, with her family when she was out playing in a popular area of the park with her friends. However, as she was running, Shauna lacerated her leg on a nail that was jutting from a pole.

Though Shauna received both quick first-aid and then medical attention from a nearby hospital, she was left with a large scar just above her knee. Shauna’s father, John, decided to make a claim for holiday injury compensation on his daughter’s behalf against the owner of the caravan park, Austin Francis Slattery.

In the claim, John alleged that Slattery was aware of the risk the nail posed yet failed to act. The park owner denied these allegations, though still proceeded to offer Shauna a compensation settlement worth €106,000 for her suffering and cost of medical care.

However, as the claim was made on behalf of a minor, the case had to proceed to the High Court of Dublin for approval of the claim. Mr Justice Anthony Barr oversaw proceedings for the approval hearing, where he heard details of the accident and subsequent scar.

Judge Barr proceeded to inspect the scar, after which he said that he believed the settlement of compensation to be adequate. As Shauna is not yet eighteen, the settlement will be paid into court funds until her eighteenth birthday.

Holiday Sun Lounger Injury Claim Resolved in Court

June 19th, 2015. By Compensation News.

A holiday sun lounger injury claim, made by a man who booked his Italian vacation through a Dublin travel agent, has been resolved for €40,796 at the High Court.

Vincent Reid and his wife were on the fourth day of a week-long vacation at the Hotel Savoy Palace in Lake Garda, Italy, when on 29 August 2012, seventy-two year old Vincent from Lisburn in County Antrim sat on a sun lounger by the hotel pool to read his newspaper.

Vincent – a retired construction manager – started to recline on the sun lounger, but as he did so, the arm mechanism of the sun lounger caught the middle finger of his right hand and sliced off the top of the finger. Vincent was taken to a local hospital in Lake Garda to receive treatment, but had to protect the injury with a splint for twelve weeks after his return to Northern Ireland.

As the Italian vacation had been booked through a travel agent in Dublin – Topflight Ltd – Vincent made a holiday sun lounger injury claim through the Injuries Board Ireland. Topflight denied that it was responsible for Vincent´s accident and, unable to assess the holiday sun lounger injury claim, the Injuries Board issued Vincent with an authorisation to pursue compensation through the courts.

Last week the case was heard by Mr Justice Michael Hanna at the High Court in Dublin. Judge Hanna was told by representatives of Topflight Ltd that the arm mechanism on the poolside sun lounger should have been locked into place before Vincent leaned back on it and that Vincent´s accident could not have been foreseen.

However, the judge also heard that a similar sun lounger accident had happened just a few days before – also to an Irish guest staying at the hotel. This prompted the judge to dismiss the travel agent´s defence, saying that somebody at the hotel must have been aware that the sun lounger would collapse if the arm mechanism was not fully engaged.

Judge Hanna ruled that Topflight Ltd – as organisers of the vacation package – was in breach of the Package Holidays and Travel Trade Act of 1995. After being told that Vincent still experienced pain from his accident and limited movement in the middle finger of his right hand that prevented him from pursuing his hobbies of gardening and DIY, the judge awarded Vincent €40,796 compensation in settlement of his holiday sun lounger injury claim.

Man Resolves Injury Claim for Accident in Dublin Airport after Hearing

December 6th, 2013. By Compensation News.

A man, who suffered a broken nose and two black eyes when an electric door closed on him, has resolved his injury claim for an accident in Dublin Airport after a hearing at the Circuit Civil Court.

Sixty-three year old Thomas Smyth and his wife, Evelyn, were at Dublin Airport in January 2011 to catch a flight for a vacation in Tenerife, and were walking through the gate to board their plane, when an automatically-timed door shut suddenly on Thomas´ face.

Thomas, from County Cavan, was taken to Beaumont Hospital in Dublin, where he was diagnosed with a broken nose and received treatment for other facial injuries. Having missed their flight, the couple returned home to re-schedule their holiday for a few days later.

However, because of the injuries Thomas had sustained, the holiday was ruined; and, when the couple returned to Ireland, they sought legal advice and made an injury claim for an accident in Dublin Airport against Aer Lingus – the company they had flown with – and the Dublin Airport Authority.

Both defendants agreed that Thomas had sustained injuries due to negligence, but neither party was willing to admit liability. Damages were assessed for €19,000, but the case was heard by Judge Jacqueline Linnane to establish which of the two defendants – if not both – were liable for Thomas´ injuries.

Judge Linnane found that Aer Lingus had been negligent on the grounds that the door which had automatically closed on Thomas was working properly, but it had been timed to close 30 minutes after it had been opened by an Aer Lingus flight attendant.

The judge said that if Aer Lingus needed longer than 30 minutes to get their passengers boarded, they should have requested a time extension from Dublin Airport Authority. She ordered that Aer Lingus pay the €19,000 compensation in settlement of Thomas´ injury claim for an accident in Dublin Airport.