We always travel in hope, especially on venturing abroad on holiday, but every now and again disaster of some degree or another strikes.

If this happens you may need to consider how and against whom to pursue a claim for compensation. If the unfortunate event occurs abroad arising out of services provided by an English Package Holiday Company then there are a set of Regulations which would enable you to sue the Company in England and recover damages. These are the Package Travel Holidays and Tours Regulations 1992. For example, if the package holiday includes hotel accommodation and the accident involves a staircase at the hotel say in Greece, a claim can be brought under the regulations in England. However it will be the Greek standards of staircase construction which will be used to judge liability.

Sometimes accidents happen away from the hotel, or swimming pool, or typically on the road. If the accident occurs within the EU, for example in Germany, the position regarding where to sue depends on the negligent driver’s “domicile” (or Country with which the person is substantially connected). If he is a German and no other drivers are involved then you would have to sue in the German Courts and be compensated according to German law. If the driver at fault is English, even if a number of drivers with different domiciles are involved, the claim can be brought in the English Courts. This is governed by the Brussels Regulation of 2002.

Each Jurisdiction has its own approach as to how much compensation should be awarded for a particular injury. A recent House of Lords decision (Harding-v-Wealands) has confirmed that where English Courts try foreign holiday claims, their generous damages award will be applied, not as in this case the restricted damages available in the courts of New South Wales, Australia, where the accident occurred.