Accident Abroad EU Claims

This article was published on: 09/18/15

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If you suffer from any type of accident on holiday inside the European Union that wasn’t your fault, you may be worried that taking action could mean months of litigation problems. Other countries have differing legal procedures to those of the UK. As difficult as it may seem following any type of accident, you are actually more protected than you think, and help can still be provided to claim your rightful compensation.

Inside EU Law

Recently news circulated of an incident in early September relating to a road traffic accident in Switzerland involving a coach load of returning UK holidaymakers after visiting Lake Como in Italy. The coach was returning to South Wales carrying 39 passengers when it was involved in a 5 vehicle pileup on the A2 just outside of the Swiss city of Lucerne (25 miles South of Zurich). The crash involved the coach and 4 heavy goods vehicles.

Despite many being treated for “shock and trauma” as described by Edwards Commercial Director Jason Edwards (The firm in charge of the vehicle) nobody suffered life threatening injuries. Some passengers were unfortunate enough to suffer broken bones in the crash but all managed to escape in a stable condition. Edwards saw to put the passengers into a nearby 5 star hotel following discharge from hospital as the majority of them were that same evening.

This isn’t an isolated case and indeed any travelling abroad can carry risks; but, in general, good safety procedures are in place to protect you on holiday. Edwards itself safely carries around 80,000 tourists per year throughout Europe.

Welsh firm Edwards has said the coach was a new Mercedes model fitted with the latest safety technology which has likely contributed the minor nature of the injuries.

Accident in Europe? What are my options?

Considering the coach crash incident, the next question after being involved in an accident abroad is ‘what can I do about it?’ Thankfully for any holidaymakers who have suffered (including all the coach passengers or perhaps yourself or a family member), you have the ability to make a claim due to EU law.

Within the member states of the EU, each country will follow some legal guidelines as part of their agreement to be part of the European Union. This makes the process somewhat similar to an injury case suffered domestically, although not identical. It does however add the stress of requiring making your claim through the courts in a foreign country, including paperwork and potential meetings in which the language spoken is not your native tongue.

What can my Solicitor do for me?

1. Language Barriers

If you choose to take action on an accident abroad, you will need to select your Solicitor carefully as some (like Scott Rees) will have specialist language speakers covering the majority of EU languages whereas not all have that capability. A non specialist Solicitor may require a translator, upping your legal costs and taking away from your final compensation payment.

With the coach crash as an example, anybody looking to make a claim in that situation would require a Solicitor fluent in German, particularly Austrian German. It is not common for many Solicitors to have multiple languages to their name. Companies like Scott Rees in this case are very useful given we serve languages including:

  • French
  • German
  • Spanish
  • Polish
  • Romanian
  • Turkish
  • …and more

2. Reduce Stress/Hassle

In any injury claim, your Solicitor is charged with running the case on your behalf, attending meetings to attain a settlement, representing you and working for you. In an accident abroad, they do the same job, saving you the hassle and worry of needing to travel again to fulfill any meetings.

As with a domestic case, your responsibility will be to sign appropriate documents which your dedicated handler will send to you to post back. At Scott Rees in particular we always aim to work as quickly through our continental claims as we do UK based ones, giving you as close to the same structure/time span as possible.

3. Arrange appointments/treatments/living arrangements

Depending on the severity of your injury, you may need some extra help during your claim from your Solicitor. We don’t simply provide a monetary provision following a successful case, we also help:

  • Organise changes to living arrangements should you suffer any injury that impairs your movement for a period of time
  • Assist with getting medical treatment if an injury requires physiotherapy, psychotherapy or surgery
  • Arrange any interim payments should your injury stop you from working or earning a living

The aim is to move through your case and recovery with as little hassle to your life as possible. We look to ensure your life is back to normal quickly and that you are able to put the incident behind you knowing you have received justice for your injuries.