To think a hotel would cover this?

[Dontknowwhattodonowok]

If you were at a hotel and had an accident within some of their facilities which involved you needing treatment at A&E, would you expect the hotel to cover the costs to get you there?

So as not to dripfeed- you can’t drive there as you’ve had a glass of wine with lunch and are in too much pain. It’s not bad enough for an ambulance, and accident was due to a broken part of the hotels facilities

Absolutely. And profuse apologies and a token get well soon bunch of flowers. Was it just one of those things/an unforeseeable accident or something they should have been aware of and dealt with?

Hotel haven’t offered apologies. Feel that it’s not their fault. They cannot understand how accident happened and believe there is nothing wrong with their facilities. Have said they won’t cover the costs (over £50)

Difficult to say without knowing the exact circumstances.

It's possible that they are constrained by the terms of their insurance. Covering costs could be construed as an admission of liability, which could in turn create issues if there was to be an enquiry or an ensuing civil claim.

They are probably worried about accepting liability and opening themselves up to a law suit. How about asking them to cover it at a courtesy? Either that or sue them

The problem is, if they cover costs (or apologise) they are admitting liability and which opens them up to all sorts of claims.

Cross posted

That’s strange the hotel isn’t accepting responsibility for something broken. Are they saying this item wasn’t broken and therefore not responsible for your injury?

Yes, not helping was poor customer care, but could be for liability reasons.

Not enough information to decide I'm afraid.

What was broken? Was it flagged as broken? Was it obviously broken? Did you use it anyway knowing it was broken? Etc

In general I doubt many hospitality providers would pay for a cab to hospital.

They’ve actively encouraged us to take it to a solicitor. Have shut down all communication about offering token gesture or even 50% of costs.

I paid for the stay for a family member who is hard up to celebrate a special occasion. They spent four hours in A&E getting it sorted, and lost £56 in the process. They are not the kind to make a fuss but the hotel couldn’t be less bothered. I feel horrendously guilty!

I think yes I would expect them to if it was their fault.

But it does depend on exactly what happened. What happened?

It looks like a very sharp edge which to us wasn’t covered/protected adequately. They say that it’s not sharp and what happened was “bad luck” and an “accident”

Sharp edge was in their Spa facilities- sorry should have said

If they are found liable it will be reimbursed but theyre not gonna pay it out up front

Yes, in addition they are also obliged to pay for any ongoing treatment costs, loss of earnings resulting from the injury and also a sum for the injury itself.

if theyre found liable.

There is going to be significant loss of earnings (not that we would ever have dreamed of claiming for this had taxi’s just been covered) because my family member is in a physical job which requires 6 hours of activity a day- they now won’t be able to work this week.

They’ve actively encouraged us to take it to a solicitor. Have shut down all communication about offering token gesture or even 50% of costs

That's your answer, then. If they don't believe that the facilities were substandard they're not going to cover costs or offer a verbal or token apology, as that looks like an admission of liability and will count against them in a court case/compensation claim.

get someone to do a recce. if they've covered up the sharp edge or moved it, that's tantamount to an admission

get photos

This is where contingency fee lawyers (no win, no fee) come into their own. We had a similar problem with some builders whose negligence caused DH a significant injury - we were happy to compromise, only wanted our costs covered but they wouldn't engage. We ended up suing and got 3 times what we had been asking for.

Make sure you read the small print carefully - there are big differences between firms as to how much the client really gets in the end.

@mumsnut did that already. But you could say that the edge looks fine and isn’t obviously damaged or broken. But what we are saying is an edge that sharp should be protected

Well I assume that for one week your family member will be paid by their employer so there will be no loss of earnings.

I assume the hotel will probably have certification to say they comply with H&S risks and therefore that is why they are denying liability.

Where there's a blame there is a claim as they say.

Maybe go on a social media mission/ paper if they are a chain

If they are independent I would get a solicitor however depends how much they earn if it will be worth it. Solicitors are expensive