Should my dm sue the travel company?

[CatWreathkeith]

In October dm travelled to Cyprus as part of my wedding party.

Weeks before we flew out I emailed the resort to ask that since she isn't in the best of health (she is recovering from cancer treatment, has copd and osteoporosis) they allocated her a ground floor apt, which they did.

On arrival the floor of the apartment was covered in oil, which had been used to clean the marble floors and not cleaned off. Dm slipped and fell on it. it was cleaned up within half an hour of reporting it to reception.

Subsequently she barely left the apartment for 2 weeks. She made the wedding, but not the reception as she was in so much pain.

The rep filled in an accident form 4 days after we arrived, but nobody checked afterwards to see how she was.

Today she has been told by the hospital that two vertebrae have crumbled and she will need spinal surgery next year.

She has given up work as she is no longer able to stand due to the pain.

Does anyone know whether it would be worth pursuing with the travel agency, since the consultant has confirmed it was caused by the fall, or should we just chalk it up to bad luck?

I think this is a decent case. It's not someone just been inconvenienced.
She's had her holiday ruined. She's in paid. Will need an op. And loss of income. I would.

It was an all inclusive package holiday with a well known company.

Thing is with crumbled vertebrae it's never going to get any better, we aren't the suing type, but she genuinely will be affected by this for the rest of her life.

She is considering a no win no fee type solicitor, would this be a good idea or not?

Yes, she should. This isn't an accident caused by something silly, this is genuine negligence. Please seek a reputable solicitor with experience in this field, not some numpty you hear on the radio. No win no fee also means win there is a fee so bear in mind what 'cut' of her compensation and money she will need for the best rehab will be taken. Sorry to hear this and hope she gets the best care for a speedy recovery.

Thank you.

She's seen a specialist today who said the damage was caused by the fall, because her bones are weaker the damage has been considerable.

Would the email I sent stating her condition go in her favour do you think, or is it irrelevant?

She needs specialist legal advice. Slater & Gordon are one of the UK's biggest personal injury firms and have a specialised team dealing with travel claims. Worth a Google. All claims are no win no fee these days (unless she has legal expenses cover wfich will probably be shit anyway) so it's not the dodgy sounding thing it used to be.

Are you a Which? magazine member? They have a free legal advice line for their members which might be a good start.

what do the travel insurers say? She may also have legal cover in that.

definitely a case, you would not expect oil on a floor!!

She needs to put this in the hands of a solicitor- check if she has legal cover- most likely either with household contents or within her travel insurance. It looks, on the face of it, like a good case.

I am visiting her tomorrow, so will find out about travel insurers tomorrow. I have a feeling she used Barclays but will double check.

Thank you all for the replies, and the recommendations.

Did your Mum visit a doctor in resort? It will help enormously if she did.
The tour operator will fight you tooth and nail over this so you need a specialist solicitor.

I worked in travel for a few years and dealt with many personal injury cases, your Mums sound a like a strong one.

Generally if a guest had an accident in one of our hotels we would be all over them like a rash, checking on them every day, advising a doctor's appointment and documenting everything in the event that a case may be brought in the future.