Holiday Problems - food or water poisoning

If the holiday you have booked includes meals or facilities such as a swimming pool, your tour operator has to ensure that they are of an adequate standard and that reasonable hygiene standards are maintained.  

The area of law is known as “contract law” and if your holiday did not match the description or facilities were not of a reasonable standard and made you ill – then you may have a claim for compensation because of the tour operator’s  “breach of contract”.  

You also have the right that those responsible for you should act in a way that is not negligent and does not therefore cause you predictable harm such as an injury or ill-health. 

In addition,  if your holiday was a package holiday booked in the UK (usually where transport and accommodation is booked together) you are also given extra rights under the Package Tour Regulations. These make it easier to bring your claim in the UK even though the problems happened abroad.

If your holiday was not a package holiday, because perhaps you booked the flights and the accommodation separately you may still be able to claim compensation for breach of contract. However your claim would be against the hotel or restaurant. If it has no connection with the UK (and was not booked from the UK) you may have to bring your claim abroad under the foreign rules that apply.

1:  You will need to prove that you were ill  - usually by seeing a doctor abroad and keeping a note of the doctors name (so you can get the records later) and/or by paying for a report from the doctor (that you can use for your claim).

2: that the illness was directly caused by facilities arranged by the tour operator 

3:  proof of your losses and expenses  

 All of the following suggestions may help. It will be easier if you are reading this whilst still on holiday:

1.           With food poisoning you should make a note of all the places you have eaten and what you ate for 72 hours before your illness started – to try to establish the cause was the facility arranged by the tour operator.

2.        Take photographs or video of the problem. What is relevant will depend on your situation but may include visible evidence of poor food hygiene, such as uncovered food exposed to flies or dirty premises or equipment or poor pool maintenance such as dirty water or of broken equipment .

• Take contact details of any witnesses of what happened to you and caused your holiday to be spoilt.
• Take details of any other people on holiday who have also suffered in a similar way to you. Your claim will be stronger if there are other people who are also suffered from the same illness – it may help establish that your food poisoning or water poisoning was caused by the hotel complex rather than somewhere outside the control of the tour operator.
• If you have suffered an injury or the hotel food or swimming pool has made you unwell - make sure you receive the medical treatment you need. Keep a note of the doctor and where the treatment was provided (so if they are needed later, the medical records can be obtained as independent proof of what you have been through).
• Keep a list (and receipts) of all the extra expenses you have to pay for as a result of the problem or injury (such as taxi fares and medication).
• Keep a record or diary of the impact on the holiday of the problem on you and your family. This can cover the inconvenience caused, activities you can’t enjoy and your pain and suffering as well as the impact on the holiday for you and your family.
• You should complain to the representative whilst you are on holiday. You should give the company the chance to remedy the problem as soon as possible or your claim for compensation might be affected. Keep a note of when and to whom you reported it.  If you have a holiday rep they should offer you a written report form.
• When back in the UK you should see your GP or hospital for a check-up. Food or water poisoning can have long term consequences that you may be able to claim for. Therefore it is worth checking with your GP or hospital when you get back to the UK that you have made a full recovery. As once you settle your claim you cannot usually go back for more compensation – if you later realise you are still suffering.

1: Pain and suffering: You can claim compensation for pain and suffering and inconvenience as a result of your food poisoning or water poisoning from the swimming pool or an injury in the holiday complex.  

2: Loss of enjoyment of holiday / refund of cost of holiday: The amount will depend on how badly affected your holiday was (and that of your family and travel companions): 

• If a holiday is completely ruined it might be reasonable for you to get a full refund.
• If the problem just reduced your enjoyment of a small part of the holiday then your reasonable compensation will be less.

3: You can also claim back your additional losses and expenses: 

• A refund of the extra losses and expenses suffered by you and your family and those helping you. The expenses need to be as  a direct result of the breach or failings of the holiday company.
• The amount you can claim must be reasonable and will usually need to be supported by receipts or other evidence.

This is a complicated area of law where you will need specific advice. But very generally you have 3 years to start a claim for injuries or poisoning in the courts of England and Wales.
However those under 18 usually have until their 21st birthday

Also if the injury or food or water poisoning was in connection with airline travel or travel at sea, the deadline reduces to 2 years.

If the claim has to be brought abroad then the rules of the foreign county will apply which could be as little as 6 months.

• Food poisoning in restaurant or bar in hotel complex
• Water poisoning from hotel swimming pool
• Injury caused by broken equipment in hotel