I stumbled upon an article in the Daily Record this week about a lady who had an accident on holiday in Spain back in 2001.

It reports that Fiona James was walking along a path during a holiday in Majorca when a passing van lost control, mounted the pavement and span into her, crushing her against a wall. It seems that she was pushing a buggy with her then 2 yeard old child and that he was lucky to have survived unscathed. What a horrific incident!

The story focuses on how much of the £80,000 compensation for her accident on holiday, awarded by the Spanish courts, has been eaten away by legal fees, translation costs and other expenses. Well, I am pleased to report that things have moved on since then.

I won't go into the finer detail, but for the last 3 years or so, it has been possible in many cases where accidents happen in the EU for holiday compensation claims to be brought in the courts of your home country, rather than having to pursue the matter in the foreign courts.

To put that into context; of the 55 million trips abroad UK citizens take each year, 42 million of them are in Europe.

There have been various developments in the area, but the latest position seems quite static. The rule of thumb is that you will be compensated at the same level as the country where the accident happened. So what's the benefit? There are at least 2 possible benefits:

1. Legal Costs: How much will it cost for me to make a holiday claim?

I can understand why, lawyers don't really have a reputation for being cheap. Believe it or not, in the English and Welsh courts (the Scottish and NI courts are operated separately) we currently have a Claimant friendly regime. You can make a no win, no fee holiday claim and not have to pay out of your own pocket if you lose or pay anythig from your compensation for a holiday claim if you win.

In contrast, most other countries have a different system where you either have to pay a foreign holiday lawyer a fixed fee from your damages, an hourly fee for the work done or a percentage of the damages. Either way, you're worse off!

2. Holiday Claim Compensation - How much will I get?

In theory, compensation for a holiday claim should be the same irrespective of where you bring the holiday claim. The reality is that the English courts will probably be more generous if they can find a way. The assumption is that holiday claim compensation in Europe is lower than in England (Ireland tends to be the exception).

The area is very complex, but with the right expertise and knowledge you are likely to be better off by pursuing it in the English courts (not to mention the added convenience) - even if it initially looks like you could get more compensation by doing it in foreign courts.

It can sometimes be possible to convince the courts that you should be paid damages at the English level. There are lots of ifs and buts, but again, if you have the right knowledge and know the area of law as well as we do, it's possible.

Getting back to the point. If the seriously unlucky Mrs James had been involved in her accident a few years later, she would have been better off because of the legal developments since then. I'm sure this is very little consolation to her and I genuinely hope that she can put the legal case behind her and get on with her life as best as possible.