We were instructed by a client to pursue a holiday compensation claim as a result of a significant injury she sustained whilst on holiday in Venice, Italy.

Our client, who was 89 years old at the time of the accident, was on holiday with her husband and daughter. Her daughter had booked a ferry tour of the famous canals, which was booked through the holiday representative at the hotel. Becasue the trip had been booked directly with TUI, the holiday company, or at least, she thought it had been booked directly with TUI, it was possible to sue them for this holiday accident.

At the end of the excursion, at approximately 10pm, our client was attempting to disembark the ferry and was walking down the gangplank. The gangplank was narrow and had no handrails either side of it. Our client stumbled and fell into the water below. After a traumatic struggle, she was heroically rescued by a fellow tourist. She suffered injuries to her back and shoulder as she was pulled from the water. 

We were able to use our knowledge and expertise of dealing with accidents abroad to identify the evidence required. We were able to show that the gang plank should have been of a specific width and also contain handrails on both sides. If this had been the case the accident would never have occurred and it woudl not have been necessary to make a holiday compensation claim.

Court proceedings were issued. Given our Clients age she was reluctant to go to trial and we were able to negotiate an out of court settlement with the defendants for several thousand pounds.