Holiday injury success in Court of Appeal

Posted 13/11/2013

Mrs J recently won a personal injury case against Virgin holidays, in spite of Virgin’s attempt to get the trial Judge’s verdict overturned in the Court of Appeal. Mrs J booked a holiday through Virgin to stay at a hotel in Barbados in 2008, but unfortunately suffered personal injury after she walked into the glass balcony doors in her room. Mrs J succeeded with her claim for compensation, with the Judge finding that safety glass should have been fitted at the outset and concluding that the hotel had breached the local safety standards and practices in place at the time the hotel was built and at the date of the accident. The Judge also found that the hotel should have been updated to meet developing standards.Virgin appealed. Their appeal did not succeed because the Court of Appeal agreed with the trial Judge that the doors had not complied with local standards at the date of installation. However, they did disagree with the Judge on two points, saying that there wasn’t any general duty to constantly update facilities to meet developing standards and that the standard to be applied should be that in place at the time of construction.Tom Ranson of Ashtons Legal Injury Services says: “Accidents can and do happen even when we are enjoying ourselves on holiday at home or abroad. This case further highlights the importance of not only making sure that you seek legal advice from a specialist but from one whom you can trust to go that extra mile and support you all the way, if necessary, to the Court of Appeal. This is something we have done for our clients and would always do should the need arise.”