Holiday tour operators are required to ensure their hotels have processes in place to ensure food and drink is safe for human consumption. If you suffer food poisoning while on an all-inclusive holiday, you may be entitled to claim compensation from your tour operator.
Should you be unfortunate enough to be struck down with food poisoning, it’s likely that you’ll complain to your holiday rep or a member of staff at the hotel first. But if you plan to take legal action after returning home to the UK, it’s very important that you refuse any offer of compensation that may be put to you by the tour operator.
Many tour operators will offer compensation such as vouchers or a cash sum as a goodwill gesture, but this could be substantially lower than the amount of compensation that you’re actually entitled to. Our Holiday Claims Solicitors can assess the details of your claim and let you know what it’s worth, so you can settle for an appropriate and fair amount, if your claim is successful.
We have a strong track record of helping people who have suffered from food poisoning on holiday get the compensation they deserve. For example:
Food poisoning is often the result of food not being cooked thoroughly and basic food hygiene practices not being followed. So if you booked a package holiday, paying a single amount of money to a tour operator to provide a range of services including food and drink, the tour operator is ultimately responsible for your illness.
In order to make a successful claim, you’ll need to show that staff employed by your hotel or tour operator were at fault in some way. It’s therefore a good idea to compile written and photographic evidence of what you believe were failings at your resort. This could include:
If you fell ill and were sick on holiday and you want to claim compensation from your holiday tour operator, there is lots of evidence you can collect to support your claim.
British holidaymakers who contract Cyclospora at an all-inclusive hotel in Mexico will not know they’ve got the condition unless they’re tested for it. If you start showing symptoms of a gastric illness during your holiday, report it to a member of the hotel staff straight away.
If you’ve suffered from an unexpected illness on holiday, then you could have grounds to make a holiday illness claim. Was your trip booked as part of an all-inclusive package holiday deal, and the illness you suffered was caused by the resort or its conditions? If so, then under the Package Travel Regulations 1992, you may be entitled to compensation.
Failings such as these can create the ideal conditions for bacteria such as Salmonella and Campylobacter or infections such as Shigella or E. coli to thrive. While hotels bear specific food safety responsibilities, such as ensuring food is cooked and stored properly, the tour operator is still ultimately responsible for the hotel staff’s actions. So even if the mistake or failing wasn’t down to the tour operator directly, and they did everything they could to ensure your food was safe, they are still liable for what’s happened.
Other useful evidence could include any written correspondence between you and the hotel or any medical practitioners you dealt with either on holiday or back in the UK. Contact details of other guests at your resort could also help to bolster any compensation claim, as it’s likely other people staying there will have suffered similar symptoms to you if food hygiene standards weren’t up to scratch.
If we take on your case, our Holiday Claims Solicitors will arrange for you to undergo an independent medical assessment. While you may have already seen a doctor, this will enable us to get an objective look at your condition and how it’s impacted on your life. This will in turn help us value your claim and present an appropriate amount of compensation to the tour operator that we believe they should pay out.
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