Hotel Accident Claims – How Much Compensation Can I Claim?

By Danielle Graves. Last Updated 9th October 2023. This guide will provide you with information about making a hotel accident claim. If you suffer an injury in a hotel as a guest, you could be eligible for compensation. We explain what circumstances could entitle you to make a public liability claim. Additionally, we’ll explore a few examples of injuries you could suffer and how they could occur.

Hotel accident compensation claims

Hotel accident compensation claims

If you are eligible for personal injury compensation, you may like to know more about how claims are calculated. We take a look at the different factors that determine how much a personal injury claim for an accident in a hotel could be worth.

If you have valid grounds to seek compensation, you may wish to instruct a solicitor to work on your claim. This guide concludes with a look at the benefits of having the support of a No Win No Fee solicitor.

Get in touch with an advisor from our team to discuss personal injury claims. They can check your claim, and if you meet the eligibility requirements, they can connect you to one of the No Win No Fee solicitors from our panel.

To speak with an advisor:

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Hotel Injury Settlements

If you’ve been injured in a hotel, you might be interested in examples of hotel negligence settlements. We can’t provide exact figures due to every claim being different. However, we can provide rough guidelines for what you could claim under general damages.

In personal injury claims, general damages compensate for pain and suffering. Our table uses compensation brackets from the 16th edition of the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). The JCG provides rough guidelines for pain and suffering in personal injury claims. However, they should not be used as guarantees.

InjuryCommentsAmount
Severe Back Injury (i)A severe back injury that involved damage to the nerve roots and spinal cord and result in serious consequences.£91,090 to £160,980
Moderate Back Injury (i)The lumbar vertebrae has suffered a crush/compression fracture that causes constant discomfort and pain.£27,760 to £38,780
Severe Ankle InjuryThe ankle will require time in plaster or will need pins/plates inserted, which will limit the person's walking ability.£31,310 to £50,060
Wrist InjuryThe person suffers with a significant permanent disability, however, some useful wrist movement will remain.£24,500 to £39,170
Moderate Neck Injury (i)Fractures or dislocation that may require spinal fusion and cause immediate symptoms.£24,990 to £38,490
Minor Neck Injury (i)Soft tissue injuries where full recovery is expected within 1-2 years.£4,350 to £7,890
Moderate Foot InjuryA displaced metatarsal fractures that causes continuing symptoms and results in a permanent deformity.£13,740 to £24,990
Serious Shoulder InjuryDamage to the lower part of the brachial plexus and the shoulder is dislocated which causes neck and shoulder pain.£12,770 to £19,200
Arm InjurySimple forearm fractures.£6,610 to £19,200
Less Serious Leg Injury (iii)Simple tibia or fibula fractures that cause dull aching and restricted leg movement.Up to £11,840

Hotel Injury Settlements – What Are Special Damages?

In addition to general damages, you may also be awarded special damages as part of your hotel injury compensation. This is to compensate you for the financial losses you incurred due to your injuries.

However, to claim special damages, you will need to provide evidence of your losses. For example, receipts and bank statements could be used as proof.

Some examples of special damages that may be included with hotel injury settlements include:

  • Loss of earnings if you’ve required time off work to recover from your injuries.
  • Travel costs. For example, taxi fares to medical appointments.
  • Out-of-pocket medical expenses, such as the costs of prescriptions or physiotherapy.
  • The cost of accommodation modifications, such as the fitting of railings or a ramp.

If you would like to know how to sue a hotel for injury, get in touch with our advisors. They can also offer you free advice for your potential claim.

How To Sue A Hotel For Negligence

You might be eligible for compensation if you have been injured in a hotel while staying there as a guest. However, when suing a hotel, you will need to prove that you suffered your injury because the hotel breached its duty of care to you.

The Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 states that the party in control of a space must do all that they can to ensure the reasonable safety of members of the public who are using this space for its intended purposes. This duty of care applies to hotel owners/occupiers. Some of the things that hotels could do to ensure they are maintaining their duty of care could include:

  • Performing regular risk/hazard assessments.
  • Fixing any internal/external structural issues within a reasonable timeframe.
  • Ensuring that the hotel has high hygiene standards.

If a hotel was to fail to maintain their duty of care, you could suffer harm. Later in this guide, we will share some examples of how you could potentially become injured due to a hotel’s negligence.

Contact our team of advisors today if you are still unsure how to sue a hotel for negligence. They could also provide you with free legal advice regarding your specific claim.

Hotel Accidents And Injuries Abroad

In most cases where a hotel personal injury claim is being made, it is usually the hotel owner that is being sued as it is their responsibility to ensure you are in a safe environment whilst on their premises, regardless of whether you are a guest or member of staff. This is also true if you are injured abroad except sometimes the tour operator may have some responsibility.

According to ROSPA, 30 children have drowned in holiday swimming pools in the last 6 years. Of this statistic, the most common location of these drownings was hotels. Hotels could be held liable if an accident occurred in their swimming pool as a result of their failings, which could range from poor implementation of water safety regulations to poor maintenance of facilities.

Legal Helpline work with solicitors who have successfully dealt with personal injury claims for accidents abroad, and so if you contact us, they can look at your individual case in more detail.

Examples Of Accidents And Injuries In Hotels

There are many ways in which an accident might occur causing someone to become injured, with some being more common than others. Some of these are:

  • Slips, trips and falls – See below for a more detailed look at these types of accidents.
  • Scalding and burns – Incorrect temperature fittings or settings on taps, showers, baths and towel rails in the hotel room can lead to these types of injuries.

Or it could be that the food or drink served in the hotel bar or restaurant was too hot for consumption causing you to burn your lips, mouth and throat.

  • Poor Hygiene standards – Food poisoning is quite common, particularly when abroad and although often passes after a day or two, can sometimes cause more serious complications resulting in life long problems.
  • Faulty furniture and fittings – Accidents involving furniture that is old and worn are quite commonplace. Structural damage to beds, tables and chairs could result in them collapsing if never checked, maintained, repaired or replaced. Also, poorly positioned shelving and units may cause injuries, or shelving and furniture that has not been properly installed could result in them collapsing.
  • Faulty Electrics – If electrical items or fittings are not regularly maintained they could become dangerous.
  • Bed Bugs – Bed bugs can cause bad skin irritation and are very hard to get rid of, often getting into clothing and travelling home with you. If the hotel is poorly maintained and cleanliness standards low, it can increase the risk of these being present.
  • Lift and Stair accidents – Accidents due to faulty lifts and staircases can result in someone becoming seriously injured and in rare cases their injuries could be fatal depending on the actual circumstances of the accident.
  • Leisure facilities, spa and swimming pools – Sustaining an injury whilst in these areas may occur to a variety of reasons. If you have been injured or become ill after using the swimming pool for example, it may be due to poor cleaning regimes or problems with too much chemicals being added to the water for example. Or maybe you were injured due to broken or defective equipment in the leisure areas. Taking a photo of the defective equipment could be beneficial in proving liability. Also if you have suffered after a treatment in the spa, you may also be eligible to make a claim if the treatment was carried out incorrectly.

These are just a few of the possible accidents and injuries that could and do happen every year. If you have suffered an injury whilst working in a hotel or whilst staying there as a guest, and it wasn’t your fault, but due to the negligence of the hotel, call Legal Helpline for expert help and advice on how to make a successful compensation claim.

Suing A Hotel For Negligence – How Long Do I Have?

As discussed earlier, you might be eligible to claim for an accident in a hotel if it was caused by a liable party’s negligence. However, if you are suing a hotel for negligence, you must start the claim within the personal injury claims time limit.

Under the Limitation Act 1980, this is typically three years from the date of the incident. However, if your hotel accident occurred abroad, the time limit may be different. In addition to this, there are exceptional circumstances that suspend the time limit. They include:

  • Injured parties who lack the mental capacity to start a claim themselves. If this is the case, then the time limit is suspended indefinitely. However, a litigation friend could start a claim on their behalf at any point during the time limit’s suspension. In the event that the injured party regains their capacity, then the time limit is no longer suspended.
  • Children under the age of 18 also cannot start a personal injury claim As with injured parties that lack the mental capacity to start a claim, a litigation friend could be appointed to act on their behalf. However, once the injured party reaches their 18th birthday, they will have three years to start a claim if one hasn’t been started already.

If you have any questions about hotel, slip and fall settlements, call our advisors for free, expert personal injury claim advice. If your claim seems like it could succeed, they can help you get started right away.

How Do I Start A Hotel Injury Compensation Claim?

Before actually starting your claim, there are a number of steps you should take that can be the starting building blocks to your case. These steps are:

  • Medical assistance – If you haven’t already, seek medical attention so that your injury can be thoroughly assessed and any necessary treatment can be received. Although this is important to do for the sake of your health, it also mean that a medical report will be written documenting your injury diagnosis, treatment and prognosis which can be used as evidence.
  • Photos – If possible, take photos of where and how the accident took place, this will help to prove liability. Also take photos of your injury to give visual evidence of your pain and suffering.
  • Accident Record – Make sure your accident is recorded correctly in the accident record book and ask for a copy.
  • Expenses – Keep receipts for any out of pocket expenses incurred such as medical and travel costs that are as a direct result of your injury.
  • Diary – Keep a note of everything that you can remember regarding your accident including the moment prior to when it happened. Also note down thoughts and feelings including pain levels that you have since being injured. This helps to document the pain, suffering and distress you are experiencing.
  • Witnesses – Try to gather any witness contact details as a statement may be required at a later date.

Once you have done as many of the above as you can, and you feel ready, contact Legal Helpline for support and advice on your next steps.

We offer everyone a free case consultation. During this session, you can ask any questions you may have in relation to making a hotel accident claim, and we will use the time to gather all the facts from you surrounding your case.

If we feel your case is a strong one, we will most likely offer to take your case on for you on your behalf on a no win no fee basis. If you’re in agreement, we will then set to work instantly, gathering more evidence and other facts that will enable us to build you the case of a strong and successful claim.

No Win No Fee Legal Help For Hotel Accident Claims

If you were injured in a hotel and meet the eligibility criteria to make a personal injury claim, you may like to have the support of a solicitor. One of the solicitors from our panel could assist you with your claim. They have lots of experience working on claims for public liability.

Typically, the solicitors on our panel offer their services under a type of No Win No Fee agreement called a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).

A No Win No Fee solicitor won’t charge you any upfront or ongoing fees for their work on your claim. Additionally, they also won’t ask you to pay for their services if your claim is not successful.

If your claim has a successful outcome, your solicitor will deduct a success fee from your award. The law caps the amount that can be taken as a success fee.

Our advisors are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to answer your questions about hotel accident claims. Get in touch today to discuss your potential claim. If it seems eligible, you could be passed on to one of the solicitors from our panel.

To speak to an advisor about your accident in a hotel:

Helpful Links and Resources On Claiming Hotel Injury Compensation

Below, we’ve included some resources that you may find useful on claiming hotel injury compensation:

Holiday accident abroad compensation claims

Have you been injured in a hotel while on holiday abroad? If so this guide provides advice on claiming compensation for holiday accidents abroad.

Public liability claims

Learn more about how to make a public liability claim.

Gov.UK – Package travel regulations

Governments regulations and guidelines on the responsibilities of the travel industries when selling and providing package holidays.

NHS – Food poisoning

Here’s a guide by the NHS on food poisoning

To learn more about hotel accident claims and how to work with an injury lawyer to get compensation, please get in touch.