Formentera Injury Claim Time Limit Guide – Limitation Period For A Personal Injury Claim In Formentera? – How Long Do I Have To Claim Compensation?
Personal injury time limits Formentera
Formentera is the smallest of the Balearic Islands but very popular with British Tourists. It’s long beaches, clear blue oceans and sand dunes make for a great holiday destination or day trip. If you’re involved in an accident on the Island, its important to note that there are Formentera holiday accident claim limitation periods.
Legal Expert specialise in holiday accident claims and holiday illness claims and could help you to start a claim today. If your accident on holiday or illness was caused by a third party who owed you a duty of care you may be eligible for a claim. If you need more information on eligibility call 0800 073 8804 and speak with one of our specialist staff.
If you want more information, carry on reading this helpful guide.
Select A Section
- A Guide To Formentera Holidays Accident Claim Limitation Periods
- Formentera Holiday Accident Claim Limitation Periods
- What Is An Accident On A Foreign Holiday?
- How Holiday Accident Claims In Formentera Are Handled
- I Was Injured On Holiday, Was I Owed A Duty Of Care?
- How Losses Are Quantified In Spanish Baremo Tables
- How Much Could I Claim? – Personal Injury Calculator
- Special Damages In Holiday Injury Claims
- No Win No Fee Injury Claims On A Formentera Holiday
- How Travel And Tourism Accident Solicitors Could Help You
- Contact A Solicitor Today
- Emergency Help And Related Articles
A Guide To Formentera Holidays Accident Claim Limitation Periods
Formentera is a small Island to the south of Ibiza in the Mediterranean Ocean. It doesn’t have its own airport, so tourists fly to Ibiza and then take a ferry. Because the island is owned by Spain, the Formentera holiday accident claim time limitations are bases on Spanish law.
This guide will explain what types of accidents could happen and how tort claim laws differ in Spain. It will also describe how much compensation some examples of injuries could be awarded.
Legal Expert could help you claim if you were injured on a package holiday or one you booked privately. This guide will explain the different processes for each type of claim.
After you’ve read this article, if you’re still unsure about claiming, why not call one of our experienced staff to ask for free legal advice about your options?
Formentera Holiday Accident Claim Limitation Periods
As this article has already indicated, Spain time bars are in place for any accident claim in Formentera. The current time limits for claiming compensation are:
| Type of Claim | Time Limit |
|---|---|
| A package holiday claim for an injury in a hotel, on a flight or an excursion. Booked in the UK by an UK tour operator. | 3 years |
| Accident or illness claim on a privately booked holiday. | 1 year (may vary) |
| Injury (or illness) suffered on a flight to Ibiza airport that was privately booked. | 2 years (may vary) |
You should contact a personal injury solicitor, such as Legal Expert, as soon as possible following your return to the UK. This will allow plenty of time for supporting evidence, such as medical reports and witness statements, to be gathered.
What Is An Accident On A Foreign Holiday?
There are many cases where some holiday accidents won’t be considered for a compensation claim. For instance, if you caused the accident yourself by not paying attention or messing around.
If, however, your accident was caused by somebody else while on holiday, who owed you a duty of care, but by breaching it caused you an accident that subsequently resulted in an injury or illness then you may have the basis for a holiday accident claim. A personal injury solicitor needs to prove that somebody who owed you a duty of care, breached the duty somehow and because of the breach, you became injured.
Your holiday illness or accident claim might be made against the person responsible (a fault drivers’s insurance) a company (such as a hotel), if you booked the holiday privately, or against your tour operator if you booked a package holiday using a UK tour operator in the UK.
Examples Of Holiday Accidents
- Swimming pool accidents: These could be caused by poor maintenance, excessively slippery floors or unhygienic water conditions.
- Food poisoning: You could contract food poisoning from eating infected food (caused by poor preparation, storage, handling or cooking of food). You must seek medical advice if you are suffering with food poisoning so that it can be medically confirmed.
- Road Traffic Accidents (RTA): In the same way as you could at home, if you’re involved in a collision that wasn’t your fault, get the other drivers’ details.
- Balcony Accidents: If a balcony rail is damaged, loose or too low and causes you or a loved one to fall over the balcony, the injuries could be very serious.
- Allergies / Allergic Reactions: Food labelling regulations mean that allergens need to be highlighted on food labelling. If they’re missing from packaging or menus, and you suffer a reaction, contact us to discuss your options.
- Sporting Activities / Excursions Accidents: While on a sporting activity, supervision should be provided by the operator. Safety equipment should be provided along with training on the activity if any of this is absent it could lead to an injury.
Examples Of Injuries
- Food poisoning illnesses such as E-coli, salmonella or norovirus.
- Scald and burns.
- Broken bones.
- Bruising and soft tissue damage.
- Head injuries.
- Back injuries.
- Electric shock or electrocution.
At Legal Expert, we maybe able to help with any accident claim if it can be proven that the injury suffered happened due to negligence of a third party. If your accident and injuries were caused by somebody else, please get in touch and we’ll discuss your case and offer free legal advice.
How Holiday Accident Claims In Formentera Are Handled
If you suffer a Formentera holiday illness or accident and are thinking about making a claim against the defendant, then you may need to know about the difference between Spanish and UK personal injury claims.
The main difference between the two systems, is the points-based system used by the courts in Spain to assess how much compensation is due.
It was updated in January 2016 to increase compensation amounts paid. Originally, it was written according to basic compensation amounts and correction factors.
We’ll cover the system in more detail in another section of this guide. If your claim is against a UK package holiday provider, then your claim will be made using UK laws rather than using the Baremo system.
I Was Injured On Holiday, Was I Owed A Duty Of Care?
In an earlier section of this guide, we explained that to pursue a claim a for any injuries suffered a third party would have to have a duty of care towards you in which they then breached. But who owes you a duty of care? Here are some examples:
- The flight company used owe you a duty of care to ensure you are safe while you are travelling on their air craft.
- Any hotel owes its guests, employees and visitors a duty of care while they are within the grounds of the hotel. Call us to let us assess if somebody has breached their duty of care.
- Restaurants owe all customers a duty of care. They should follow all health and safety procedures regarding hygiene and food safety. They should also ensure that the premises are safe and take steps to mitigate any risks to customers.
- Excursion providers should ensure all participants are safe while taking part in their activity. Their duty of care requires that they provide training, risk assessments and suitable safety equipment where necessary. They should also supervise the activity fully.
- Under UK package holiday regulations, you tour operator may be responsible if any of the above are booked as part of the package deal and breach their duty of care causing you a direct injury. The package holiday must be booked through a UK tour operator in the UK.
If you believe that any of the above third party’s have been breached their duty of care and you’ve been injured because of the breach, you might be able to begin a compensation claim. We’re happy to advise you about what type of claim you could make, so please call to discuss your options.
How Losses Are Quantified In Spanish Baremo Tables
The Baremo points system is used to calculate the amount of compensation awarded to a claimant, once negligence has been proven.
It is used to calculate compensation for 3 different types of injury:
- Fatal injuries.
- Permanent injuries.
- Temporary injuries.
It compensates for the pain and suffering as well as financial losses. The points are worked out based on:
- The type of injury that was suffered by the claimant.
- Age of the claimant.
- The income of the claimant.
- How many days were spent in hospital.
- The number of days taken to recover fully (out of hospital).
Each consideration has a points value associated with it which lawyers and judges can appoint. When the total number of points is calculated, it is then multiplied by an amount in Euros. This will be the total compensation amount. It is then up to both parties to either negotiate the calculation or agree. In cases where agreement can’t be reached, a court date may be set.
How Much Could I Claim? – Personal Injury Calculator
When claiming under UK law, each injury type has a range of compensation associated with it. The table below will help you to calculate what your injury might be worth:
| Type Of Injury/Illness | Severity | Compensation Range | Further Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hand injury | Moderate Injury | £5,110 to £11,640 | The range in this category starts with soft tissue, lacerations, deep wounds, crushing injuries, the top brackets is reserved for permanent damage. |
| Arm injury | Less Severe Injury | £16,830 to £34,340 | The range in this category includes significant disability but a substantial degree of recovery is expected. |
| Finger injury | Fracture of index finger | £7,990 to £10,730 | Fracture has recovered but grip remains impaired. |
| Back injury | Moderate Injury | £10,970 to £34,000 | The range in this category starts with as disturbance of ligaments and muscles giving rise to backache, soft tissue injuries, prolapsed discs to incidents of a compression/crush fracture of the lumbar vertebrae where there is a substantial risk of osteoarthritis. The impact on daily life will play a significant part. |
| Neck injury | Minor Injury | Up to £2,150 | Recovery within 3 months. |
| Ankle injury | Modest Injuries | Up to £12,050 | The range in this category includes sprains and soft tissue damage and displaced fractures. |
| Foot injury | Severe Injury | £36,800 to £61,410 | The range in this category includes fractures to both heels, significant pain and restriction. |
Bear in mind that this is just one part of your claim. In the following section, we explain all of the different parts of a claim that could be used to fully compensate you.
Special Damages In Holiday Injury Claims
You might think that, when you claim compensation for Formentera holiday accident claims, you only receive damages for your injuries. However there are a number of other parts to a claim that could be included:
General Damages
This is the amount of compensation paid for pain and suffering caused by your injuries. Examples of general damages can be seen in the table in the previous section.
Special Damages
The idea of special damages is to compensate you financially for any costs you’ve incurred because of your accident. Your solicitor could use any of these special damages if they relate to your claim:
Medical Costs: You may have to pay for medical care while still in Formentera following an accident or illness. You might also have prescription or over the counter medicine costs. It may be possible, when your claim is successful, to recover these costs.
Personal Property Damage: Sometimes, when your accident occurs, items of personal property could be damaged (clothing, phones, cameras etc). You could try to recover the cost of repairing the damage (or replacing the item) as part of your claim.
Travel Costs: Following an accident, if your travel plans are disrupted and you have to pay out to rearrange you return flight, you may be able to include any additional costs in your claim.
Lost Income: You can attempt to recover any lost income that has been caused by your accident. This could be because you need time off to recover or time off to attend medical appointments. In more serious cases, if you have to change jobs or stop working, you could seek future loss of income too.
With most of the financial losses (known as Special Damages), you should provide evidence to your solicitor, such as receipts, to back up your claim. You’ll also need to show how the costs were linked to your accident.
No Win No Fee Injury Claims On A Formentera Holiday
You’ve probably heard of no win no fee claims, but do you know how they work in reality? To help, we’ve compared no win no fee solicitors with more traditional solicitors below:
Traditional Solicitor Agreements
When you hire a traditional solicitor, you’ll be told what their hourly rate is or how much they’ll charge in total to take on your case. You’ll need to pay them this up front or in stages at agreed points.
If the solicitor wins your case, you’ll receive 100% of the compensation as you’ll have paid them already. If they lose though, you won’t get any of your money back.
This could leave you out of pocket.
No Win No Fee Agreements
When you use a no win no fee solicitor, you’ll be provided with a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA – it’s the no win no fee agreement). In the CFA there will be a ‘Success Fee’ specified. This is the percentage of your compensation your solicitor will retain if they win the case. When they’ve taken their success fee (limited to 25%), they will send the rest straight to you.
Old no win no fee agreements allowed you to keep 100% of the compensation and the defendant would pay your solicitor. This is no longer allowed, which is why a success fee is payable instead.
The CFA will also state that, if the solicitor loses your claim, you don’t have to pay them for their time at all.
We believe no win no fee offers more people the opportunity to make a claim and removes stress and risk from the claims process.
How Travel And Tourism Accident Solicitors Could Help You
At Legal Expert, we want all potential clients to know their rights prior to claiming. This is why we’re happy to offer free legal advice if you’re not sure whether to begin a claim or not.
Our friendly team are specialists in personal injury claims and have many years’ experience helping clients. We always try to ensure that our clients get the right level of compensation for their injuries.
We can offer advise to any UK residents who’s been injured in an accident in Formentera and always offer no win no fee agreements for cases we take on.
If you’re unsure about how to proceed or have any other questions, please call us today and speak to one of our friendly team.
Contact A Solicitor Today
Now that you’ve read all of the information in this guide, we hope you’re ready to begin a compensation claim with Legal Expert. We could help with package holiday claims or accidents booked directly.
If you’re ready to claim, please contact us by:
- Calling us free on 0800 073 8804 and speak directly to one of our trained advisors.
- Use the live chat facility which you’ll find on every page of our site.
- Send details of your accident in an email to info@legalexpert.co.uk. We’ll get back to you at a suitable time.
- Or you could fill in a simple online form to get the ball rolling.
We always start by offering a free initial consultation. This is where we listen to the details of your claim. When we understand how it happened, the injuries you sustained and what impact they had on you we will asses your case, if we believe you’ve got a good chance of winning your case, we’ll draft a no win no fee agreement.
When you’re ready to start, we’ll begin your claim for you.
Emergency Help And Related Articles
Thanks for taking the time to read this guide about Formentera holiday accident claim limitation periods. We hope you’ve gained all of the information you require. For further guidance, we’ve included some more useful guides here:
Formentera Car Accident Claims – a more detailed look at how to claim for car crashes in Formentera.
Accidents at Ibiza Airport – This guide explains what to do in the event of an accident at Ibiza airport (which is where you’ll fly prior to ferrying to Formentera).
Spanish Travel Advice – Useful information from the government about travelling within Spain.
The British Consulate – Information about the services offered to British tourists who need the Embassy to help them in an emergency.
Package Holiday Claims – Information about the legislation that enables British tourists to make a claim against their holiday provider if booked a package holiday.
If you require any other information, feel free to browse our website which is full of useful and relevant guides. If there’s anything else you need, please contact one of our specialist advisors.
Edited By Melissa.
