Cruises are meant to be a place of relaxation and fun, not of injury or illness. Unfortunately, things can go wrong, and the unexpected can happen.
While holiday and cruise ship injury compensation claims are a nuanced area of personal injury law and require specialist expertise to ensure you’re maximally compensated, this article will provide you with the information you need to better understand the claims process, compensation expectations and the role of expert legal representation.
Quick Links
Holiday injury compensation claims not only encompass injuries or illnesses that occurred while you were at your holiday destination, but they also include injuries or illnesses that may have happened on your journey to and/or from. This means that injuries on a plane, cruise line and other modes of transportation are all considered under the holiday injury claims umbrella.
A wide range of accidents can occur on holiday, from a critical injury caused by a slip and fall, to severe food poisoning on a cruise ship. Common examples of holiday accident and injuries include:
And in light of the events of recent years, it’s also not uncommon for viruses to spread rapidly while on a cruise ship. Due to the containment, this may not only be of financial harm but also significant psychological impairment.
Not all cruise ship injury claims are uniform and may potentially take different routes depending on the nature of your case. But in general, here are five steps that you should take if you’ve sustained an injury while on a cruise, or while on holiday in general.
Step 1: Report the accident to the relevant authorities
Following your injury, report it to the relevant and/or local authorities as soon as possible. Depending on your injury and location, this could include making a report to the ship’s security personnel, the cruise’s medical staff and other relevant authorities.
Promptly reporting not only ensures that the incident is properly documented and a clear timeline is established, but it also means you’re able to get the immediate care you may require.
Step 2: Gather evidence
Gather the evidence that you can, then trust your lawyer to obtain the rest. The evidence you gather will work to strengthen your case, as well as provide your lawyer upon consultation with a solid basis to provide you with personalised advice. Examples of often required evidence in building a strong case include:
Your lawyer may also seek the specialised opinion of a neutral third party to provide expert testimony in your case, particularly if the nature of your case necessitates technical expertise or analysis.
Step 3: Write down the contact details of the witnesses
As mentioned in step two, witness statements play a significant role in strengthening your case and establishing the facts surrounding your injury. Alongside getting the witness’s full name, phone number and email of the witness, also consider asking them for a written or recorded statement of the occurrences. Furthermore, consider keeping your own record of where and when you spoke to the witnesses.
Step 4: Get a copy of any injury-related documents
It’s important to receive medical attention as soon as possible. In doing so, keep a record of any and all medical documentation — this may include:
If possible, also keep copies of any communications between either yourself and the medical staff or the medical staff among themselves to ensure a more holistic record of your treatment.
Step 5: Reach out for legal advice and representation
Expert legal advice and representation is necessary to ensure that your rights are protected and upheld. It’s at stage five that you would reach out to our team at GMP Law, who have the experience, expertise and resources necessary for you to be maximally compensated.
Although legal processes and proceedings aren’t uniform, here is an overview of what you may expect upon consulting with GMP Law:
Initial free, confidential consultation: Your first meeting with one of our holiday injury solicitors is an obligation-free consultation where you can ask any questions you may have. It’s also during this stage where your solicitor will begin to determine the merit of your case and provide you with insights accordingly. They will look at the evidence you’ve been able to obtain and the nature of your injury and let you know, based on the state-specific legislation and precedent, how much compensation you may be owed.
Private settlement/mediation: If you’re eligible, you will likely move forward to mediation or a private settlement agreement with the liable parties’ insurance. In terms of determining eligibility, your case will progress to either a private settlement agreement or mediation if your solicitor believes they are able to establish the following:
It’s this three-step criteria that works to establish liability and is the grounds of personal injury claims themselves. There are variations in how this criteria may apply: you may be of partial fault for your injury, for example, therefore resulting in a shared liability scenario.
Because of the nuance of holiday claims, the process of mediation and private settlement agreements may differ from domestic personal injury claims. Hence, it’s important to involve an experienced and specialised holiday compensation lawyer to best navigate the complexities of these claims.
If the case progresses to mediation, the claim’s merit will be assessed by a neutral third party, whereby a resolution can be reached without needing a court trial. During mediation, your holiday injury compensation lawyer will represent your interests and negotiate on your behalf with the liable party’s representatives or insurance agency.
Litigation: Compared to mediation and private settlement agreements, litigation — the process of bringing your case before the courts — tends to be of increased time and cost. If a claim settles in mediation, the full claim process may take months to resolve, whereas the process of litigation may take one or more years — depending on the case’s severity.
Some cases, however, are unable to reach a settlement in mediation and must progress to litigation. In such cases, your personal injury lawyer will do the heavy lifting and prepare your case for court. During court proceedings, both parties engage in a legal process that involves filing motions, conducting discovery (the gathering and exchanging of evidence) and presenting their case before a judge. The judge — and/or potentially a jury — determines the merit of the case and makes compensation decisions accordingly.
Regardless of how your case progresses, the most important thing is having legal representation that you trust. With GMP Law, you can sit back and know that we’re working diligently to protect your interests and ensure that you’re maximally compensated.
The payment you’re owed depends on the severity of your injury and its context — i.e., whether you’re partially liable, whether the liable party owed you a duty of care, the sufficiency of evidence and other relevant factors.
Provided that you’re able to prove negligence and that the liable party owed you a duty of care, you can claim for both the physical and psychological impacts of your injury or illness — referred to as financial and non-financial damages, respectively.
Financial damages are any expenses that have arisen — or may potentially arise — as a result of your injury or illness. This includes the cost of:
As an injury may prevent your future earning potential, financial damages also account for any potential loss of income that may come as a direct result of your injury. In determining how much compensation you’re owed for financial damages, the relevant pieces of evidence include your medical bills, income statements, property damage repair quotes and any other financial documentation tied to your injury.
Non-financial damages are also commonly referred to as pain and suffering damages, accounting for the mental suffering that has occurred due to your injury. Generally, pain and suffering is diagnosed by a licensed psychiatrist and compensation is correlated to the severity of the psychological impairment.
While non-acute mental illnesses, such as depression and anxiety, are often compensated for, non-financial damages also take into account any and all diagnosable mental impairments that reduce the injured person’s quality of life.
Given the wide range of injury severities and contexts, the best port of call is to speak with a holiday compensation lawyer who will be able to provide you with compensation expectations based on the specifics of your case.
Sometimes, the unexpected happens — but we’re here to help. At GMP Law, we have specialised holiday and cruise injury compensation lawyers who are able to best navigate the complexity of these cases and provide you with expert advice and representation.
And to make matters more straightforward, we offer our clients a no-win, no-fee policy. This means that we only get paid if we win your case — our fee comes from an agreed-upon amount from your compensation. In the rare instance of not winning a case, we don’t get paid. This policy also means that we take on all the legal costs that arise during your case, such as court fees, expert witness fees and all other associated fees — meaning you can move forward with full confidence.
We’re dedicated to providing our clients with expert, diligent legal representation — legal representation that is competent, compassionate and committed to providing you with the best outcome.
To book a free, obligation-free consultation with one of our specialist holiday and cruise injury compensation solicitors, contact us by clicking here.
Our client was a customer at a waterpark facility. He was attending with friends during the holiday period. One of the water slide rides had
In the spirit of reconciliation GMP Law acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea, and community. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present, and emerging, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.
Your location is currently:
