As holidaymakers head overseas this summer, a travel lawyer is warning that many people remain unaware of their rights and are failing to claim millions of pounds in compensation for personal injuries suffered on package holidays.

A recent survey by Citizens Advice Bureau revealed around three million holidaymakers had a problem with a package holiday in the previous 12 months, with the consumer charity receiving around 14 complaints a day.

While flight delay, high profile hygiene failures and illness claims often dominate headlines, this has overshadowed a broad range of valuable personal injury claims. Each year thousands of travellers suffer severe, life-altering physical injuries arising from accidents and incidents on package holidays that go completely uncompensated. Despite this, only 11% of people who experience or witness an accident on holiday actually make a legal claim.

Yet, with a 500% rise in package holiday claims since 2013, personal injury still represents a small fraction of cases, despite being some of the most straightforward to pursue under UK law.

Ahead of the peak summer holiday season when millions will be off for their fun in the sun, a travel lawyer at Slater and Gordon is now urging holidaymakers to be more aware of and better understand their legal rights to pursue action against tour operators.

According to Stephen Goodman, a practice development leader with more than 20 years’ experience specialising in travel cases, many travellers fail to pursue a claim because they wrongly assume only severe incidents such as major or catastrophic injuries qualify for compensation under UK package travel regulations.

However, travellers are overlooking a wide range of common issues that may entitle them to compensation under the Montreal Convention 1999 and the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 which means they can claim against UK tour operator in English courts rather than pursuing legal action against a foreign hotel or supplier directly, even if the accident happened abroad. This avoids dealing with foreign legal systems.

Stephen said: “We regularly speak to clients who had a poor holiday experience but never realised they were legally entitled to recourse. The narrative around holiday claims has been dominated by food poisoning cases, but this has created a blind spot and inadvertently conditioned package holidaymakers to think claims and compensation are only about undercooked buffet food.

“In fact, accidents are very common and often involve preventable hazards like wet floors, broken glass, unsafe facilities, or poorly managed excursions. These are often far more serious and legally robust claims but often go unclaimed because holidaymakers don’t realise UK law protects them.”

According to ABTA, package holidays remain hugely popular, accounting for around half of all overseas holidays taken by UK travellers. Research also shows that consumers increasingly choose package holidays because of the legal protections they provide if something goes wrong.

Stephen added: “Holidaymakers don’t realise that when you book a regulated package holiday, the UK tour operator is legally responsible for the whole trip, even if the actual problem happens because of a failure by one of their suppliers. Booking a package offers huge advantages, and the legal regulations provide incredibly robust protections for physical accidents, and a host of wider issues people often dismiss as minor or don’t realise fall under consumer protection laws. If you are injured within the parameters of your package holiday, you do not need to fight a foreign hotel or navigate an unfamiliar legal system abroad; you can claim in the UK, which is quicker and cheaper, against the tour operator for injuries caused by negligence at your hotel, on transfers, or on pre-booked excursions.”

The five most overlooked package holiday injury claims are

1. Swimming Pool Accidents
Swimming pool injuries are among the most commonly overlooked holiday claims. These can include slips around pool areas, defective pool tiles, unsafe drainage systems, inadequate supervision, or poor maintenance.

2. Balcony and Stairway Falls
Faulty handrails, inadequate barriers, poorly maintained stairs and defective balconies can lead to serious injuries including fractures, spinal injuries and head trauma arising from falls from heights.

3. Excursion and Activity Injuries
Many travellers assume excursion accidents are outside the scope of package holiday protection because they were ‘participating at their own risk’. However, injuries sustained during excursions booked as part of the package may fall within the tour operator’s responsibility, especially on organised boat trips, water sports, coach tours and adventure activities, where inadequate safety procedures or poor risk management contribute to an accident.

4. Transport-related accidents
Flights and transfer journeys are often forgotten when people consider holiday claims. However, accidents sustained during travel and transport incidents including flights, airport transfers, shuttle buses or organised transport included within a package holiday, can give rise to compensation claims, especially if suffering whiplash injuries, fractures and psychological trauma, particularly where you have been injured because of negligent driving.

5. Electrical and Maintenance-Related Injuries
Faulty electrical systems, exposed wiring, defective hotel furniture, falling fixtures and poorly maintained facilities can all lead to injury with examples including electric shocks from damaged sockets, collapsing furniture, unsecured fittings and injuries caused by defective equipment within resorts. These cases are often overlooked because holidaymakers regard them as isolated mishaps rather than potentially actionable incidents.

Holidaymakers can also claim for more than medical bills if they make a claim including:

Physical injuries and medical expenses,
Psychological trauma, including PTSD,
Loss of enjoyment of the holiday,
Financial losses, including lost earnings and wasted holiday costs.

Claims must usually be brought within three years of the accident and the financial stakes of not doing so are incredibly high. Data published by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) show that medical emergency claims hit a record-breaking £472 million in a single year, with individual severe injury payouts for orthopaedic damage running into tens of thousands of pounds.

And while ABTA research published in 2025 found that one-in-four holidaymakers travelled abroad without travel insurance during the previous year, potentially exposing themselves to significant medical and financial costs, you do not need to have insurance to be able to make a personal injury claim. However, it is always advisable to purchase travel insurance and apply for the UK Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC), which lets you get necessary state healthcare in the European Economic Area (EEA), and some other countries worldwide, on the same basis as a resident of that country. This may be free or it may require a payment equivalent to that which a local resident would pay.

If you are unlucky enough to suffer an injury while on a package holiday Stephen advises travellers to take the following steps to protect themselves and strengthen any potential claim:

Report issues immediately to hotel staff or the tour operator reps,
Collect evidence, including photos or videos of the accident scene or hazards,
Obtain contact details for witnesses,
Seek medical attention and keep receipts and medical reports,
Keep all booking documentation, records of complaints and correspondence,
Seek legal advice early to strengthen any potential claim and to check if your booking meets the legal definition of a package under the 2018 regulations,
Seek legal advice before accepting vouchers or goodwill gestures, as these can affect your right to full compensation. 

“The key is evidence and documentation is critical. Reporting the incident immediately, gathering photographs and obtaining medical evidence can make a significant difference. The sooner you act, the stronger your case will be. These steps can make all the difference in securing compensation,” said Stephen.

He added: “People think claiming is going to be onerous or particularly difficult for them, or only for serious accidents, but these aren’t flippant, ‘ambulance chasing’ claims. They’re about holding tour operators accountable when basic safety standards fail and having a specialised travel lawyer to represent you makes all the difference. The key message for holidaymakers is that an accident abroad should not automatically be written off as bad luck. If negligence contributed to the injury and the holiday formed part of a package arrangement, there may be legal remedies available in the UK. If you’ve been injured and it wasn’t your fault, please seek independent legal advice and check if you’re covered as you might be surprised.”