Vacationing is a great way to unwind and relax by escaping our usual day-to-day stresses. But like anywhere, accidents and injuries can still occur when you’re away from home and can be a bit of an arduous process, especially if you’re not a citizen of the country you’re visiting.
Ensuring you are properly prepared for an unfortunate event, whether it’s a car accident or having a fall at a hotel, can save you a lot of frustration and money.
Legal Tips to Follow If You Get Injured While On a Vacation
Consult a Lawyer
Before implementing some of the below advice, it’s best to speak to a legal professional because they’ll be able to best help your case and situation which is unique to you.
Specialized personal injury attorneys will be able to help you if you’ve been involved in an auto accident, for example, and can make sure you receive any compensation you are due. You can often have a free consult or evaluation of your case and you can find out how best to proceed and how they can help you.
Injuries affect your life, no matter how minor they seem, so it’s always best to speak to a professional.
Find Medical Help
Firstly, if you’re injured, don’t hesitate to seek medical assistance. Making sure you’re okay is your first priority – even if you think the injury is only minor. Adrenaline is a powerful hormone and can mask pain very well in the moment and can even take days for the full extent of your injuries to be apparent. Make sure you know the emergency services number of the country you are in so you can phone for help.
By seeking aid, you’re also ensuring that you don’t have any long-term injuries that could haunt you for years, such as chronic back pain, and if you unfortunately do, then you’ve got official documentation of the event that could have caused it, which you can call back on in the future. These medical documents and consults can be used as evidence in an injury claim if you need to file one, which we’ll discuss in a moment.
Notify An Authority
Wherever you are, speaking to someone who is in charge (whether it’s a hotel or restaurant manager) is crucial. They should have a protocol in place if an incident occurs, which most likely involves filling out an accident form.
If you’re involved in an accident which involves a third party, such as a car collision, then ensure the local authorities (police) are called and provide a statement to describe what happened. It’s important to be careful what you say though because you do not want to admit any blame in the situation, otherwise this could be used against you if you decide to take legal action.
The same goes for anybody you speak to about the accident (including staff members) because they can be used to testify against you – save your thoughts about it until you speak to an attorney.
Travel Insurance
There are lots of things to think about before travelling. You should have looked into some form of travel insurance which covers a whole range of situations for when you’re abroad, including medical emergencies.
Always make sure you buy insurance, even if it seems like a waste of money at the time because you won’t be thinking that if you are having to pay out tens of thousands of dollars to cover medical, transport and any other expenses.
You should have been sent an email which outlines what your policy covers and how to get in touch. You can call up the insurance company and file a claim – an attorney can also help you through this process.
Gather Evidence
If you need to take legal action, you’ll need to have evidence of what happened. In this case, you’ll most likely be filing for negligence (e.g. if there was an unmarked hazard at a hotel resort you tripped over, or if you were in a car accident and the other driver was drunk). You’ll need as much evidence as you can to support your claims. This can include the following.
Police Reports
This offers a credible and official report which would have taken into account all parties involved and they may obtained some information you might not have been able (e.g. in a car accident, they may have ideas of speeds and positions of vehicles).
This offers a credible and official report which would have taken into account all parties involved and they may obtained some information you might not have been able (e.g. in a car accident, they may have ideas of speeds and positions of vehicles).
Personal Recount
Write down or voice record your version of events. Try and describe it in as much detail as possible so that you don’t forget anything. You can share this with your lawyer who will find the information useful and may be able to utilise it during legal proceedings.
Keeping a diary over time about your experience and its effect on you, physically and mentally, can be handy in showing the extent of damage caused to you
Witness Statements
Make sure to take the contact details of anybody who witnessed the incident. Their statement may be useful and support your account of what happened. You can also use family members/housemates, or even your doctor as an expert witness.
Medical Records
As mentioned earlier, leaving behind a paper trail of documentation is important and this includes medical records such as lab results, diagnoses, prescriptions, and more. Your aim is to show the extent of your injuries and the negative impact it’s had on your life.
Photos
With the use of camera phones, getting photographic evidence is easier than ever. Take your own photos of the scene of the accident – hazards, people, injuries, faulty equipment, damage to cars – whatever is relevant.
Make sure to get as many different angles as you can and consider taking videos and voice recordings too.
Conclusion
So, in summary, injuring yourself while on vacation is never going to be ideal but if you take the necessary precautions (such as buying travel insurance) and follow the necessary steps if an accident occurs, then it should make the process easier.
Crucially, don’t forget to document everything you can so that you can use it as evidence if you need to.
Peekatthis.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Peekatthis also participates in affiliate programs with B&H, Adorama, Clickbank, CJ, and other sites.
If you found this post useful, please consider sharing it or letting your friends know via social media. Have something to add? Please feel free to do so in the comments section below. I really appreciate it!
📌 Don’t forget to save the blog for later, pin the image below!
About the author: Trent (IMDB | Youtube) has spent 10+ years working on an assortment of film and television projects. He writes about his experiences to help (and amuse) others. If he’s not working, he’s either traveling, reading or writing about travel/film, or planning travel/film projects.
