Corfu Accident Claims Guide – How To Claim Compensation For A Personal Injury In Corfu? On Holiday

By Joanne Jeffries. Last Updated 23rd November 2021. Welcome to our guide on claiming for an accident on holiday in Corfu.

Have you had an accident on holiday in Corfu that was not your fault which resulted in you becoming injured? If so, then you may be entitled to make a personal injury claim against those responsible for your injury.

Holiday accident claims Corfu

Holiday accident claims Corfu

When you go on holiday, particularly when you’ve been waiting quite a while for it, you are full of anticipation and excitement of what joys lay ahead. You’re looking forward to arriving at your destination, experiencing the different culture and cuisine, relaxing at the beach or participating in adventurous activities and most of all spending precious time with family and friends. The last thing you will be thinking about is the possibility of becoming injured from being involved in an accident, or suffering an illness due to food poisoning for example. Unfortunately though, there is always the chance that you could become involved in an accident on holiday in Corfu or an incident that was not your fault resulting in you sustaining an injury or becoming sick. If this has happened to you, you could be eligible to make a claim. Accident Claims UK are experienced No Win No Fee holiday compensation solicitors and could help you to get the compensation you deserve, just contact them on 0800 073 8801 for free help and advice. Read through this guide for information regarding package holiday injury claims.

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How to deal with an accident or injury in Corfu

A guide to holiday accident claims in Corfu

Accident Claims UK have put together this guide as a source of useful information for if you have had an accident on holiday in Corfu that was not your fault and you wish to make a compensation claim for the injuries you sustained.

Within the guide we cover what you should do in the event you become injured or ill whilst on your Corfu holiday, we look at how to access healthcare whilst in Corfu, emergency contact numbers and what the personal injury claims time limit is for claiming injury compensation in Greece. We also touch on what types of accidents you can claim for, such as slips and falls, swimming pool accidents, and car accidents among many others.

Towards the end of the guide we also explain the benefits of using an experienced package holiday claim solicitors legal firm such as Accident Claims UK, our no win no fee policy and how hiring us to pursue your claim on your behalf can really increase your chances of a successful compensation claim.

After reading through the guide, please call us on 0800 073 8801 for further help and guidance.

Popular resorts, beaches and towns in Corfu

Corfu is one of the most popular Greek islands for UK holidaymakers thanks to its hot climate, beautiful beaches and scenery. There are a number of areas and numerous resorts that differ in the type of holiday they offer, for example some will be more laid back and relaxed, others family orientated, some with plenty of bars and restaurants and some with a bustling nightlife.

Some of the popular areas and resorts in Corfu include:

  • Messonghi
  • Kavos
  • Kerkyra
  • Kalami
  • Glyfada
  • Agios Syridon
  • Agios Gordios
  • Agios Georgios South
  • Archaravi
  • Agios Georgios Pagon

I had an injury abroad, what should I do?

If you have had an accident resulting in you becoming injured, or you have become ill whilst holidaying in Corfu, there are a number of things you should try to do both before you leave and also after you return to the UK that can help you not only at the time of the accident, but also by providing you with a solid base on which to build a compensation claim.

Things to do whilst still in Corfu:

  • Seek medical assistance – Apart from the obvious health reasons for getting your injury looked at, in order to make a successful compensation claim for an injury, you need to have had it seen to and to get a proper diagnosis. A medical report detailing the type of injury, its severity and the treatment you have needed is in itself a really important piece of evidence.
  • Witnesses – If possible, collect the contact details of any witnesses to your accident and injury.
  • Report to the Police – If applicable, make sure to report your accident to the local authorities and ask for an incident reference number.
  • Contact your Travel Agent and report your accident.
  • Inform your health insurance provider.
  • Receipts – Keep a record of any costs you have incurred as a direct consequence of your injury, be sure to keep all receipts.

Things to do after returning to the UK:

  • See a medical professional – It is always a good idea to have your injury checked again by a medical professional for a second opinion once in the UK to make sure your injury has been properly diagnosed and you have received the right treatment as sometimes the language barrier can result in being misinformed. Also it helps to have your injury recorded in the UK health system.
  • Make a follow-up call to your travel agent to check everything was reported correctly.
  • Contact your health insurance company to inform them that you are now back in the UK.
  • Contact a personal injury claims legal firm that has experience in dealing with injury on a package holiday type of claims.

Important emergency numbers in Corfu

Below are the numbers you may need in the event of an emergency or of an accident occurring whilst you are on holiday in Corfu.

  • Emergency services – 112 – You will be asked which of the services you require.
  • Police – 39509 – 41203 – 38661
  • Tourist Police – 39503 – 30265
  • Traffic Police – 39294
  • Hospital – 88200
  • Tourist Office – 30625
  • Airport – 38694 – 30180 – 38079

Hospitals, healthcare, and medical treatment in Corfu

If you need to call an ambulance in an emergency whilst on holiday in Corfu, then you should dial 112 and tell the operator that you require an ambulance.

In order to gain access to healthcare and medical treatment in Corfu, you can use the Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC). This entitles you to receive treatment in the same way a local would. However, the GHIC does not cover private healthcare or on-going out-patient treatment, you would need to meet the costs of these yourself. Despite the high standards of healthcare in Greece, the funding of the public health care sector is very poor.

How long do I have to make my Corfu holiday accident claim?

Something you need to consider if you are intending to make a claim for compensation for your accident on holiday in Corfu, is that there is a time limit, starting from the day of the accident, in which you need to have initiated court proceedings, this is why we recommend starting your claim as soon as possible. Below we have listed the personal injury claim time limits for your information:

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Accident / Injury / Illness Time Limit
For package holidays booked through a UK travel agency 3 years may very
For trips that have been privately booked and are not package holidays Up to 5 years may very
For road traffic accidents 2 – 5 Years may very depending on whether any strict provisions apply
Maritime accidents 2 Years starting from the date when the injured person disembarked may very
Accidents on railways 3 years may very
For injuries that have occurred during a flight to or from Corfu 2 years may very

If you are unsure as to what your time limit is to make your personal injury claim, just call Accident Claims UK and we will be able to assist you.

Holiday injury and illness claims we can conduct

Claim for injuries on a package holiday

If you have had an accident that wasn’t your fault and suffered an injury as a consequence, you are legally entitled to claim for compensation. The Package Travel, Package Holiday, and Package Tour Regulations 1992 support your rights to do so, and all UK travel agents legally have to abide by these regulations.

If you have an accident on holiday in Corfu, you should contact your package holiday provider as soon as possible and inform them of what’s happened.

Package holiday injury claims have a time limit of 3 years in which you should start your claim and so we strongly recommend you begin your claim as soon as you arrive back in the UK. Accident Claims UK can help you to do this by putting you in touch with an experienced personal injury solicitor.

Accidents and injuries in hotels

If you have had an accident at the hotel due to negligence of some kind, you should be able to make a claim against them. There are a variety of possible accidents that can occur in a hotel such as:

  • Slip, trip or fall accidents – These types of accidents are the most common and can happen due to a number of different reasons such as poorly maintained floor coverings, food and drink spillages, wet and slippery floors, poor housekeeping, uneven surfaces, poor lighting in the stairwells and so on.
  • Electrical accidents – Faulty wiring, witches and electrical equipment may cause an accident.
  • Accidents in the gym – Lack of professional supervision and poorly maintained equipment are just a couple of examples.
  • Accidents at the pool – Lack of professional supervision or lifeguards, dirty and untreated swimming water, too much cleaning chemicals present, loose or broken floor tiles, poorly maintained slides and diving boards.
  • Food poisoning
  • Burn Injuries

We could go on forever, the list of possible accidents is endless!

Illness and food poisoning in Corfu

Although for some, food poisoning causes just a minor stomach upset that clears up after a day or two, for others it can cause severe illness and sometimes even cause them to need to be hospitalised.

With Corfu having a hot climate, extra care needs to be taken with the storage of food to prevent the multiplication of bacteria.

There are a number of reasons as to why and how food poisoning may occur, such as:

  • Inadequate storage
  • Cross-contamination of cooked and uncooked meats
  • Poor hygiene standards
  • Use of tap water to wash salad vegetables and fruit and make ice cubes – Tap water in Corfu is not considered safe to consume as it is in the UK.
  • Incorrect preparation of food
  • Undercooked food, particularly pork, poultry and seafood
  • Being exposed to a food which you are allergic to. This would be an allergic reaction, rather than food poisoning.

If you have suffered food poisoning due to negligence whilst on holiday in Corfu, you can claim for compensation, but you need to be able to prove where the food poisoning occurred.

Slip, trips and falls

These are the most common types of accidents to occur whilst holidaying in Corfu and can happen due to a variety of different reasons and in a variety of different places. These accidents could happen whilst embarking or disembarking your flight, at the hotel, in a restaurant, by the pool or whilst out and about in a public place for example. If you have suffered a slip, trip or fall of some kind and you believe it to have been someone else’s fault and not through carelessness on your part, you could be eligible to make a claim.

Ferry, boat, and water sport accidents in Corfu

Ferry or boat trip companies should adhere to strict health and safety policies and procedures to ensure the safety of their passengers. These should include providing life jackets, ensuring the ferry or boat is in safe, working order, making sure they do not exceed the maximum passenger limit and so on. If any of the health and safety policies are breached and an accident occurs, they can be sued for negligence.

When participating in water sports in Corfu, first of all you should check that your travel insurance covers the activity you intend to partake in, and secondly, you need to check that they are sufficiently regulated and take health and safety into consideration. If however, after checking you are covered and that they are regulated, you sustain an injury due to their negligence, such as using improper or broken equipment for example, you will be able to make a claim.

Car crashes and accident son the roads in Corfu

Sadly, road traffic accidents in Corfu are not a rare occurrence. If you were injured due to a car accident in Corfu, and it wasn’t your fault, you should certainly consider claiming for compensation. Regardless of whether you were the driver, a passenger, pedestrian, cyclist or on a motorcycle, if the accident was caused by someone else, you will have grounds on which to make a claim.

In order to pursue a road traffic accident successfully, regardless of the details surrounding the accident, you need to be able to prove that the following three things are true:

  • You were not to blame for the accident, it was due to someone else acting negligently or making a mistake.
  • You sought to be seen by a medical professional for treatment for your sustained injuries.
  • The road traffic accident happened within the personal injury claims time limit.

If you can prove that the above statements are in fact all true, then you should certainly make sure you consider filing for compensation.

How Accident Claims UK can help after accidents on Corfu holidays

Do I have to use personal injury solicitors in Corfu?

You’ll probably be relieved to know that although your injury happened whilst you were in Corfu, this does not mean that you have to use a Greek solicitor and so, we at Accident Claims UK, or any other UK personal injury lawyer, can help you to get the compensation you deserve.

No Win No Fee claims with our expert team

One of the perks of using our legal team for your compensation claim, is that we offer a no win no fee service. What this means is that unlike traditional solicitors who do not offer this sort of service, there are no upfront or on-going fees to be paid, instead there is just one fee at the end of the claims case, and this is only if we win the case for you. This fee is paid as a small percentage of the final settlement amount that is awarded to you. But in the unlikely event that we do not win your case, we will not charge you any fees at all, hence the term, ‘no win no fee’.

With traditional solicitors, they often ask for a payment upfront, and then charge per hour from then onwards. This can make hiring legal help unaffordable for many people. As there is no guarantee that the case will be won, any monies paid to the solicitor could potentially be lost if the case isn’t successful, and so effectively by hiring a paid by the hour solicitor, you are in fact gambling your current finances. Also, many claims cases can take months and sometimes even years before they come to any conclusion and the majority of people simply cannot afford to pay for legal fees for that amount of time.

With our simple no win no fee service there are no upfront costs, no on-going costs and certainly no risks to your current finances.

Why choose to claim with our expert team?

We use our experience and expertise in the field to build our clients strong claims cases in order to secure the best outcome for them that we can. We are reliable, friendly and professional and offer fantastic customer service. We keep our clients informed every step of the way throughout the whole claims process, but in a subtle way so as not to worry them or interfere with their recovery.

We make filing a compensation claim as easy as possible for our clients and you can start the process today by simply following the steps below.

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Contact our team by email, phone, or post. Our team will assess your claim. Once you are ready, we can then start your claim.

Contact us today

If you’d like to discuss the details of your case with us, please contact us on 0800 073 8801. We can offer you a free, no obligation consultancy appointment with one of our specialist package holiday claim solicitors. During this appointment, you can freely ask any questions you may have regarding the claims process and we will use the time to establish all the facts from you about your injury or illness. Once we have all the facts, we can then decide whether or not you have a valid claim, and if so, talk through with you all of your options so that you can make an informed decision of whether to pursue with the claim. In most cases, we will offer to conduct the claim on your behalf. We may also offer you a free local medical if you have not seen a medical professional since returning to the UK if we feel it could benefit your case.

So for a free, no obligation consultation, or just for some free help and advice about making a claim, please contact us and we will assist you as best as we can.

Additional Resources

British Vice Consulate Corfu

First floor, 18 Mantzarou Street,
49 100 Corfu,
Greece .

Telephone: +30 26610 30055

Web: www.gov.uk/world/organisations/british-embassy-athens

 

British Embassy Greece – Athens

1, Ploutarchou str,
106 75 Athens,
Greece.

Telephone: +30 210 7272 600

Web: www.gov.uk/world/organisations/british-embassy-athens

NHS guide

For information regarding the GHIC, this link contains all you need to know about how to apply, what it covers and what to do if your card is lost or stolen.

PTSD claims

Sometimes accidents abroad can be very traumatic for those involved when they have resulted in serious injuries or even death. This is another of our guides that outline how to claim for PTSD.

Carbon monoxide poisoning claims

This guide of ours shows how you can claim for suffering carbon monoxide poisoning and the necessary steps to take to ensure a successful result with your claim.

FAQs On Accident On Holiday In Corfu Claims

Could a parent launch claims for an accident on holiday in Corfu that injured their child?

If you are responsible for a child and they are injured in an accident on holiday in Corfu, you may be wondering whether you could claim compensation for them. While it is important to recognise that any compensation payout for your child’s benefit would usually be held in a trust, you could make a claim on their behalf. You would need to apply to become a litigation friend, and then you would be able to decide on some aspects of your child’s case. If you chose not to make a claim on your child’s behalf, it is true that they would be able to make a claim for themselves when they become an adult. They would usually have up until they turned 21 to claim. However, it could be more difficult to find relevant evidence for their claim if a lot of time has passed.

 

Could I claim for a fatal accident on holiday in Corfu that killed my relative?

Fatal accident claims can be quite traumatic for family members to launch. However, we believe that you could be entitled to compensation if you have lost a loved one in an accident that was someone else’s fault on holiday. While we recognise that no compensation settlement would ever replace your loved one, it could assist in covering costs related to their death. This could include funeral expenses, a bereavement award, and even compensation for their pain and suffering before they passed away.

What would make up my payout for a accident on holiday in Corfu?

Generally, personal injury claims payouts are broken down into special damages and general damages. General damages is meant to compensate a person for their pain and suffering, as well as any loss of enjoyment of their life due to their injuries. Special damages are designed to compensate victims of personal injury for any costs associated with their injuries. This could be loss of earnings, medical expenses, and care costs, for example.

If you are wondering what costs you could claim for and how much you could get in pain and suffering compensation, we would be happy to conduct a free, no obligation assessment of your case. We could then give you case specific advice and support. We could also help you begin an no win no fee claim stop

Could you give an example of an accident on holiday in Corfu?

Sadly, in 2020, a British mother was fatally injured in a speed boat accident while swimming in the sea in Corfu. An experienced swimmer, the woman was said to have waved to attract the driver’s attention, to no avail. He failed to stop and collided into her. After the speed boat hit her, witnesses claiming she was alive for minutes after the collision as she was waving her harms she passed away.. According to the reports, police on the Greek island conducted forensic tests on several boats including one that was owned by a hedge fund boss from England.

Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8691121/Millionaire-British-mother-four-killed-Corfu-speedboat-waving-drivers-attention.html

Thank you for rearding this guide to making a claim for an accident on holiday in Corfu.