When having fun on the ski slopes, the last thing on your mind is suffering an injury. However, if you were harmed because the tour operator, ski instructor or facilities failed to properly ensure your health and safety, that could all change in a minute.
Skiing accidents can be very serious and involve multiple injuries. Without the correct health and safety provisions in place, you could even suffer a life-changing injury. If you experienced harm because of negligence while skiing here or abroad, you could make a skiing injury compensation.
We’ll discuss the essential evidence needed to support a ski accident claim. After this we discuss how personal injury compensation could be calculated and the areas of harm it seeks to address.
The final section will explain how a personal injury solicitor from our panel could step in and handle every aspect of the claims process for you. Please feel free to reach out with any questions as you read. Our dedicated advisors are on hand right now to offer a free assessment of the strength of your potential skiing injury compensation claim. Learn more by:
- Calling 0330 043 3679
- Using our online “contact us” form to get started.
Jump To A Section
- Can You Claim For A Ski Accident?
- How Do You Prevent A Skiing Accident?
- What Should You Do After A Skiing Accident?
- How Much Skiing Injury Compensation Could You Receive?
- How Long Do You Have To Make A Skiing Accident Claim?
- Why Claim Skiing Injury Compensation Using A No Win No Fee Solicitor?
- Read More About Claiming Personal Injury Compensation
Can You Claim For A Ski Accident?
You may be eligible to make a skiing injury compensation claim if you can prove that a third party was at fault for your injuries. In many cases, to prove fault for your injuries would start with showing how the liable party owed you a duty of care and how they breached this. However, the specific legislation and duty of care to your safety may vary depending on which country the accident took place.
In public places in this country, those in control owe a duty of care to the public as outlined in the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957. This law states that the occupier must take reasonable steps to implement measures that prevent the public from suffering harm whilst using their premises as legally intended.
If you booked your skiing trip as part of a package holiday, the Package Travel and Linked Arrangements Regulations 2018 mean that if you suffer an injury abroad due to the negligent actions of the tour operator, then you can claim in this country for a holiday accident.
To control risk and minimise hazards on a dry or wet ski slope, the party in control can do the following:
- Regularly check their premises for hazards to the public.
- Check ski lifts are safe for use.
- Clearly indicate unavoidable hazards and ensure advanced slopes are marked.
- Ensure staff (such as ski instructors) are properly trained for their role.
- Prevent behaviour that might cause danger of accident to others.
A serious level of harm could occur if these basic precautions are not implemented. Therefore, if you feel confident that you were owed a duty of care, it was not met by the ski site or tour operator and your injury resulted, call our team of advisors to discuss your next step for seeking compensation.
What Ski Injuries Can You Claim For?
There are various skiing injuries that you could claim compensation for. The most common tend to involve:
- Sprains and strains
- Cuts and bruising.
- Fractured ankles and broken leg bones.
- A concussion and head injuries.
- Spinal and back damage.
It’s possible to suffer a combination of these injuries as well. If you’re not sure that your type of injury is eligible to claim for, speak to our dedicated team for free, no-obligation advice.
How Do You Prevent A Skiing Accident?
There are certain steps you can take to prevent skiing injuries, such as:
- Research your ski resort before you book and check its safety record.
- Wear the correct attire for skiing such as padded salopettes, ski helmets and gloves. Choose insulated boots and protect your eyes from injury or UV rays caused by winter sun by wearing goggles.
- Don’t go off skiing alone.
- Before tackling the slopes, spend time with a qualified instructor and learn the right techniques for safe skiing. Stay to the slope best suited to your level of experience.
- Check that your skis and bindings fit correctly and are in good condition.
- Respect others on the slopes, read markers and keep to the side if climbing or descending on foot.
- Check up and down the slope before setting off to avoid collision.
What Should You Do After A Skiing Accident?
Firstly, its important to have your injuries fully assessed by a medical professional. In addition to caring for your health, this can also provide vital evidence for a claim. The doctor’s reports and details of the treatments you needed to receive are useful evidence. There are other types of evidence needed for a personal injury claim that can be gathered, such as:
- Walk-in clinic or A&E admission notes.
- Copies of any CCTV footage at the resort that captured the accident and its cause.
- Photographs of your visible injuries.
- The contact information of eyewitnesses prepared to give a supporting statement at a later date.
- A diary of key events, dates and treatments needed.
- A copy of the accident report made by the resort or ski-slope operator.
Also, if you think you might benefit from help collecting evidence, reach out to the team. They can assess the strength of your skiing injury compensation claim over the phone. If it appears strong, they can connect you with an expert solicitor from our panel if you wish. The excellent services they offer could enable you to submit a much stronger case.
How Much Skiing Injury Compensation Could You Receive?
In successful personal injury claims made in this country, two types of compensation may form the final amount called general and special damages. General damages compensate the person for the following:
- Their physical pain and psychological suffering.
- The impact on their quality of life.
- The length of recovery expected.
- Any need for long term medical treatments.
To assign a figure to issues like this, legal professionals and others responsible for valuing clais may refer to the available medical reports that detail the severity and extent of injury. Also, they can consult with publications such as the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG).
This publication lists bracket guidelines for numerous types of injury based on severity. We have compiled a brief excerpt from the JCG below to illustrate. It is important to note that these amounts are not guaranteed. Furthermore, the first entry is not from the JCG:
Compensation Awards
| Area of Harm | Severity | Award Guidelines | Definitions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple Severe Injuries and Special Damages | Severe | Up to £1 million plus. | An award like this would reflect several severe types of harm as well as special damage awards for lost earnings, care costs and medical expensses. |
| Head/Brain Damage | (a) Very Severe | £344,150 to £493,000 | No meaningful reaction to external world, double incontinence and full-time need for professional care. |
| Severe Leg | (ii) Very Serious | £66,920 to £109,290 | Cases of permanent mobility problems requiring walking aids permanently or fractures which take years to repair. |
| Back | (a) Severe (iii) | £47,320 to £85,100 | Fractures and disc lesions, as well as soft tissue injuries that cause chronic conditions and remaining disabilitites. |
| Arm | (b) Injuries Resulting in Substantial and Permanent Disablement | £47,810 to £73,050 | Serious fractures impacting one (or both) forearms resulting in significant permanent disability. |
| Foot | (e) Serious | £30,500 to £47,840 | Injuries that cause continued pain and an increased risk of osteoarthritis. |
| Pelvis | (b) Moderate (i) | £32,450 to £47,810 | A significant injury in this area but permanent disability is not major and risk of such in the future is considered not great. |
| Neck | (b) Moderate (i) | £30,500 to £46,970 | Fractures and dislocations that create severe immediate symptoms and may require spinal fusion surgery. |
| Knee | (b) Moderate (i) | £18,110 to £31,960 | Torn meniscus and torn cartilage, as well as dislocations causing minor instability, weakness or wasting. |
| Ankle | (c) Moderate | £16,770 to £32,450 | Ligament tears and fractures that cause problems standing for long periods or walking on ground that is uneven and navigating stairs. |
The second head of loss that can be included in compensation are called special damages. These reimburse the claimant for financial losses caused by the skiing injury. Importantly, it is not possible to claim special damages in their own right. They must be made in connection to the physical or psychological harm which caused financial loss.
So you may have documented evidence showing out-of-pocket expenses such as:
- Payslips that reveal a loss of earnings caused by time off work.
- Paid amounts for the cost of making adaptations in your home to deal with a permanent disability.
- Invoices for domestic carers who helped you recover.
- Unavoidable medical bills or the costs of rehabilitation.
- Receipts and tickets for essential travel.
- Receipts for prescription medications.
Skiing injury compensation claims need to be submitted in full. So rather than leave out a vital expense or under-calculate future costs, why not see if a solicitor could help? Call the team for immediate guidance on your options.
How Long Do You Have To Make A Skiing Accident Claim?
Personal injury claims time limits are laid out in the Limitation Act 1980. This law states that the claim has three years in which to be made, typically starting from the date of the accident. However, certain groups may be subject to variations on this.
For example, the time limit is paused if the person injured was a minor at the time of the injury. The three year limit starts when they turn 18. This means they have until age 21 to independently launch their claim.
Time limits are frozen for claimants who lack mental capacity to claim themselves. If capacity returns, the three year deadline commences from the date of their recovery.
Additionally, the courts may appoint a litigation friend to start a claim immediately for both these groups of claimants.
Why Claim Skiing Injury Compensation Using A No Win No Fee Solicitor?
A skiing injury compensation claim can be started without legal help, but the benefits of consulting with a personal injury solicitor are significant. For example, they can help you collect evidence, calculate the compensation fully and endeavour to get you the best settlement in skiing accident claims here or abroad.
Many people with valid claims may not pursue them because they worry about the costs of appointing a solicitor. So the experts on our panel offer their services via a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) which is a type of No Win No Fee contract. This usually helps the claimant in the following ways:
- Their solicitor asks for no upfront fees for their services.
- No fees apply as the claim moves ahead.
- No solicitor’s fees for completed services apply at all if the claim fails.
- A success fee from the compensation applies if the claim wins. This is a percentage of the compensation awarded. The fee is subject to a legislative cap, therefore the claimant always benefits the most from the outcome.
Why not discover if a No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel could help you make a skiing injury compensation claim? It takes only a brief conversation to establish if a claim is valid. If you qualify and you wish to go ahead, our advisors could connect you with experienced and excellent legal representation today:
- Call 0330 043 3679 to discover more.
- Also, you can use our online “contact us” form.
Read More About Claiming Personal Injury Compensation
In addition to this guide on skiing injury compensation, the following guides look at potentially related injuries that you could claim for:
- This guide looks at ankle injury compensation claims.
- This guide looks at skull fracture claims.
- Furthermore, multiple injury claims are explored.
Helpful external resources:
- Information on correct ski slope management by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
- An A – Z of conditions from the NHS.
- Lastly, when to call 999 also from the NHS.
In conclusion, we appreciate you reading our guide on skiing injury compensation claims. Also, for any other guidance on this topic, or for personal injury claims in general, please connect on the contact options above.
