Success in the Court of Appeal for victim of accident in Tenerife

Our client

Our client, Sonia, was involved in an accident whilst on holiday in Spain, when a hired scooter malfunctioned and crashed. After witnessing a tutorial, our client tried the scooter and it jumped forwards. As it went towards pedestrians, the brakes wouldn’t work, our client swerved and hit a signpost.

As a result of the accident, Sonia sustained a serious laceration to the lower left leg, with some initial concerns as to whether the leg would be lost and she also had some nerve damage. She required a debridement operation in hospital whilst away, with skin grafting. She was left with scarring as a result. Sonia also had back pain and suffered with depression and flashbacks.

How Slater and Gordon helped

After contacting Slater and Gordon’s personal injury solicitors specialising in travel accident claims, Sonia began working with Nicholas Lukacs, our specialist travel accident lawyer. Nicholas has been specialising in travel accident claims for over 15 years, and specialises in foreign accidents including:

• Holiday accident claims
• Road traffic accidents abroad
• Airline accident claims
• Cruise ship accident claims

In building Sonia’s holiday accident claim, Nicholas obtained the initial medical evidence from experts in plastic surgery, vascular surgery and psychology.

Once Sonia’s evidence was finalised, to include her medical evidence, further expert evidence was sought from a Spanish Lawyer, to determine the value of the claim under Spanish law. It’s important for our travel accident solicitors that the expert evidence gathered in our clients’ claims accurately represents the extent of their injuries and their losses, to ensure that any claim valuations are 100% accurate.

The Defendant obtained their own expert evidence on plastic surgery and Spanish law and the parties and their experts then worked together on joint statements from the respective experts.

The process of the claim

Upon identifying the scooter company’s insurer, who would become the defendant in the case, there were initial issues around both coverage of the insurance policy and a territorial scope clause to contend with. Court proceedings were issued to protect Sonia’s position in her travel accident claim. Liability was later admitted, albeit subject to causation.

Whilst settlement offers were made on both sides, the parties were unable to resolve the claim and so, proceeded to trial on value. Sonia was awarded a considerable sum that she was very pleased with, to include interest on damages assessed pursuant to Spanish law, commonly referred to as Spanish penalty interest. This award on interest was a significant award, which eclipsed the main heads of loss, such as General and Special Damages.

First appeal

The first instance decision was made in the County Court and whilst the Trial Judge rejected our client’s primary submission that an award of Spanish law interest should be awarded pursuant to Article 15 of the Rome II Regulation (No 864/2007), she exercised a procedural discretion to award interest pursuant to section 69 of the County Courts Act from the Spanish perspective and so, awarded an interest rate equivalent to that directed by the applicable Spanish law.

The Defendant appealed to the High Court and our client’s case was heard alongside a second, dealing with the same point, with the first instance decision also having been made in the County Court in that case. The appeals were dismissed, with the Judge accepting the primary submission that the award of interest was a matter of substantive law to be dealt with according to the applicable law of the tort. It was further held (strictly, obiter) that the first instance Judges did not have a procedural discretion to award interest on a Spanish law basis.

Second appeal

The Defendant appealed further, to the Court of Appeal and our client’s case, along with the case it was heard alongside in the High Court, was now to be heard along with a third case, with the first instance decision having been made in the High Court in that case. The further appeal was also dismissed, with the court finding that the award of interest under Article 20 of Law 50/1980 (commonly referred to as Spanish penalty interest) was a matter of substance, rather than procedure. The court also found that even if Spanish interest was procedural, there was a procedural discretion to adopt a Spanish law approach.

The Defendant has since decided not to appeal further.

How can Slater and Gordon help you?

At Slater and Gordon, our travel accident solicitors are here to help you take the next steps. If you’ve been injured in an accident overseas, the impact that this has on your life can be devastating. Because of this, we're committed to ensuring we get the best possible outcome for you. A case like this is another example of how our dedicated and specialist lawyers can support valued clients and ensure that they achieve the compensation they deserve.

If you, or your child, have suffered an injury as a result of an accident overseas, simply contact our experts today on 0330 041 5869, or you can contact us online here to learn more about your options going forward.