In this guide, we explain how to sue a hotel. We will look at how a hotel could be responsible for personal injury or a data breach and how these incidents could cause you harm.
How to sue a hotel guide
Furthermore, we’ll look at the eligibility criteria that apply to making these kinds of claims. Furthermore, we’ll look at how settlements are calculated and explain how much you could receive for the harm you were caused.
If you have any more questions you would like answered, or if you’re interested in receiving free legal advice, why not get in touch with our team today? If you have a valid case, you could be connected with a No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel to work on your claim.
To get in touch, you can:
- Speak to our helpful team on 0800 408 7827
- Contact us online
- Or use the ‘live chat’ option to the bottom right of this page
Choose A Section
- How To Sue A Hotel For Personal Injury
- Examples Of Accidents In A Hotel
- How To Sue A Hotel For A Data Breach
- How Much Compensation Could I Get In A Claim Against A Hotel?
- Do No Win No Fee Agreements Cost Less Money?
- Learn More About How To Sue A Hotel
How To Sue A Hotel For Personal Injury
When you’re in a hotel, like when you’re in any public place, you’re owed a duty of care. This duty of care means that someone has a responsibility to ensure your safety. They should take steps to prevent you from being injured.
Read on for more information on how to sue a hotel and when you may be able to do so. Otherwise, speak with an advisor for free legal advice today.
Examples Of Accidents In A Hotel
Under legislation called the Occupier’s Liability Act 1957, the party in control of a space is expected to take all reasonable steps to protect the safety of visitors to the space. The party with the duty of care is referred to in the legislation as the occupier, although they don’t actually need to occupy the space.
Below, we’ve included some examples of how a breach of duty of care could cause an injury.
- Slip, trip, and fall accidents could occur if spills are left on the floor without being cleaned up or signposted in a reasonable time. A member of the public could fall and sustain a broken cheekbone as a result.
- Members of the public could fall from a height if they travel down a set of stairs with a faulty handrail that causes them to fall. This could result in a broken rib.
- Food poisoning caused by poor hygiene in the hotel restaurant, or a burn injury from hot water being spilled on you.
Evidence
You can support your claim of personal injury by gathering evidence. For example:
- CCTV footage of your accident
- The contact details of anyone who saw the accident take place. They might be able to give a statement later on.
- Photos of the accident area, or of your injuries
- Medical records. For this reason, it’s important that you seek medical attention if you’ve been injured.
For free legal advice on the evidence you could collect, speak with an advisor today. They could also offer you general legal advice on how to sue a hotel.
How To Sue A Hotel For A Data Breach
A version of the Data Protection Act 2018 that has been updated since the UK left the EU sits alongside the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) as the pieces of legislation that protect personal data in the UK. Personal data is any data that is stored physically or digitally and can be used to identify a natural person, either alone or when combined with other information.
A personal data breach is an incident that occurs which affects the integrity, confidentiality or availability of personal data. If you’re harmed by a breach that was caused by the failings of a data controller or processor, then you may be able to claim compensation.
Below are some examples of how a personal data breach could affect you:
- The hotel fails to keep its security systems up-to-date. As a result, a hacker is able to obtain your debit card information and steals money from your account.
- An email confirming your stay containing your full name and address is sent to the wrong recipient, and this person does not have the authorisation to view this information.
- An unencrypted laptop containing guests’ booking information is left on a train.
For more information on how to sue a hotel for a data breach, speak with an advisor today. You could be connected with a solicitor from our panel to work on your claim.
How Much Compensation Could I Get In A Claim Against A Hotel?
When you make a personal injury claim, your settlement could consist of two different kinds of damages. These are general damages and special damages.
General damages compensate you for the pain and suffering that your injuries have caused you. Special damages compensate you for the financial impact that your injury has had. You won’t receive special damages if you’re not awarded general damages.
When you make a claim for harm caused by a data breach, you could receive compensation for material damages (the money you’ve lost as a result of the breach) and non-material damage (the impact the breach has had on you mentally, for example by causing stress or anxiety). There’s no requirement for you to receive compensation for material damages in order for you to receive money for non-material damages.
Non-material damages in data breach claims and general damages in personal injury claims are valued with the help of a document called the Judicial College Guidelines. We’ve included excerpts from these below:
| Area of Injury | Compensation bracket |
|---|---|
| Ankle (b) Severe | £31,310 to £50,060 |
| Arm (c) Less Severe | £19,200 to £39,170 |
| (g) Less Serious Hand Injury | £14,450 to £29,000 |
| Knee (b) Moderate (i) | £14,840 to £26,190 |
| Wrist (c) Less Severe | £12,590 to £24,500 |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) (c) Moderate | £8,180 to £23,150 |
| Psychiatric Suffering (c) Moderate | £5,860 to £19,070 |
| Toes (d) Serious Toe Injuries | £9,600 to £13,740 |
| Minor Brain or Head Injury | £2,210 to £12,770 |
| Hip (c) Lesser Injuries (i) | £3,950 to £12,590 |
For more information on how much you could receive, or for general information on how to sue a hotel, speak with an advisor today.
Do No Win No Fee Agreements Cost Less Money?
Having established how to sue a hotel, you may be interested in pursuing a claim and recognise the advantages of doing so with the help of a lawyer. However, you might be concerned about the prospect of funding their work in the traditional way.
No Win No Fee agreements are a way of funding legal representation. With one in place, you don’t need to make any upfront or ongoing payments to your lawyer.
If you’re awarded compensation, then your solicitor will deduct a success fee from your settlement, which is capped by law. If you lose your claim, you don’t pay this fee and you also don’t pay your lawyer for their services.
Speak To Us About To Sue A Hotel
Allow us to help you connect with a No Win No Fee solicitor today. Or simply speak with an advisor today for more information on how to sue a hotel. You can:
- Call us on 0800 408 7827
- Contact us online
- Or use our live chat option
Learn More About How To Sue A Hotel
We hope this guide has helped explain the personal injury claims process. As well as information on how to sue a hotel, we also provide the guides below:
You might also find these external guides useful:
- Health and Safety Executive (HSE) guidance on hospitality
- The definitions of data controllers and data processors
- NHS information on when to go to A&E
If you have any more questions on how to sue a hotel, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Article by Wat
Edited by Sto