If you weren't wearing protective gear at the time of your accident, you may still be able to claim. However, it will depend entirely on the circumstances.
If your injuries may have been the same regardless of whether you were wearing protective equipment, it may not affect your case.
However, if for instance you were in a collision and your injuries were far worse than they would have been if you were wearing protective equipment, then the amount of compensation you receive could be reduced.
If you weren’t wearing the right protective equipment because an instructor failed to provide it to you, this may strengthen your claim.
If you have any doubts about your claim because you weren't wearing the correct protective gear, then it's vital that you seek legal advice. Call us and we'll offer our expert opinion on your options, and whether we think you have a case or not.
Ski lifts, snowmobiles, and piste machinery shouldn't cause injury if they're maintained and operated correctly and safely. Ski lift injuries are common, and can be caused by:
- Poor maintenance
- Lax instruction by lift attendants, leading to inappropriate mounting or dismounting
- Chair-lifts being located in an inappropriate location
- Unsafe use of snowmobiles – for example, travelling uphill in the direction of oncoming skiers – can also result in collisions.
Piste-operators, and anyone using machinery like a snowmobile, have a responsibility for the safety of others on the slopes. The ski resort is also liable for the mistakes of its employees, so if you’ve been hurt in a collision with a snowmobile or by a fall from a chair-lift, you may be able to claim compensation.
Defective Or Incorrectly Set Ski Equipment
When the bindings that secure the ski boot to the ski don’t release as they should, serious injuries can happen. This safety mechanism is designed to prevent injury in the event of a fall, but if the skis or bindings are faulty or haven’t been fitted properly by staff at the ski shop, it can cause injuries instead of preventing them.
Depending on whether your ski hire was booked through a tour operator or not, it may be possible to pursue a claim against the operator responsible for the hire package or against the ski shop itself.
Winter sports will never be risk-free, and unfortunately not every hazard on the slopes can be accounted for when conditions become dangerous. Operators and local municipalities will usually be under a duty to ensure that their slopes are in a suitable state to keep these risks to a minimum.
The possible dangers that piste operators should warn skiers and snowboarders of include:
- Poor slope conditions
- Avalanches
- Serious weather conditions.
Piste operators will also usually have a duty to maintain and mark slopes correctly.
If skiers and snowboarders aren't made aware of the risks from conditions, or if routes aren’t properly managed by operators, the consequences could be serious – even fatal.
If you or a loved one has been injured because of negligent management or insufficient warnings, you could pursue a claim against the local municipality, as well as those in charge of the ski area.
There will be different rules around off-piste skiing from country to country, and even from resort to resort within the same country.
Depending upon what happened and where, you may be able to make a claim if you were injured off-piste.
If you're unsure about whether you can make a claim because you were off-piste at the time of your accident, then call us for a free consultation. We'll discuss your accident, and advise you on whether or not we think you'll be able to make a claim.
Less experienced skiers shouldn’t be put in situations where they're out of their depth. As well as ensuring that classes contain skiers of a similar ability, instructors should select a slope that is the right level of difficulty for their students.
Ski instructors have a responsibility to provide sufficient guidance on a suitable slope. If you suffer an injury as a result of an oversight on their part, you could recover compensation in a claim against the tour operator the lesson was booked through, or the instructor’s employers or insurers.
You may be able to make a skiing injury claim if you or a loved one has been hurt in an accident caused by:
- Collisions with other skiers and snowboarders
- Ski lifts and other piste machinery
- Faulty ski equipment
- Negligent ski instruction
- Avalanches and poor piste management.
You can claim on behalf of someone else if they’re under the age of 18 or unable to claim themselves, for example if they’ve sustained a brain injury. You can also claim on behalf of a loved one who’s died in a skiing accident.
To begin your skiing injury claim for compensation, contact us. We’ll set up a free initial consultation with a solicitor, where you can discuss what happened to you and we’ll advise you if you could make a claim. There’s no obligation to go any further than this.
If you wish to pursue your claim with us, our first step will be to gather all the evidence available to back up your claim. Evidence we may use includes:
- Witness statements
- Medical records
- Receipts
- Accident reports
- Independent medical professional opinions
- CCTV or photographic evidence, if available.
We’ll then inform the individual or party responsible for your injuries that we intend to claim against them. We’ll be able to settle your claim more quickly if they accept blame. If they do accept blame, we’ll also work to get you interim payments, which are made ahead of your claim being settled and can pay for ongoing treatment or loss of earnings.
However, if they dispute blame or how much compensation we’re claiming for, we may need to start court proceedings.
We’ll always work to keep your claim out of court, keeping the process as simple and stress-free for you as possible. But if we do need to go to court, we’ll do all we can to make you feel comfortable and prepared. Claims can still be settled out of court even if trial dates have already been set.
The time limit for making a skiing injury claim in the UK is three years, starting from the date the accident took place. This time limit doesn’t apply to people under 18 years old or people who lack the mental capacity to make their own claim.
The time limits for making a compensation claim can vary wildly in different countries. For this reason, it’s always best to start making your claim as soon as possible after your accident.
Not only will this give you the best chance of claiming within the specific country’s time frame, but the evidence needed to support your claim will be easier for us to collect. The details will also be fresher in your mind and the minds of any witnesses.
It’s not possible for us to say how much compensation you could be entitled to until we know more about your accident. The amount of compensation awarded in each claim depends on the unique circumstances, including:
- The injuries you sustained
- Any medical expenses incurred in a foreign country that need to be reimbursed
- Repatriation if you had to be returned to the UK or airlifted from the ski slopes
- Your long-term recovery prognosis
- Loss of earnings
- Future care and medical needs
- Specialist equipment you need
- Modifications you need making to your home.
To get an idea of how much your claim might be worth, get in touch with us today. Once we’ve learnt more about what happened to you, we’ll be able to put a value on your skiing accident claim.
Even if your accident or illness occurred abroad, you can often make a claim here in the UK, though this will vary depending on your circumstances. For example, if you suffered an accident while staying in a hotel as part of a package holiday, you should be able to make a claim against the tour operator here in the UK. You can also usually claim in the UK if you’re claiming against an individual insurer or employer that is based in the UK, or a business or insurer based in the EU.
The law around compensation is different in each country, so we will consider where it would be best to make your claim in order to get the best possible result for you.
You can still make a compensation claim if you’re still in the country the accident happened in. It's still vital that you contact us as soon as possible to ensure you get your claim started within the relevant time limits. If your ski accident has resulted in a hospital stay in another country, we can begin working on your claim while you're still abroad. You can advise us on the best way to contact you while you're abroad, and you can update this once you're back in the UK if you need to.
If you do have to make a claim abroad, there’s nothing to worry about as we have years of experience in helping clients to claim in more than 80 countries around the world. We work with an international network of law firms to represent and support our clients and their families when they need to claim, no matter which country the accident or illness occurred in. Most claims are settled out of court, so it’s unlikely that you will need to travel abroad for a court case. If this is necessary in your case, we will support you every step of the way.
