There is nothing quite like that exciting countdown feeling before you go on vacation. The days are ticking away, the excitement is building and you’re already shopping for your holiday outfits and bags. You’re drawing up the itinerary and you’re taking the time to make sure that your passport and your documents are up to date. That sunny, far-flung destination is now just weeks away and you’re ready for it! This is a partnered post.
But, are you really prepared for it? Are you ready to go to your dream destination? Are you ready to go safely? We ask this because no matter where you are in the world, the unexpected can happen. You could have an injury during an excursion that sees you thrown off a speedboat, or tripping down a very long flight of stone steps. Whether it’s a slip, trip, fall or water sports injury, a personal injury lawyer can help you – but only if you aren’t the one at fault. Dealing with an injury in a country that isn’t your own is scary. Ideally, you’d have prepared for the chance this could happen with holiday insurance but if you didn’t, what do you do then? The good news is that you’re not alone and there are things that you can do to make this challenging situation more manageable. Read on to learn what to do if you’re injured while you’re on vacation.
- Prepare in advance. You should never, ever, skip out on buying travel insurance. You do not deserve to be injured while you’re away, and so you should ensure that you’re covered in a foreign hospital and with foreign help. If you’re somewhere that doesn’t speak any English, you need to know whether you’re liable for the accident or injury, and then you need to have contact numbers already stored in your bag so that you can call for help. When something unfortunate happens when you are abroad, you need to be ready with insurance, with contact information of a lawyer and with information about the right consulate in the country. These can all serve you well and allow you to get the help that you need.
- Get help immediately. As you would do if you were at home, you need to get some immediate help when you’re hurt. Calling your holiday representative, resort host or even the local police can help you to get out of the situation you’re in. you should visit the local hospital, even if the injury seems minor. Prompt documentation of the injury will help you to get the right claim under your insurance and make sure that you’re not left penniless as a result. In a foreign country, minor injuries really can escalate if you don’t get the right help so don’t wait around for it. You should never hesitate to seek some help in the first instance you’ve been hurt.
- Speak to the local authorities. Reporting any injuries or accidents to local authorities is a must when you’re hurt when abroad. You may even need to file a police report and that isn’t always easy to do when you’re unaware of the way things run. An official incident report can really help you to access the right support and the documentation you get from reporting the incident will help you with your injury claim.
- Make sure you document the incident for yourself. Even when you report an accident to the hotel, to the resort or to the police, you still need to have documentation of what happened yourself. If you are able to take photographs of the area where you’ve been hurt and your injury, it’s important that you do that as soon as possible. Any factors that may have contributed to the injuries should also be documented so that you have them for your record. If you’re planning on taking it to a lawyer, you also need to be able to make a claim, and backing that up with statements and photographs is exactly how to do it. Were there any witnesses to your injury while you were abroad? If so, try to get statements from them and contact details too because then they’ll be able to help you to back up your claim and potentially avoid this injury happening to other people.
- Talk to your travel insurance. Once you’re on your road to recovery, call your travel insurance provider as soon as you’re able to. You need to be able to initiate that claims process and the quicker you do that the better. Provide them with all of the information and the documentation in advance and that should include any receipts, medical bills, and relevant communications. The travel insurance that you took out will help you to cover any medical expenses in the country that you’re in, as well as trip interruptions and any other unforeseen costs such as your return ticket needing to be delayed. Travel insurance can also offer you financial protection as you need it, so don’t forget to streamline this process and increase your chances of getting the compensation that you deserve.
- Speak to a lawyer. Whether you’re abroad or not, you need to talk to a lawyer when you’ve been injured. If you wait till you get home, that’s absolutely fine, but they’ll be able to provide you with the guidance that you need on your rights, your legal actions that you potentially need to take, and the process for pursuing compensation in the country where you were injured. Legal assistance is critical when dealing with complex cases, and that’s especially the case with transportation providers, tour operators and resort leaders. A lawyer will be able to help you to navigate the local laws and negotiate with the insurance companies and ensure that you are protected as best you can be.
- Don’t leave anything out before you head back home. You need to make sure that you have been covered. It can be wasteful to travel back to the place of your injury, so you need to make sure that you have a copy of your medical records with the names, numbers of your attending physicians on location, the names and addresses of all parties involved in the incident, the power of attorney or lawyer, and any evidence that you could. Having all of this information before you return home is going to make your life a lot easier when you get there.
- Focus on recovering. Once you’ve dealt with an injury on vacation, you’re going to be reluctant to go abroad again. But you need to focus on your recovery. Taking the necessary steps to seek medical attention, document the incident. Contacting insurers and lawyers is going to be exhausting for you, but once you’ve done that, don’t forget to plan your next break. Once you’ve been through an experience such as getting injured when you’re abroad, it can tarnish the rest of the memories you may have had from the holiday, but try not to let it. Getting some psychological counseling can really help you to overcome any challenges you may have run into when you were hurt when you were abroad.
Going on vacation, no matter where you go in the world, is supposed to be exciting. Allowing yourself to be overtaken by fear after the fact isn’t going to help you or anybody else. Make sure that you have claimed correctly on your insurance and start the process of getting well again.