I have never been asked for confirmation of travel insurance, no matter which company I have booked with.

It seems only Thomas Cook ask me but my holiday last month was with Thomson and they asked me too.
Maybe if booking on line they dont ask but I always book in the shops.
I wouldnt even book a holiday unless I had Insurance in place.

Even if booking online with Thomson, it won't let you proceed unless you tick ' I have my own insurance'

I have always been asked if I have insurance when booking with a shop and if Thomas Cook have had to take the insurance details in.

If the OP is making in injury claim for compensation in respect of an accident or negligence caused by the hotel then whether they had insurance or not has no bearing on this matter.

But yes, ideally if booking a holiday overseas the very minimum you should have is medical insurance which includes repatriation to your home country. Lost luggage, passports etc you can deal with - but would you want to fork out the cost of being airlifted back home because you didn't have the necessary paperwork?

i couldn't agree more Cyprus, but I have yet to find an insurance company which will let you take out a policy just to cover medical emergencies.

Thanks aslemma for reminding people that this post wasn't started to discuss the need for insurance.

We're well aware that it cud have been a lot worse and insurance may have been needed or the preferred option or whatever but as it is we didn't have it and that wasn't my question.

And also just to put it out there my girlfriend doesn't drink and the fall was just as we arrived at the hotel bar and before anything was ordered (all that was ordered before we knew she'd fallen was coffee).

I think with hindsight and now an experience it highlights that travel insurance is important , but I'm not going to lecture you about this Will , it's up to each person what responsible decisions they choose to make .
But my take on this and it's similar to the post by Aslemma , if you are in a public place like a hotel then you expect them to not be neglectful and having a leaking roof for 8 years ??!!! Means that at some point someone will slip and could injure themselves obviously they know there is a problem as they have a mat there , did they have any warning signs ? You know those plastic ones with " wet floor " and a picture of a man slipping ( looks like John Terry taking a penalty )
The hotel , travel company all have a responsibility to ensure your safety , I think if a risk like this had been allowed for 8 years and could have been made safe, then I feel they have been neglectful .
It's very easy to slip and hurt your knee , my wife damaged her ligaments when falling on her knee trying to avoid tripping over the cat who had ran between her feet at home one night !!

It sounds like you do have some kind of a case - so good luck with it.
It would be very good if you could keep us updated with the outcome.... so many people don't unfortunately.

I think you have a very good case and it would appear that your legal advisors are of the same opinion. If they are worth their salt they will fight your corner much better than you would be able to do on your own. Large companies (and councils) have the resources to fob you off and often try and counterclaim that you were at fault in the hope that you will simply give up. If your solicitor is acting in a 'no win no fee' capacity, you can afford to sit it out and let them do all the work. In my case the council caved in and offered a reasonable amount of compensation before going to court, though I would have been prepared to wait for the court if necessary. Do let us know how you get on.

I am sorry I mentioned something as unimportant as insurance.
I was merely pointing out that when I book with Thomas Cook they ALWAYS ask for my insurance details.

Jay Trip wrote:

I am sorry I mentioned something as unimportant as insurance.
I was merely pointing out that when I book with Thomas Cook they ALWAYS ask for my insurance details.

I'm not saying it was unimportant....quite the opposite in fact. But we book online and have never yet been asked for our insurance details.

I will keep u all updated as to the progress.

On the contrary Jean, insurance is indeed a very important thing to think about when booking any holiday. In this particular case however it was not in place. The important factor here seems to be the duty of those who own businesses where the public have access to take all reasonable steps to ensure their safety and, in the case of hotels, the equal duty of those who book people into these hotels. The fact that this potential hazard had existed for several years is a clear sign of negligence, at least in my opinion.

Also I can't remember who asked but there was no warning signs of a wet floor.

WillLedwith wrote:

Also I can't remember who asked but there was no warning signs of a wet floor.

Ooh , schoolboy error !!! At least if you put up a warning sign , and someone does slip you can say , didn't you see the sign , or perhaps after being there for 8 years the sign had enough of getting wet , or went to another leak / spill elsewhere

It could simply have floated away Andy.

It is actually a requirement from the Cuban government to take out travel insurance before you travel to Cuba, regardless of who you travel with. Whether this will have an impact on your claim I do not know but you should always make yourself aware of any requirements of countries you are traveling to.

frizzy wrote:

It is actually a requirement from the Cuban government to take out travel insurance before you travel to Cuba, regardless of who you travel with. Whether this will have an impact on your claim I do not know but you should always make yourself aware of any requirements of countries you are traveling to.

Did the OP go to Cuba? Actually it's not quite true anyway. You can buy the insurance in Cuba when you arrive at the airport. It is a requirement from our tour operators though, that you have insurance, for all bookings.

I must have misread the topic, my apologies, I think I had two posts open at the same time. Has the OP got any updates for us?

I have just read this thread...time limits vary and is dependent on the country you have your accident in.it is anything from one year to 10 years to serve a court action. So always check with the laws of the country. For example scotland is 3 years