My husband and I have already had dealings with these Solicitors

Not through a bad holiday but another reason and I have to say they were very helpful and efficient in what they did

Hi Debbie,

Sorry to hear you've ever had to use the services of any solicitor but very pleased to hear you've had a good experience with Simpson Millar. We took a long time to choose the partner we felt would most benefit HT members and guests. Nice to see they worked hard for you.

Regards

Van

I Have just had discussions with these solicitors regarding a claim for when my family got ill in the dom rep this year.
They think we could have a Claim . Thomson dont want to know. Basically saying our illness could have been many reasons. Passing Blood ,diahorreah, severe stomach cramps, High temp, Sickness. Headaches, etc. The worst been my daughter Whom still suffers with IBs Now. Makes me so Angry that we speant thousands on a holiday for us to Spend over half of it Ill.
These Solicitors Sound very friendly and were happy to listen.

Hi

We would like to take this opportunity to introduce ourselves to members of the HolidayTruths forum and to thank the HolidayTruths Team for getting in touch with us.

We are the Holiday Compensation Claims team at Simpson Millar LLP Solicitors who are a national law firm with 8 offices throughout England and Wales and over 150 years experience of successfully acting for clients.

Our Holiday Claims team's mission is to help consumers gain compensation for holidays that are ruined due to illness bugs at hotels abroad as well as accidents and injuries that occur whilst on holiday due to the negligence of a third party. We can also offer advice in relation to problems with holiday bookings, flight and baggage issues, and accommodation problems that you may have faced.

You can get in touch with the team on Freephone: 0808 145 1358 (Mon to Fri 7am to 9pm) or email: holidayclaims@simpsonmillar.co.uk

The Holiday Claims Team

welcome to the forums

yasus
wizard

Hey SM..welcome to the boards...

Feel free to say hi to the new SM team that will be working with all holidaytruths members and guests..

Before too long we'll have an updated S&S brochure which Nick and his team are looking into now and lots of new, updated info to assist you the holidaymakers...

Regards

Van

Big welcome from me too

HI to Simpson and Miller- good to know we have experts on our side Thanks for joining our fantastic forum.

Thanks for the Welcome.

Holiday Claims Team

Welcome indeed. We all hope we don't have to call on your services but it's good to know you're there if we need you.

I would just like to point out that you didnt or rather couldnt help me because I had not booked a package holiday.... I would just like to know why that is, I was ripped off on my holiday, I was severely Ill and the holiday was not as described, the food was not cooked and the pools were not maintanied. we ended up with food poisoning....... but because i booked a dynamic package, your team couldnt help me make a claim.

Please can you explain why you were unable to help me when i suffered so badly.

Thanks

Chelle

You've answered your own question in another thread:

I took my case to Simpson Millar as advised above and as I booked a "dynamic" package I am not covered under the package holiday act 1992 and they regrettably told me that they could not continue with my case as we would stand no chance in the court of law.

I'm sorry that you've had such a bad experience and didn't get the holiday you deserved but it looks as if your case is not covered by British law and if Simpson Millar are saying that your only route for redress is through the Greek courts then I think that you might have to put this down to experoence but did you pay using a credit card? If you did, you might be able to pursue this with them as they are as equally liable as the supplier when there are 'fit for purpose' problems.

SM

Hiya

I know thats what they told me..... but my question is - why wont a court do anything about it?? what is the difference between someone being ill on a package holiday and someone being ill on a dynamic holiday.... does it make us the smaller person just because we didn't book a package? are we not worthy of compensation even though the dynamic bit was never pointed out to us... had i not incurred any problems on the holiday then i would have never known it was a dynamic package.

Sorry to go on about it but i dont want to make the same mistake this year, even Thomas Cook says its an Agent ONLY!! So if they are the agent, then who exactly is the tour operator!!

Ros Fernihough helped me to get ALL my accommodation costs back when I was on a dynamic package a few years ago.
Flights and transfer costs were not included because of this but I was thrilled to get money back after my holiday in hell.

I would like to explain a little more about the reasons why seeking redress is often difficult when a holiday is 'dynamically packaged'. Foremost - a complaint about a holiday is in contract - there must be a contractual basis.

Unlike traditional package holidays the organisers of dynamic packages are typically agents who act for various suppliers such as accommodation providers. In most cases these suppliers terms and conditions will say that they act as an agent for a disclosed principal - for example a hotel - often abroad.

In law there must be a right of action. If you pursue an agent, for example for poor quaility accommodation, then in most cases your claim will be doomed to fail because you will have pursued the wrong party. Your claim for the 'performance' of the holiday lies with the principal. The agent's obligations usually and merely extend to 'arranging' the holiday.

So - if you book a dynamically packaged holiday with 'X' travel agent whose terms and conditions clearly state they act as agents for other companies and your accommodation is supplied by 'Y' company whose terms and conditions say they act as agents for 'Z' hotel then your contract for the proper performance of the holiday in terms of the quality lies with the hotel.

If your contract ends with the hotel then you will find that you will normally have to pursue your claim in the country where the hotel is.

This is in most cases not feasible for a number of reasons. These include expense - the cost of pursuing a claim abroad will often outweigh the possible benefit. In many foreign jurisdictions there is no entitelement to recovering legal costs - so you would have to pay these yourself and if you lost your case you might also be faced with a hefty legal bill presented by the other party.

As Head of Travel Law at Simpson Millar I am always happy to advise any person who has a holiday problem - what I can promise is that I will give honest and straight advice. What I can't promise is that the advice will always be the advice someone wishes to hear - such is the law.

I myself am not a supporter of dynamically packaged holidays but understand that many people are. I base my own views on the number of people I speak to each year who suffer awful holidays but have no redress and find themselves fobbed off when they try to complain. Many of these people having been sold holidays that are dressed like traditional packages but are not.

I also base my views on the many problems that arose for holidaymakers caught up in the past year in the ash cloud situation - the weather problems at Christmas and now the North African civil strife. Those who were on/or are intending traditional package holidays during these times fared much better than those who dynamically packaged.

Sometimes a cheap price is not always the best policy when balanced with the benefits and protection holidaymakers who purchase traditional package holidays enjoy.

As always - my team and I are more than happy to advise and assist anyone struggling with a holiday problem.

Nick Harris

Highley recommend simpson millar. I have a claim that is Just about over. And a smaller claim in progress after a issue this year on holiday and i mentioned it to them. All in all Thomson were not willing to offer any compensation after we all ( 4 of us ) got very ill . Now its costing them a small fortune. Thanks for all your help simon at simpson millar . I would not hestitate using you again and passing on your number.

Thank you for your kind recommendation - it is genuinely appreciated.

At Simpson Millar we aim to obtain fair compensation from tour operators for holidaymakers who experience bad experiences on holidays abroad. Many holidaymakers do not realise the value of their claims and often choose to settle claims directly with tour operators at a fraction of their true value.

We are always happy to give free advice and help if we can.

Kind regards

Simon

do we still have a relationship with simpson millar after the takeover?
is anyone from the company in a position to tell us about any successes they have had in dealing with members complaints?
have any members had any successes, or any comments, on any dealings with this company.
the complaints section always used to be a major hub of this forum, with many new members coming regulars as a result of advice they were given here.
this section seems to be a bit quiet of late.
are we able to promote this in any way?

Yeah I can confirm I have been successful with a claim when I used Simpson millar. Highley recommend . You get what is properly owed to you too not a pitence that you would get if you were lucky to get anything from the tour op. I wasn't offered anything with a certain tour op but got £Â£Ã‚£Ã‚£'s going through sm. no amount of money will make up what my daughter now suffers though but she now has a nice amount when she turns 18 which will help with her career hopefully