Kanos
I'd be interested in using your insurance company in future as I understood it wasnt possible to claim for this sort of thing. Can you tell me who you used?
Thanks
Bridd

I was contacted by Tonight With Trevor McDonald, as I know a few of us were. They put me in touch with a Solicitor.

They have advised they expect to be able to get me back between 100 - 150% of my holiday costs. It is all on a no win no fee basis.

They have asked me to inform as many people who travelled during Hurricane Wilma to contact them as they are forming a group claim against numerous Tour Operators.

What do we have to lose.

So now there is an attempt at a class action! Going to get upto 150% of holiday cost! I do hope you are all able to afford the damages/costs that could be awarded against you. Reading these and other posts I am unable to find anyone who will admit that just perhaps they were not perfect. You do need to consider that any court will be forced to consider that you chose to travel at a time when hurricanes were not an unknown phenomena. The phrase you want is 'Contributory Negligence' When your house is on fire then the people who come to put it out train constantly in 'how to do' Tour reps by the nature of the job do not do that. I do not see anyone accepting any blame for any of their actions. Only everyone but them was at fault.. The only people who will get any real financial benefit from this are members of the legal profession. I was not there and I would not have put myself in that position. You accepted the risk when you booked the holiday. Just ask yourself. Are you ready to risk more money?

fwh

As previously advised it is on a NO WIN NO FEE basis!

You miss the point. The TOs are also entitled to sue you in return. Whilst you may go for a class action, each individual person can be required to prove their claim. Any that are found to be vexatious can not only be struck out but costs and compensation can be awarded against that individual. Will no win/no fee cover that? Before anyone starts legal action they need to consider what they are doing and any consequences. If you start an action of this sort then the TOs will have the very best legal advice/counsel. (They do not come cheap) You book a holiday, and if you go into an area during hurricane season then you are deemed to be aware of the risks involved. The TOs do not force you to go. They would have no choice but to defend the case. Failure by them to do so could quite possibly wipe out the entire tourist industry if a court was to find against them. It would leave them open to be sued for anything that went wrong. There really is no such thing as a no win no fee action. Someone will have to pay.

fwh

fwh, I think you are being very naive. All of the other holiday makers that I have liased with, who were in Mexico during Wilma, knew that there was a possibility for a hurricane strike at this time of the year.

If tour operator staff have not been trained to deal with hurricane aftermath situations, then they are at fault and this should be the basis of any claim.

Simply blaming a travel company for bad weather will get you a nice letter for customer services and sod all else.

As for a "vextatious" claim, this is when "a claim is one which has been instituted maliciously, and without probable cause, whereby a damage has ensued to the defendant"

A tour operator would not counter-sue an individual, in this situation it would be too hard to prove and incredibly bad PR

bridd, I have free travel insurance with my Alliance & Leicester Premier Bank Account, it is operated by an insurance and financial services conglomerate called Fortis. They can be found here

http://www.fortisinsurance.co.uk/index.asp

fwh -

With respect, let these people decide for themselves how to progress their claims.

If both television executives and a professional member of the legal profession feel that they have a case worth putting under the spotlight, that's good enough for me.

Why get so excited about something which doesn't concern those who were not there?It shouldn't matter to anyone else whether they get more compensation or not, should it? Relax, it's not your problem.

Good luck to all those who continue to fight this worthy case. You have my support.

Fwh

I also think you are wrong IMHO.

Although these holiday makers travelled within the hurricane season, and the TO were aware that this was the hurricane season, no holidaymaker to my knowledge has signed a disclaimer prior to departure with any TO in relation to being involved with a hurricane.

The TO were fully aware of the severity of this hurricane, and as holidaymakers we look to the TO for their expertise.

In this case, the expertise of each TO was it was safe to proceed with the scheduled trip.

So as mentioned, the responsibility for these people lies with each individual TO.

A few years ago, the rail industry had an appalling reputation for safety, that being said, disasters on the railways continued, given your opinion, no one would be able to claim compensation for negligence as it was a well known fact that safety was not as good as it should have been, and therefore anyone injured was self inflicted.

One further point, for those that may take action on a no win - no fee.

If you lost your case, you may be liable for the opposition cost, this is down to the judge, however, you can take out an insurance policy to cover this, in the event of that scenario happening.

Good luck

Driver02

This culture we are developing in our Country of looking for someone else to blame and sue is getting out of hand.

Surely a hurricane is an act of God? If you travel in a period when hurricane activity is likely - that must be a risk you take when booking the holiday.

I can see the point fwh is trying to make; and to a great extent I support his view.

I've followed this thread for a month or so and fail to see any clarification from posters as to what grounds they believe they have a justified claim.

I do believe that the T.O.'s were negligent in continuing to fly passengers to points clearly lying in the path of the hurricane upto the day before it struck. However, if I had been booked on those flights I would have sought a cancellation - with of course a full refund. If it can be proven that T.O.'s were asked bt passengers for a canx. with refund and the T.O. refused outright then you've a pretty good case against them.

However, if it can be proved that the T.O. was prepared to cancel with refund then those clients not accepting that option carry much of the burden for the position they find themselves in.

Regarding the hope that you will recover 100-150% of the holiday cost, you will of course need to pay probably 33.3% of the award to the legal guys - plus v.a.t. - that's almost 40%. There may also be disbursements to pay.

As fwh states, the winners will be the legal profession. I would have thought that providing you can find the T.O. to be blameworthy and you can quantify the number of days of your holiday where you did not spend time in the hotel booked (i.e. you were in a shelter) then the 1992 Package Tour regs. should permit you to recover the number of days lost times the total cost of the holiday divided by the number of days booked.

i.e. you book a 14 night hol., you spend only 8 in resort you claim 6/14ths of the TOTAL holiday cost - you might also claim £50 per pax for distress, inconvenience etc. etc.

I'd use the services of a private solicitor expert in the travel field rather than join a 'class action'. You then have a little more control and direction over matters, as it correct when ultimately you are paying for that service. I'd ring Ros Fernihough.

Mike

I find it hard to believe that a claim was made that you could claim 100%-150% of the total holiday cost. Unless somebody was injured or died the most you will get back is what has been explained in the previous post by MikeCunliffe.

Most No Win-No Fee claims are also backed with an insurance policy, e.g. you have to pay upfront an insurance fee to cover the event that the case is not won. Is this the case for the poster trying this route?

Mark

I do believe that the T.O.'s were negligent in continuing to fly passengers to points clearly lying in the path of the hurricane upto the day before it struck. However, if I had been booked on those flights I would have sought a cancellation - with of course a full refund. If it can be proven that T.O.'s were asked bt passengers for a canx. with refund and the T.O. refused outright then you've a pretty good case against them.

In answer to Mike's point, we were due to fly to Cancun the day before Emily, not Wilma. We asked to cancel (First Choice) as the Mexican authorities were advising against travel. First Choice refused as our Foreign Office were not advising this. First Choice's argument was that hurricanes often changed course and Cancun had not been hit in July in the last 150 years. Knowing nothing about hurricanes we enquired what would happen if we were hit. We were told the staff knew what to do and we would be in no danger. Rightly or wrongly we decided to go.

My point is that there was no option of either cancelling or changing our holiday. We were told this was high season and everywhere else was booked. We were a family of 4 and we spent about five and a half thousand with First Choice. We consider we were not looked after well but are not sueing for compensation. We accepted some money back for unused accommodation. This was for only 10 nights despite us having only 1 night in our hotel room. First Choice argued that we are only due a refund for nights after we left Mexico, whatever our conditions were as these were the best available in the circumstances. I had it confirmed by a lawyer that legally they are correct in this.

Good luck to those of you who are taking legal action. I hope you succeed.
Bridd

Hi Mike

.As the original poster of this topic i would like to update you with my personal account .At this moment in time i have accepted the paltry offer of £332 on the grounds that Ros Fernihough's staff informed me that I didnt have a chance of getting a full refund .The £332 was 40% of the unused hotel accomodation cost .The 40% is set by ABTA and the tour operators will not budge on that They have you over a barrel.as for my Tour Operator i wont be using them again they where diabolical ...

Seasons Greetings Stevie..

Watch Tonight with Trever Mc Donald on 6 Jan 06 - they are doing a programme on holiday compensation and Hurricane Wilma is being covered.

Also I would like to point out that we have not been asked to pay anything.
This is the Solicior for Package Holiday Undercover on ITV.

Any costs will be claimed back in addition to the compensation paid.

I know it sounds too good to be true but tonight with Trevor McDonald has advised me to contact them and I do trust them.

This culture we are developing in our Country of looking for someone else to blame and sue is getting out of hand.

Surely a hurricane is an act of God? If you travel in a period when hurricane activity is likely - that must be a risk you take when booking the holiday

Traveller & MikeCunliffe , you like other people on this board who were not affected by wilma, fail to understand what we are complaining about.

I know a TO cannot help the weather. What they can do is be prepared and have procedures in place to deal with hurricanes. All of the people I have spoken to who were affected by Wilma agreed, the reps were not equipped to deal with this situation.

I know a TO cannot help the weather. What they can do is be prepared and have procedures in place to deal with hurricanes. All of the people I have spoken to who were affected by Wilma agreed, the reps were not equipped to deal with this situation.

And of course ALL the people effected were experts in what should and should not have been done. They ALL acted in a correct manner. NONE of them were in the least bit fazed. NONE of them might be wrong in any way. It was only the reps who did not know what they were doing. Another example of the blame culture. It is always someone else who was at fault. I am still waiting for someone to admit that they may have been wrong to book a holiday at that time. Problem is that people always think that these things will only happen to someone else. When it happens to them they cannot admit that just possibly they may have made a mistake.

fwh

fwh

Why do you feel so strongly about something which doesn't involve you?

You sound as though you don't want these people with very valid claims to get the compensation they are entitled to!

Why?

It's not the old 'green-eyed monster' syndrome again, is it?

As I said before......it's not your problem. You were not involved, so why knock their case? You have not lost money...they have !!

I think the problem is that everyone has the money sign in their minds. It is you who think they have a valid claim. Anyone who dares suggest otherwise is wrong. I have already stated I would not put myself in the position that they found themselves in. I am also grown up enough to recognise when I may have contributed to a problem. As I have said it looks like everyone is blaming someone else. That is typical of society these days. Nobody is willing to accept responsibility for their actions. You say it is not my problem. No, but I am allowed to have an opinion. If you post on a topic such as this you cannot expect everyone to agree with you, or can you?

fwh