Court of Appeal - No compensation for pool accident
26 November 2007
Mr Evans had booked a holiday with tour operator Kosmar Villa
Holidays. He stayed with a group of friends at independently
managed holiday apartments in Corfu. Towards the end of his stay,
in the early hours of the morning, he dived into the shallow end of
the pool and hit his head on the bottom which resulted in serious
personal injury. Other guest were using the pool at the time and
there were two small "no diving signs" in the general area but
diving was in practice a regular occurrence.
Mr Evans claim against the tour operator was on the basis that
the hotel had been negligent and that, because of the Package
Travel Regulations, the tour operator was liable for the hotel's
negligence.
The Decision
The claim was rejected. The Court of Appeal held that the risk
of injury from diving into a pool was a risk of which Mr Evans
should have been aware. There was, therefore, no duty "to give [Mr
Evans] any warning about the risk of diving into the pool, let
alone to have better placed or more permanent signs than those
actually displayed ...".
Consequences for Hotel Operators
The decision does not change the fact that hotels do need to
take steps to alert guests of basic safety considerations in
relation to its pool and/or other facilities. It is significant
that, in this case, there were signs about diving, and that there
had not been any failure to comply with local regulations. If a
hotel operator wants to defeat a claim on the basis that the guest
has "voluntarily assumed a risk" it needs to demonstrate that it
has taken all reasonable steps to identify such risks.
Consequences for Hotel Franchisors
Hotel franchisors should ensure that the relevant hotel manuals
contain appropriate safety guidelines regarding pools and other
hotel facilities. It should also be checked that those guidelines
are complied with and implemented.
For further information, please contact Babette Märzheuser-Wood.