A judge at the Dublin High Court has awarded a man more than €40,000 compensation for a sunbed accident on holiday after ruling that the accident was “foreseeable”.
Seventy-two year old Vincent Reid from Lisburn in County Antrim was enjoying the fourth day of a week´s package holiday at the Hotel Savoy Palace in Lake Garda, Italy, when on August 29th 2012 he sat on a sunbed by the pools with the intention of reading his newspaper.
As Vincent leaned back on the sunbed, the arm mechanism caught the middle finger of his right hand and sliced the top of the finger off. Vincent received emergency treatment at a local hospital in Lake Garda and his finger remained in a splint for twelve weeks after his return home.
As the package holiday in Italy had been booked through the Dublin travel company Topflight Ltd, Vincent claimed compensation for a sunbed accident on holiday through the Injuries Board. Topflight Ltd denied that it was liable for Vincent´s accident as the collapse of the sunbed could not have been foreseen.
As the Injuries Board was unable to assess Vincent´s claim for compensation for a sunbed accident on holiday, he was issued with an authorisation to pursue his claim through the courts, and last week his case came before Mr Justice Michael Hanna at the High Court in Dublin.
At the hearing, it was explained to Judge Hanna that the arm mechanism on the poolside sunbed should have been locked into place before Vincent leaned back on it. The judge also heard that a similar accident had occurred to another Irish guest at the resort just a few days earlier.
Judge Hanna dismissed the travel company´s defence that Vincent´s accident could not have been foreseen because the fact that the sunbed would collapse if the arm mechanisms were not fully engaged must have been known to the staff at the resort.
As organisers of the holiday package, Judge Hanna found Topflight Ltd in breach of the Package Holidays and Travel Trade Act of 1995. After hearing that Vincent still had pain and limited movement in his middle right-hand finger which prevented him from pursuing his hobbies of gardening and DIY, the judge awarded him €40,796 compensation for a sunbed accident on holiday.