Travel Law

We handle a wide variety of cases, including:

• Package travel claims
• Vehicle accidents abroad (including those involving the MIB or overseas equivalent)
• Direct claims against insurers arising out of accidents abroad
• Catastrophic injury claims with a multi-jurisdictional aspect
• Claims arising in the course of carriage by sea involving the Athens Convention
• Sporting claims (including skiing and boating)

We act in group and class actions with a foreign element (including product liability and multiple victim accidents), subrogated or assigned claims by European social security providers and insurers arising from a personal injury claim, and contribution and contractual indemnity claims for and against suppliers of services to consumers abroad.

Our work often crosses over with our other specialisms, such as clinical negligence, product liability, commercial, and sports law.

We are also experts in aviation claims, including personal injury actions arising in the course of carriage by air under the Montreal Convention and liability arising from aircraft crashes. Members have acted in proceedings arising from a Puma helicopter crash at Catterick Barracks, an international commuter flight crash at Cork Airport, a light aircraft crash in the Republic of Congo, and a parachuting accident in California.

Recent travel law cases have included:

• Brownlie v FS Cairo (Nile Plaza) LLC, Supreme Court decision on the meaning of the tort gateway and the application of the “default rule” on proof of foreign law.
• Moreno v MIB, Supreme Court decision on the correct approach to the assessment of damages in a claim arising from a road traffic accident in Greece caused by an uninsured driver
• Cox v Ergo, Supreme Court decision on the correct approach to the assessment of damages in a fatal accident claim under German law.
• Johnson v Berentzen, concerned the scope of article 15(h) of Rome II and whether, for limitation purposes, the commencement of proceedings was determined by the lexi causae or lex fori.
• Herlihy v MoD, a claim arising from a spinal cord injury sustained on claim parachuting trip in California.
• ABC v AXA France, a claim under French law for £18m with 35 expert witnesses and application of French law.
• PQR v Generali Assurances, brain injury claim that settled for over £10m
• Marshall v MIB a leading case on the scope of Rome II article 4(3) of Rome II
• O’Loan v MIB and AIG Europe, an RTA in France involving an uninsured driver and issues under Article 4(3) of Rome II
• Dawes v DNB Livsforsikring ASA and ors, a direct damages claim against employers’ liability insurers under Norwegian insurance law.
• Whitehead v Clarity Travel and ors, a catastrophic claim on behalf of a couple involved in a serious road traffic accident in Mexico on their honeymoon.
• MXD, a claim on behalf of a Polish citizen who suffered serious brain damage in a traffic collision when he was working in the UK and has subsequently returned home to be cared for.
• Nizinski v XS Direct, a claim on behalf of a minor who suffered spinal injuries in a road traffic accident in Poland with a defendant insurer based in Gibraltar.
• Weir v Allsecur Deutchland, a catastrophic personal injury claim involving an RTA in Germany in 2018 to which German law applies.
• Hutchinson v MAPFRE and Ocean Beach Club, a spinal cord claim that raised issues concerning joinder of an insured into proceedings

We are actively involved in Pan-European Organisation of Personal Injury Lawyers (PEOPIL), Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL), and the American Bar Association.

Various members of the team contribute to industry publications and are the authors of one of the leading textbooks in the field of travel law, the APIL Guide to Accidents Abroad.

Members are ranked in Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners both the UK and Global editions.

Please view our barrister profiles for ranking details on individuals.