Advice / Guidance Fall - Hotel

2012paddy2012

My dear mother 78 fell over a carpet that was covering a hole , which you could not see , recently in a hotel. The carpet was not fitted properly and it was a dangerous hazard.
She fell and caused damaged to her hip. A very long wait for an ambulance and 2 days in hospital(corridor A/E , the usual) A number of people who saw the incident are were shocked had the presence of mind to take a few photographs of the carpet area.

She is now in a wheelchair and has to force herself to use a walking frame.
The shocking thing is when it was reported to reception/management , they knew where the hazard was immediately , indicating that they were aware and had failed to carry out repairs. This is unacceptable.

An active woman who was always out and about and very sociable is now house bound and in 24/7 pain , difficulty moving around , eating etc.

My father (who himself has to be careful as he has some medical issues) is now also deprived of any quality of life for a minimum of 2 months or more subject to medical advice. Its shocking for me to witness my elderly parents suffering dreadfully due to the negligence of this hotel.

Management were unhelpful initially. I think now realising the significance of my mothers dreadful pain and injury are stating to become concerned(it is a matter of conjecture however from the way they are speaking , it could be the case they are coming from a damage limitation viewpoint on guidance of legal advice themselves).

My PARENTS ARE "OLD SCHOOL" decent people and would not be into the "compo culture" that is now the standard of today.

How and ever by the time this all sorted (it is by no means a certainly that my mother will recover to enjoy life as she prior to this incident) there will be quite substantial medical expenses having been paid out by them.

My query is , I am not overly Au Fait with PIAB , other than googling about it but I wonder is that PIAB procedure generally perceived as fair and has it teeth to issue judgement/ awards to injured parties , with fast reimbursement of any award made.

Lastly , the Hotel is being run by a manager than intends to buy it , and seems to be trying to ensure the matter is tidied up without undue delay.

A concern to me is , could the present owner fob off any claim to a new owner? I presume that public liability insurance must be in place for hotels and places of entertainment , and if so , is this a statutory requirement and if so is the insurance particulars available to the public to see?

At the back of mind is , although the hotel management , is in communication with my father , there is no issue there , how that will eventually pan out who knows , I feel that it would be better to establish who the hotel has the insurance with. When that information is established , then the insurance company could be put on notice that this incident occurred and that medical expenses will be sought in due course when it is known , which indeed could take some considerable time.

Any advice or guidance would be appreciated.

Just to say that , yes , initial legal advice has been sought. In a nut shell that it let it run and see , there is no panic at this stage.
I wonder is that good enough. I think tying it down a bit better in particular to the insurance provider , would be no harm.

Thanks
Paddy

billcullen1

If legal advice has been sought maybe that's Best

hullaballoo

If you are the first to reply to a thread, particularly one with a lengthy OP, please do not quote the post.

And if you really have to, please at least parse it correctly.

Eggs For Dinner

Just on the insurance side of things. Public Liability insurance is not compulsory, though any business would be foolish to operate without it. The business does not have to disclose who their insurer is and your legal representative and/or PIAB will direct any action directly to the hotel. At that stage, the hotel will pass the matter to insurers to handle going forward

To be clear about PIAB, they assess the monetary value of the injury. They do not decide liability. Either party is free to refuse to accept the assessment

nuac

Mod
Sorry, legal advice not given here. See a solicitor re issues raised
Subject to forum rules will leave open for now for discussion

coylemj

hullaballoo wrote: »

If you are the first to reply to a thread, particularly one with a lengthy OP, please do not quote the post.

More of this please, it's only the second time I've seen a mod do it. Should be wall to wall forum to forum boards policy.

Really irritates me, especially when someone creates a thread which includes a large photo in the first post and the first responder presses the quote button.

Example......

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057965217

Mr. Incognito

Latent Defect.

Seems like a fairly open and shut case if what you say is true.

Your solicitor should be able to advise you.

NUTLEY BOY

Staying intra-charter on general principles.

Hotels owe a duty of care to visitors.
If there is a premises defect leading directly to an injury liability usually attaches to the hotel.

The question about a claim being fobbed off to a new owner is posed.
That issue does not really matter as the injured party's right of action is against the negligent entity.

The preceding point might assume relevance if the current hotel was to cease trading in the ownership of the present owner.
If that happens additional considerations arise especially as far as involving the public liability insurers goes.

I would prefer not to see OP's husband dealing with the hotel directly.
Strictly speaking, this is a matter for the injured party herself.
Best of all, the injured party should be consulting a solicitor to deal with this matter. BTW most solicitors will do "house calls" and see OP's mother at home.