Travel accidents · Overseas travel
An injury overseas is usually decided under the law of the country where it happened, including its time limits. If an Australian business sold you the trip, you may also be able to claim here.
Time limits · Australian and overseas law
Overseas deadlines vary and can be short. Road crashes may also require early police or insurer reports. See the claim rules below.
Which rules apply
Hurt on a trip, package or activity an Australian business sold you.
Booked straight with an overseas hotel, tour or transport company.
As a driver, passenger or pedestrian, in a hire car, taxi, ride-share or bus.
Connections
An overseas injury can involve more than one business. We work out which of them to claim against, and where.
How it happened
Most overseas travel claims start in one of these places.
Pool decks, bathrooms, balconies and stairs.
A crash or fall on a tour, coach or transfer.
As a driver, passenger or pedestrian, in a hire car, taxi or ride-share.
Skydiving, diving, quad bikes and other activities you booked.
Illness that can be traced to a hotel, restaurant or tour.
Check-in
Baggage claim
How damages are assessed depends on which law applies and where the claim is brought.
Now boarding
In order, from the first call to court if it’s needed.
Costs
You don’t pay our professional fees if your claim is unsuccessful.
If your claim succeeds, outlays are repaid from your settlement at cost. If your claim does not succeed, we absorb those outlays unless you have agreed to pay them under your client agreement.
If court proceedings start, you may have to contribute to the other party’s costs. Your written client agreement sets out any protection we provide.
We explain this in writing before you sign, and again in detail before any proceedings are commenced.
Fully transparent charges
Our professional fees are calculated according to an agreed scale that sets out the charge for each type of work performed — not as a percentage of your settlement.
Out-of-pocket case expenses such as court filing fees, barrister fees and expert reports are charged at cost, with no loading.
Our fee structure is transparent and clearly specified in your written client agreement.
In some cases, an uplift or success fee applies to reflect the risk we take in conducting your claim on a no win, no fee* basis. Any uplift fee is explained and set out in your written client agreement before you sign.
You decide whether to go ahead once you know your options and the likely costs.
Fees and outlays are set out in a client agreement before we start.
Information desk
Sometimes. If an Australian business sold you the trip, package or activity, you may be able to claim against it here. A claim against an overseas business is usually decided under the law of that country, including its time limits.
Check local deadlines. Time limits depend on the country and claim route. An Australian seller does not guarantee three years; ask us to check promptly.
Local law and local insurance rules decide who pays, and there are often reporting steps. Get a police report and the other driver’s insurance details.
Travel insurance may pay some costs, such as medical bills or getting home. A claim against whoever was responsible is separate, although your insurer may be entitled to recover what it paid.
Sometimes. Where the claim has to be run there, we can work with local lawyers while you deal with us.
Medical reports, receipts, your booking and who sold it, photos, the police or incident report, and the names of anyone who saw it.
What you can claim after an accident overseas — flights, transfers, tours and hotels each answer to a different set of rules.
What an Australian tour operator owes you when something goes wrong abroad, and when their responsibility extends to a supplier’s failure.
What travel insurance pays for and what it does not, and how an insurance claim sits alongside a claim against whoever caused the injury.
Overseas time limits can be as short as 1 year. Talk to a lawyer now. There’s no obligation to go ahead.
General information only, not legal advice about your situation. You don’t pay our professional fees if your claim is unsuccessful. If your claim succeeds, outlays are repaid from your settlement at cost. If your claim does not succeed, we absorb those outlays unless you have agreed to pay them under your client agreement. If court proceedings start, you may have to contribute to the other party’s costs. Your written client agreement sets out any protection we provide. We explain this in writing before you sign, and again in detail before any proceedings are commenced.
