If you had an Accident Abroad due to faulty workmanship you will need a Local Standards Report

If you have had an accident whilst on holiday abroad that was not your own fault, such as falling, due to a dangerous staircase or balcony you may be entitled to an award for damages. The expert lawyers in Giambrone & Partners personal injury team will be able to advise you.

In order to pursue damages you will need to establish who was responsible for the accident and why you believe the person or organisation was at fault. In order to do this you will need to be able to provide evidence of your claim. There are various steps you should take as soon as possible. 

• Ask any witnesses that are prepared to give evidence for their contact details
• Photograph the accident site, highlighting the areas that caused the accident from different angles
• Photograph and document your clothing and footwear to eliminate the suggestion that you were in part at fault through such things as unsuitable footwear.
• Write notes as soon as possible including everything related to the accident including alcohol consumption or lack of it.
• Ask witnesses to countersign your notes
• Inform the local police
• Ask emergency staff for their views on the accident
• Inform the British consulate

If your accident occurred in a restaurant, bar or hotel ask the manager for details of the company’s insurance and for the contact details of their legal advisors. If faulty equipment or the construction of the building led to the accident you will require a Local Standards Report. This report will set out the safety standards applicable to the country where your accident occurred. The safety standards vary from country to country and in some countries they are completely different to those in the United Kingdom. 

Accidents that occur abroad are judged on the basis of the safety standards common to the country in where the accident took place. If, for example, the safety standards in a country do not require toughened glass to be installed in glass doors and an accident occurs due to thinner glass there will be no liability. 

Alessandro Gravante, senior partner, commented “A Local Standards Report is most important to support a personal injury claim and should be commissioned at the earliest opportunity, in case there is any attempt to rectify any faulty workmanship, such as repairing a defective handrail” Alessandro further commented “ A Local Standards Report must be drafted by a recognised expert who is capable of outlining the statutory, regulatory or customary standards for the country concerned. The Report must be comprehensible and must consider all the legal ramifications with regard to the jurisdiction where the Report will be produced as evidence.

There are some rare circumstances where a Local Standards Report is not required, when the circumstances of the accidents “speak for themselves”

The personal injury lawyers at Giambrone & Partners are extremely experienced in a wide range of personal injury claims and will be able to steer you through the entire process. 

Alessandro Gravante is senior partner in the Palermo office. He has obtained the prestigious position of Avvocato Cassazionista which permits higher rights of audience before the Italian Supreme Courts and he regularly appears before all levels of civil and employment courts.

He has extensive expertise and regularly provides his expert legal opinion to foreign Courts and Authorities. Alessandro practices across a broad range of commercial law, litigation, and international commercial arbitration, including breaches of warranty, commercial contracts, insolvency, employment matters, professional negligence claims, and technical disputes.
 
He has regular involvement in the expert determination of UK Courts on Italian civil and commercial law; among others, he assisted the High Court of Justice in London – Family Division, the Court of Cook County, the Kingston Upon Thames County Court, the Winchester County Court, the Nottingham County Court and Birmingham County Court.

If you have had an accident abroad and would like to know more about claiming an award for damages, please click here.