Accidents serious enough to cause head, brain and spinal injuries can happen on holiday and the impact on both the injured person and their family can be enormous. Care and rehabilitation needs are frequently very significant and it is the substantial cost of future care that often leads Penningtons Manches Cooper’s clients to pursue catastrophic injury claims.

Expert catastrophic holiday injury solicitors

It is important that any claim is handled by personal injury lawyers with genuine experience of foreign catastrophic injury claims. Penningtons Manches Cooper’s travel law team is one of the leading teams in the UK and provides legal assistance for accidents, injuries and medical treatment claims abroad. For catastrophic injury claims, we share knowledge and expertise with our highly rated personal injury and medical negligence teams to offer a totally integrated service. We also work closely with the deputies in our Court of Protection team, who manage our clients’ funds if they do not have capacity to do so.

Every case is different and we always tailor our advice to each client’s specific requirements. We will advise you if your claim can be brought in the UK or if it could be better pursued in the country where your accident occurred. We seek to achieve the best possible outcome for you, not only financially but also to meet your longer-term medical and other needs. We encourage defendants to meet these needs at the earliest possible stage and to provide interim payments to fund your rehabilitation where appropriate.

The primary need at the outset is usually to maximise physical recovery as far as possible through proper rehabilitation. We have particular expertise in head, brain and spinal injury claims and are familiar with working with case managers, obtaining funding and making provision for the recruitment of care teams, purchasing and adaptation of suitable accommodation and setting up support and therapy packages.

Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP’s PI offering… is well-placed to advise clients on the entire scope of complex matters, including representing claimants who have suffered severe and life-changing injuries.

Legal 500

Our lawyers understand the cognitive and behavioural issues and rehabilitation needs that can result from brain injury as well as the psychological impact on clients and their families. We are recommended by ASPIRE, which provides practical help to people who have been paralysed by spinal cord injury, and listed in the brain injury charity Headway’s Head Injury Solicitors Directory, as well as being accredited by the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL). Members of the team are senior accredited litigators with APIL and on the Law Society recommended personal injury lawyers panel.

We are signatories to the Serious Injury Guide, which encourages a higher level of collaboration and engagement between claimant and defendant lawyers and insurers on claims valued in excess of £250,000. We are also an established member of the Brain Injury Group which provides access to a range of services to facilitate early and proactive rehabilitation and offers a fully integrated support network to our clients and their families.

How we help our clients

Advice on serious injuries sustained in accidents abroad

Jurisdiction assessment to determine where to bring the claim

Funding through interim payments for urgent care and rehabilitation

Coordination of long-term care, housing, and therapy support

Support from Court of Protection specialists for clients lacking capacity

Compensation to meet lifelong medical, financial, and emotional needs

Useful resources

Recent work highlights

Damages following French motorway crash

Negotiating a settlement of £14.5 million on behalf of a protected party for catastrophic injuries caused by a road accident in France, thought to be one of the highest ever French law awards approved by an English court.

Pedestrian crossing accident in Belgium

Achieving an overall settlement figure of approximately €1.5 million plus costs for our client who was hit on a pedestrian crossing in Belgium by a driver who jumped a red light. The motorist received a criminal conviction.

Transatlantic focus for product liability claim

Reaching a settlement for a British woman who suffered a serious spinal cord injury resulting in permanent paralysis after using an alleged defective product while staying in the US, working in conjunction with a San Francisco based lawyer.

Interim award after cycling accident

Representing a brain-injured cyclist who was struck by a car in France. After her discharge from hospital, we secured an interim payment of €100,000 to support her rehabilitation. She is unlikely to return to her career as a nurse and requires long-term care.

Life-altering injury to British traveller

Securing a seven-figure settlement for an elderly British man who was paralysed after being hit by a car in Bruges. The claim involved international coordination, High Court proceedings, interim care funding, and full reimbursement to his travel insurer.

German motorcycling accident liability win

Securing a 100% liability judgment and compensation for a motorcyclist who sustained multiple injuries in a collision with a car while on holiday in the Black Forest. The case presented numerous hurdles as the defendant car driver denied he was at fault.

Case studies

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