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Virgin Atlantic Flight Personal Injury Claims Guide – How To Claim Compensation For A Accident on a Virgin Atlantic Flight?

If you have been injured in a Virgin Atlantic flight accident, trust the personal injury lawyers and solicitors at Legal Expert to help you to make an airline accident claim for your injuries.

Virgin Atlantic flightFrom the moment that you board the plane, to the moment you step back off it, your airline (in this case Virgin Atlantic) is responsible for your safety, and thus any injuries which you sustain. This is set out in Article XVII of the 1999 Montreal Convention. This applies regardless of whether the airline or its staff caused your accident. For example, if a passenger put heavy items in the storage locker, didn’t close it properly and it fell on someone, the airline could be at fault if the storage locker was faulty.

In this guide we take you right through the process of being compensated for accidents, injuries, or illnesses on a flight.

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A Guide To Virgin Atlantic Flight Accident And Injury Claims

In this guide we are looking at how a personal injury lawyer can help you to make an airline accident claim, and specifically how and when you can make a Virgin Atlantic flight accident claim. However, first, let’s look at some more at air transport safety in the UK and airline injury compensation cases.

There are lots of different ways in which your airline could have caused you harm during a flight. Please read this guide to find out more.

What Is An Inflight Or Airline Accident?

We typically think that an airplane accident involves your plane careering to the ground. However, Virgin Atlantic accidents and incidents don’t have to be nearly as dramatic for your to have been harmed and be eligible to seek damages. In fact, in many cases of Virgin Atlantic accidents and incidents, the aircraft itself and other passengers will be fine.

Typically, inflight accidents might include any circumstances which is either unexpected, or unusual, which happens to the passenger, and which is external to them. It can not be something which is internal to the passenger, nor something which is expected in the aircrafts normal operation. For example, you could not make a Virgin Atlantic accident claim for suffering from Deep Vein Thrombosis, as this is a condition which people can often suffer.

Is My Accident, Injury, Or Illness Eligible For Compensation?

If you have suffered a Virgin Atlantic flight accident, injury, or illness in the last two years (depending on the legislation you will be claiming under), and your airline was to blame, you could make a personal injury claim for the harm suffered.

Your Rights When You Fly From The UK

There are multiple layers of protection for those booking, paying for, and taking flights to or from the UK. If you are taking an international flight, you will be protected by the Montreal Convention, explored below.

If your Virgin Atlantic flight was booked as part of a package holiday, you have additional protections under the UK’s 1992 Package Travel [Etc] Regulations. This means you could claim against the airline or the package tour provider.

This guide from the Civil Aviation Authority explores your airline passenger rights in more detail.

International Air Passenger Rights Under The Montreal Convention

Airplane accidents which have happened in international airspace, or outside the UK’s airspace will often be governed under an international agreement called the Montreal Convention of 1999. This is an international agreement which has been brought into law by signatory countries. It means victims of injuries on flights can make compensation claims in their own country, rather than abroad.

There is a different personal injury claims time limit under the convention, which is two years. If you are making a claim for your Virgin Atlantic flight accident through the Montreal Convention. If your accident happened whilst onboard the aircraft the airline (Virgin Atlantic) could be liable for your injuries if at fault.

What Air Accidents Or Injuries Can I Make A Claim For?

Having established personal injury claims time limits for airplane accident claims, and how you can make a claim, we will move on to looking at what sort of injuries you may be able to claim compensation for. Whilst there are many ways you could be harmed, some of the most common of these are listed here:

  • Scalds and burns,
  • Accidents involving disabled passengers,
  • Trolley accidents,
  • Overhead locker accidents,
  • Food Allergies,
  • Slips & falls,
  • Injuries caused by unexpected turbulence

Next we shall look at theses types of injury you could suffer in more detail.

Hot Drink And Food Burns And Scalds

The past few years have seen several reported cases of general airline passengers suffering  burns (such as tea burns and coffee burns) whilst on a plane. These can be caused by spillages from the service trolley, or a member of cabin crew accidently spilling hot foods or drinks onto a passenger. People can also suffer burns to the hands, face and mouth if a particular food or drink is served too hot, such as boiling hot coffee.

Injuries To Disabled Passengers

In the UK and the EU, disabled passengers have additional rights to ensure that they can freely use a plane as other passengers would, and that they are provided with the help needed. Airline crew must ensure that they take all the steps necessary to keep you safe during your flight. This may extend to ensuring that if you are a wheelchair user you can safely board and disembark the aircraft and store your chair during the flight. They may also have the duty of care to make sure that you are properly secured in your seat during the flight.

If the flights cabin crew did not ensure your safety, you could make an air accident claim for any injuries suffered. Find out more about disabled passenger rights in this PDF guide from the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

Aircraft Trolley And Service Cart Accidents

During takeoff and landing service carts or trolleys are securely stored. However, they are used throughout the flight to distribute foods, drinks, and items for sale. If they are not kept under control, breaks are not applied, or if they are used during turbulence, trolley accidents and injuries can happen to passengers or other staff members.

Impacts from trolley accidents could leave you with a broken bone or serious soft tissue injuries. To find out more about trolley accident claims, please contact our team today.

Airplane Passenger Slips, Falls, And Trips

Slip, trip, and fall airline accident claims can often be made as this type of accident is very commonly a preventable form of accident and injury. You could have slipped, tripped, or fallen over at any point during your flight, from the moment that you stepped onto the aircraft to the moment that you stepped off it. You could even have tripped up because the entrance or exit was not checked to be safe for people to enter or exit.

You may have tripped over because the flooring or carpets were damages, or during your flight you could have fallen over due to items protruding into the aisle. As long as it can clearly be show that the accident was the fault or responsibility of the airline crew, you could make a claim.

Injury Caused By Overhead Locker Luggage Falling On You

As airlines push to accommodate more passengers and their luggage in the main aircraft cabin, space has become a premium and the risk of being injured by luggage falling on your head from an overhead storage locker has increased. Passengers are trying to bring more luggage into the aircraft cabin with them to avoid higher charges for stowed luggage. If cabin crew do not ensure that all lockers are secured properly prior to take off or landing, they may come open and spill luggage into passengers below. This could cause serious head injuries if the luggage contains items such as bottles or other heavy objects.

Unexpected Turbulence

If you have been injured due to your aircraft encountering unexpected turbulence during a flight, such as your not being informed or warned about encountering turbulence you may be able to seek damages.

In order for you to make you claim for injuries suffered on an international flight, you just need to satisfy two criteria. The first is to show that you were travelling on an international flight (this will be clear on a Virgin Atlantic flight) and secondly that you were injured in an accident.

Virgin Atlantic Food Allergic Reaction or Food Poisoning Claims

There is never a good time to get food poisoning, but suffering food poisoning an an allergic reaction on a flight because of food or drink served to you by the airline could be one of the worst experiences that holidaymakers suffer. No matter whether this happened at the beginning or end of your trip, it could ruin your holiday. As is the case with all of these accident or injuries, food poisoning is preventable. This means you could well be able to make a compensation claim. This eligibility may also extend to having had an allergic reaction due to eating foods you informed the crew you were allergic to this could result in a allergic reaction injury and you could claim compensation.

If you become ill due to foods or drinks sold or provided by your airline on your flight, please contact our team today and find out if you qualify to make a claim.

Broken And Faulty Seat Injuries

There have been cases of airline passengers being injured because they have a faulty, damaged, or broken seat and successfully claiming compensation.

You could be hurt because your seat was faulty or damaged in some way, such as the above example, or because sharp edged were protruding into the seat space. If you informed the cabin crew and they did not take action to help you, you could be able to claim with one of our personal injury solicitors.

What Can My Virgin Atlantic Accident Claim Include Damages For?

There are two categories of damages which a personal injury claim, these are general damages and special damages. We will look more at general damages in more detail in the next section. The purpose of special damages are to compensate you for the wider financial impact of your injury.

The most common kinds of special damages your air accident claim could include are as follows, lost income and workplace benefits (such as contributions to a pension) , the cost of healthcare and care in the home, any other expenses of costs you have had to pay out for.

Lost income: if you had to take time off work without pay, or lost your job, or are not able to work, you could claim for lost earnings. At the same time, you could also claim for lost workplace benefits, such as contributions to your pension.
Healthcare: you may require healthcare at a private hospital, prescription medication, or care in the home. You may even need equipment, such as a wheelchair. All of these could be claimed for.

Make sure that you keep the receipts for any out of pocket expenses which you have had to meet, these will be necessary for your claim.

Virgin Atlantic In-Flight Accident Claims Calculator

As we have seen, there are many factors which can influence the amount that your air accident claim might be awarded. The highest of these figures can often be general damages for your physical (or psychological) injuries suffered. But, how much can you claim for these injuries?

Online you will find lots of personal injury claims calculators which claim to tell you how much your injury would be awarded if you make a claim with them. We will not say exactly how much you could claim, because until we have talked to you and found out the full extent of your injury and you have then been on your medical, we can not say what you definitely would be owed.

So, in this personal injury claim calculator below, we have included examples of some of the most common types of damages people claim for general personal injury claims, and the upper and lower limits currently in place for these. Your award is likely to fall somewhere between the two.

Edit
Type of accident Notes Settlement figures
Minor – ankle injury Up to £12,050 Minor ankle injury, could include soft tissue or bone damage.
Moderate – ankle injury £12,050 – £23,310 Moderate injuries include both soft tissue or bone injuries.
Serious – ankle injury £27,450 – £43,900 This level of compensation is awarded for the most serious accidents and injuries.
Punitive damages £1,000 – £275,000 These damages are awarded over and in excess of a claimant’s main loss. It is used as a punishment for the defendant.
Pain or suffering £1,000 up to £200,000 This award is based upon your individual case, and there is not a standard amount awarded.
Emotional or anguish Up to £3550 Award is calculated on your justified fear of dying.
Moderate – back injury £10,970 – £34,000 Moderate injuries include both soft tissue or bone injuries.
Severe – back injury £34,000 – £141,150 This could a spinal injury, or a broken back.
Loss of (previous) wages £5,000 – £500,000 Any salary, wages, or income lost. Awards can be higher than the maximum.
Death and fatal injury £12,500 to £300,000 Death and fatal injury

For a more detailed estimation of how much you could claim in compensation, please talk to our expert team today.

No Win No Fee Claims Against Virgin Atlantic Flights

You may have seen general no win, no fee personal injury claims advertised on the TV or across the web, but what does the phrase ‘no win no fee’ really mean to you as a claimant?

Put simply, if you need to make an airline injury compensation claim, working with a up front payment solicitor you may be expected to either pay part for their costs upfront, or you may be charged a very high hourly rate for their services. This means that however your case ends, you will have had to pay for their services, and if you don’t get any compensation for your Virgin Atlantic flight accident, you could be left out of pocket.

With a no win no fee solicitor, things work a little different. You work with a personal injury solicitor through what is called a ‘conditional fee agreement’. This sets out the terms and conditions under which the solicitor (or lawyer) will provide services to you. It will set out that the services you will receive, and what you will be expected to pay.

Under a no win no fee agreement, you will be able to prioritise getting better, over any financial worries that you may have.

How Our Holiday Accident Experts Can Help You

Before your choose a personal injury solicitor, lawyer, or a claims management company, you need to make sure that you are using the right team for your needs. Our team includes solicitors and legal experts who have years or even decades of experience in helping people to make personal injury claims for flight injury claims and other personal injury claims. Our panel of solicitors include people who have specialist experience in helping people to make claims for accidents or injuries on holiday.

Whatever inflight injuries on airplanes that you have suffered, we will always treat your case individually. We place the highest degree of care on getting you the best possible outcome and place your needs at the heart of what we do. Our experts are hard working and will always take the best possible care to get the right resolution for you.

When you talk to us you will speak to an expert who can advice you on the next steps to make your Virgin Atlantic flight accident claim.

Contact Us Today

If you have suffered a injury from a Virgin Atlantic flight accident, our team are here to help. We can help people to claim compensation for inflight injuries on airplanes. You can contact us today to get free and no obligation advice on how to make an airline accident claim.

Our team of holiday accident compensation specialists are here seven days a week to help. You can call us on 0800 073 8804, or send an email to our team on Office@LegalExpert.co.uk. You can also fill in our online enquiry form to the side of this article.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Additional Resources

This guide has provided you with much of the information you need to know in the event needing to make a personal injury claim for a Virgin Atlantic accident. We have however produced related guides to claims against an airline.

General Airline Accident Claims
In this guide we look at at how you can make a general airline accident claim, looking more generally, rather than at specific airlines.

Claims For Delayed Flight Compensation
If your flight has been delayed, or if you have been bumped from a flight and forced to take a later one by your airline, you could be eligible to claim compensation from the airline, such as Virgin Atlantic.

Useful External Organisations

The UK Civil Aviation Authority
Find out about resolving travel problems and issues with your airline in this guide from the UK Civil Aviation Authority.

Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB)
The AAIB is a UK Government organisation which investigates serious accidents and incidents in the UK aviation sector. Very serious accidents and incidents can be reported to the organisation.