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ABTA Personal Injury Mediation gives travellers a voiceABTA estimated that around 1.8 million people left the country on holiday this Easter - out of that number, some will have injured themselves - but whose fault is it and how can it be decided without a lengthy court battle? ABTA and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators have created an easier way for injured consumers to have their story heard and even claim compensation. London, Thursday 8 May '03 - The Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, (CIArb) are launching a new, low-cost personal injury mediation scheme for travel industry customers who have injured themselves during travelling. The personal injury (PI) procedure is expected to save both claimants
and defendants hundreds of thousands of pounds in litigation fees
as well as saving commercial reputation and time. This is the first
of its kind in the UK and the only form of PI mediation to be recommended
by ABTA. The new scheme is being launched in conjunction with a new commercial
mediation and arbitration scheme and the re-launch of the ABTA /
CIArb consumer arbitration scheme. The two initiatives are being
officially unveiled at a Travel Injuries seminar on 22nd May at
the Cavendish Conference centre sponsored by Hill Dickenson and
Euclidian. Allan Connarty, CIArb director of operations commented, "Every
year, thousands of disputes occur in the travel industry. Most don't
make it to court, but often it is - those that do - which create
the majority of bad feeling amongst consumers and reputational damage
to business. Our new mediation scheme tackles an issue that is potentially
the most damaging to reputations - injuries. Under the scheme, a
mediator will help the consumer and the company with their respective
advisers if they wish, to resolve their dispute in a private meeting,
usually in a day. This is an excellent way for both holiday makers
and Travel Agents to avoid unnecessary expense or intrusive publicity." "If consumers don't feel safe when travelling, they are simply
not going to travel, for example cancellations of holidays to the
Middle East during recent events reflect this, as do travel records
for holidays or journeys to the Far East following the outbreak
of the SARS disease." said Connarty ABTA's head of consumer affairs, Keith Richards explained the importance
of the PI Scheme in more detail; "Personal injury court cases
made by consumers against Travel Agents are rare for a variety of
reasons. Before this scheme, magistrate court proceedings were the
only way to make a claim, as 'small claims' limitations on PI cases
can only ever stretch to £1000 damages. When they did get
to court, there was no way of telling how long a case would go on
for, or who would be the happy party at the close of proceedings.
A case could cost either party literally tens of thousands of pounds
and that was before any judgement had been made. It's clear, the
alternatives to this mediation scheme are costly, lengthy and extremely
public." The CIArb will appoint independent mediators with experience of personal injury and illness disputes to assist users of the scheme to identify and resolve the issues of their case, thus helping them to create an agreed solution. All parties undertaking the mediation process will be aware of all costs (except potential compensation) before the process actually begins. For more information on the scheme, please contact Abby Jennings at the CIArb on 020 7421 7444. For attendance at the Personal Injury seminar on 22nd May, please contact Howard Evans, The Conference Business on 01444 416678. |
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