Each year, millions of tourists from around the world come to BC to enjoy its cities, coastlines, mountains, and other attractions. If a traveller is injured and requires medical attention while on vacation, travel insurance often covers emergency expenses. This is crucial, as visitors are not eligible for the province’s Medical Services Plan. While travel insurance helps with some of the immediate costs, an injury can have consequences that extend well beyond the end of a trip; a vacation may end long before someone fully recovers from an injury.
If another party is legally responsible for causing the injury, pursuing a personal injury claim may be an important consideration, particularly when ongoing losses and expenses are not covered by travel insurance.
Travel Insurance and Injury-Related Expenses
Travel insurance covers certain expenses related to an injury or illness during a trip, though the specific benefits and limits depend on the policy. Medical coverage may include:
- Emergency treatment
- Hospital and physician expenses
- Prescription medication
- Emergency transportation
- Medical evacuation or repatriation
Travel insurance may also cover other costs arising from an unexpected injury, including trip interruption or other travel-related expenses. Some policies provide a limited period of coverage for follow-up treatment after a traveller returns home, but this varies significantly between plans. Ongoing physiotherapy, routine medical appointments, additional procedures, or other treatment after returning home may not be covered unless the policy specifically provides for it.
When You May Have a Personal Injury Claim
Rather than seeking benefits under an insurance policy, a personal injury claim is based on whether another party was legally responsible for causing the injury. For a tourist injured in BC, that could involve a hotel, resort, restaurant, tour operator, recreational facility, or other business or property owner.
Examples of situations that may give rise to a personal injury claim include:
- Injury caused by slipping on an improperly maintained hotel floor.
- Injury because of an unsafe staircase at a resort or short-term rental.
- Injury during a recreational activity because adequate safety precautions were not taken, even if a waiver was signed.
- Injury on a vessel due to poor maintenance or someone else’s reckless behaviour.
- Injury because a dangerous condition at an attraction was not reasonably addressed.
BC’s Occupiers’ Liability Act may be legally relevant for these accidents and others like them. This legislation requires property owners and those working on their behalf to take reasonable care to see that people on the premises are reasonably safe in the circumstances.
Injured tourists may want to consider filing a personal injury claim if the consequences of their injury continue after they go home. For instance, an injury could require ongoing medical treatment or rehabilitative care. Additionally, the injured party might need time away from work or be unable to return to their previous job. In more serious cases, an injury may permanently limit their ability to work or reduce their ability to earn income compared with before the injury.
These ongoing medical and financial consequences can result in losses that travel insurance does not cover, making a personal injury claim an important consideration if another party appears to be responsible to some degree.
Pursuing a Personal Injury Claim From Outside BC
You do not need to be a resident of BC or another Canadian province to pursue a personal injury claim. There are a few things to keep in mind if you decide to file a claim. The interaction between travel insurance and a personal injury claim can depend on the type of insurance benefit, the terms of the policy, and applicable BC law. If a travel insurer has paid expenses related to the injury, the insurer may be able to recover those amounts from the party responsible for the injury.
A personal injury lawyer can assess the circumstances of the injury and the resulting losses, including:
- How the injury occurred
- Who owned or operated the property or activity
- Whether someone owed the traveller a duty of care
- Whether that duty was breached
- Whether the breach caused the injury
- What losses resulted from the injury
- Whether the traveller’s insurance creates any issues for the claim
- What evidence is available
Under the Limitation Act, the basic limitation period for a claim is generally two years from the day the claim is discovered or when the victim knew or reasonably ought to have known that an injury or loss occurred.
How Stephens & Holman Can Help
Stephens & Holman helps tourists injured in BC understand legal options and determine if they have a claim. Our lawyers can assess the circumstances of the injury, identify potentially responsible parties, consider the losses arising from the injury, and address how travel insurance may factor into the claim.
Even if you have already returned to your home country, you may still be able to pursue a claim arising from an injury in BC. If you were injured while visiting British Columbia and believe someone else may be responsible, Stephens & Holman can help you understand your options and the steps involved in pursuing a personal injury claim.