Sad news and in need of advice

Me and my OH went to a dry slope for the first time last Saturday, unfortunately on her first run she fell over and broke her wrist in two places. :( I carried on with my lesson and fell over too without hurting myself. At the time the instructor wanted her to carry on the lesson and because she felt that she could recover quickly we have booked a private lesson for next saturday morning so she could catch up, and then she would join in the course later in the day. However yesterday afternoon her wrist showed some bruising and we decided to go the hospital where she got an x-ray taken and her arm plastered, and will now be imobilized for 6 weeks at least, she's now put off skiing for life, and very concern that it might affect her ability to work, she's a dentist and her work is all done with her right hand (the one she broke).

I'll be using the money we didn't spent on the dry slope on lessons for me although I have already cancelled my holidays and we are trying to change it to a summer holiday. If i didn't use the money the dry slope would charge me 15% on cancellation fees.

Now we have an issue and I'l like if someone could help, she fell over on her first run on her first lesson while we were with the instructor. The disclaimer below can be found on the dry slope booklet, but I'm assuming that the instructor has some sort of insurance to cover her hospital fees and so on...am I right in thinking that?

"......Accepts no claim for injuries whilst on the centre facilities..."

Where I can accept this the case if you are using the recreational facilities I disagree that this is the case if you are learning.

Any opinions please?

You need to speak to a lawyer. Of course the instructor has public liability insurance on part of whatever body they are a member of, CSIA for example covers me publicly (only at ski schools recognised by them) and I believe BASI has similar insurance.

Do you really think it is the instructors fault that your wife was injured or that he should be liable in any way for it? Why were there hospital fees? I understand it is bad that she is hurt but it could have happened just as easily when skiing on your own.

Why does everything have to be somebodies fault? I am very sorry for your wife and hope it wont interfere with her work but surely you need your own insurance to cover your own risks. Maybe your own personal insurance might cover this. Have a look at the small print.

Ross is correct.

Legally it's concerning volenti non fit injuria (Latin: "to a willing person, no injury is done" or "no injury is done to a person who consents") which is a common law principle. It's not a risk free activity and this level of injury is consistent with the rough and tumble you might expect with skiing. That said current case law suggests this isn't a total defence in some cases and you can claim contributory negligence. I really don't think you're likely to make that stick. You'd need to argue that the possibility of minor injury wasn't foreseeable and that doesn't seem entirely likely or that the instructor took you onto a black slope etc., you get the drift I'm sure. It's a question you can ask yourself, should the instructor have done something different? I don't know but I'm assuming the centre don't even know it was a break so they may be sympathetic given a chance.

A letter to the centre should get your money back without too much drama I'd think provided you don't start making legal threats just as goodwill.

You could try citizens advice bureau (does it still exist?) for a better opinion of course.

Karen Teare wrote:Why does everything have to be somebodies fault? I am very sorry for your wife and hope it wont interfere with her work but surely you need your own insurance to cover your own risks. Maybe your own personal insurance might cover this. Have a look at the small print.

don't go there :) I know this mood music is in all the tabloids but we all need to be more critical about just who sets this agenda and what their goals are. There's a lobby made up of insurance companies and commercial interests who would prefer not to be held liable for anything that happens. Without the rights you have in the UK you could be crippled carrying out your work and your employer and their insurer could just walk off leaving you unable to work with no recourse to anyone. You should be proud of the balancing act the UK system performs and not swallow the propaganda of those determined to undermine it.

That said, the ad's on TV are just horrible :cry:

Very sorry to hear your news David. Hope she has a good recovery. The degree of liability of centres and instructors in adventure sports is always contentious and people have strong opinions. Generally an instructor must deviate from industry standards to be negligent.

Do any ski instruction programs teach people to fall as part of a beginner lesson ? I know the incidence of arm injuries is higher in snowboarding, but practicing falling safely is standard for boarders.

Trencher

CSIA touches on it. Try not to resist and "everyone falls" are the underpinnings I guess, any advice given on how to fall could leave yourself wide open to liability-"He told how to fall, I did it his way and broke my wrist".

Trencher wrote:Very sorry to hear your news David. Hope she has a good recovery. The degree of liability of centres and instructors in adventure sports is always contentious and people have strong opinions. Generally an instructor must deviate from industry standards to be negligent.

That's exactly right for minor injuries like this. If for example there were a fatality then those standards are reviewed and it's how the industry evolves in essence. So you can get a situation where something the provider does isn't negligent at that time but that later review sees can be improved, so the next person that kills someone doing the same thing would be liable.