ABTA plans mediation

The Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) has established the first mediation scheme catering for holidaymakers who suffer personal injuries, which has been a growing area of work for solicitors.

ABTA's personal injury and illness dispute resolution scheme, developed in association with the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, will give tourists on package tours - and those who book flights as a part of a package - the right to elect for mediation if they become involved in personal injury disputes on holiday.

The institute will offer a choice of arbitrators on its books to both parties to the dispute to enable them to choose the mediator.

Mediations will last for one day.

Fees will be set strictly according to value bands and are payable by both parties equally.

Claims worth 10,000 or less will cost 1,000 at most; claims worth between 500,000 and 1 million will cost 2,200, and claims worth in excess of 1 million will cost 2,800 (all costs are exclusive of VAT and disbursements).

Allan Connarty, the institute's director of operations, said: 'There is now a complete ADR chain for contracts, personal injury and business-to-business claims, all run by ABTA.'

He added: 'This is an excellent way for both holidaymakers and travel agents to avoid unnecessary expense or intrusive publicity.'

Jeremy Fleming