Travel Package win for Rob Weir QC in Supreme Court
In X v Kuoni Travel Ltd [2021] UKSC 37, Mrs X went on a package holiday abroad. A maintenance engineer offered to show her a short cut to reception and thereby lured her into a room where he raped and assaulted her. Her claim for damages against the tour operator, having been dismissed at first instance and in the Court of Appeal was finally allowed by the Supreme Court, after a detour to the CJEU.
The Supreme Court (judgment of Lord Lloyd Jones) accepted that it was an integral part of the holiday contract that staff provide guests with help and guidance and that the maintenance engineer’s conduct constituted a failure to perform the guiding service under the contract with reasonable care and skill. Regulation 15(2) of the Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992 did not avail the defendant of a defence because the failure to perform the contractual obligations was the result of acts of an employee of a supplier of services performing those obligations.
This is the first occasion on which the Supreme Court has had to consider the 1992 Regulations, which are designed to provide heightened consumer protection.
Accordingly, there was a breach of contract and liability under the 1992 Regulations and the claimant was entitled to her damages.
Rob Weir QC acted with Katherine Deal QC for Mrs X, instructed by Phil Banks and James Riley of Irwin Mitchell (Birmingham).
To read the full judgment, please click here.
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