In our previous blog, we looked at knowing your rights and an employer’s duty of care when working abroad.
But if you are injured while working overseas and believe your employer is at fault, another set of questions quickly follows. Where can you bring a personal injury claim? Which country’s law applies? And how long do you have to take action?
Cross-border personal injury claims can be more complicated than claims arising entirely within the UK. Understanding which courts can hear your case and which country’s law applies is therefore an important starting point.
Where you can bring a personal injury claim after an injury abroad?
Cross-border claims can get complicated, but under UK rules you can generally bring a claim in the courts of the country where the defender (your employer) is domiciled, in the courts of the place where the harmful event occurred, or, in employment disputes, in the courts of the place where you habitually carry out your work.
If your employer is based in the UK, you can usually bring your claim here, regardless of where the injury happened. If your employer has no UK presence, enforcing any judgment could be trickier.
For someone who lives and normally works in the UK but temporarily works overseas, this can be an important distinction. The location of the accident is only one part of the picture when considering where a claim can be pursued.
It is also one reason why getting advice early can be useful. Before considering the strength of the underlying personal injury claim, it may first be necessary to establish which courts are able to deal with it.
Which country’s law applies to an injury suffered abroad?
Establishing where you can bring the claim is not necessarily the end of the jurisdiction question. You also need to consider which country’s law will govern the claim.
The Rome II Regulation, still part of UK law post-Brexit, governs which country's law applies to personal injury claims. The general rule is the law of the country where the damage occurred. There are two important exceptions:
- Where both parties are habitually resident in the same country at the time of the damage, that country's law applies (Article 4(2))
- Where the tort is manifestly more closely connected with another country, that country's law may apply (Article 4(3))
These exceptions can be particularly relevant to employees who are ordinarily based in the UK but are working overseas temporarily. If both you and your employer are based in the UK, English or Scots law will often apply even if you were injured in Spain or Portugal. You probably won't need a foreign legal system at all.
The key point is that the country in which the accident happened does not, by itself, always determine the law that will apply. The relationship between you and your employer, where you are both based and the wider circumstances of the incident can also matter.
How long do you have to make a personal injury claim in Scotland?
Once you have established where a claim can be brought and which law applies, there is another important issue to consider: the deadline for starting a claim. In Scotland, you generally have three years to bring a personal injury claim, running from the date of the injury or the date you first knew (or ought to have known) that the injury was attributable to your employer's act or omission.
That deadline can become particularly important in an overseas case because questions about jurisdiction and applicable law may need to be considered before the claim can progress.
The court can extend that deadline in exceptional circumstances, but don't bank on it. And if your case involves overseas elements, different time limits might apply depending on which law governs. Get legal advice promptly.
How Thorntons can help with an injury abroad claim
If you have been injured while working abroad and believe your employer may be at fault, our Personal Injury team can help you understand your options, including where a claim may be brought and which law could apply. Contact us to discuss your circumstances.
