Injured holidaymaker sues solicitors over failed Sri Lanka claim

Claire Saywell is suing her former solicitors, Slater and Gordon UK, after her personal injury claim against Tui was struck out. The firm admits it failed to serve the claim form correctly, but disputes that this caused her a loss, arguing that her original case was unlikely to succeed.

Saywell was injured in February 2017 when a roughly 25 to 30-metre palm tree fell on her at a resort in Waikkal, Sri Lanka. She has undergone about 10 operations, has continuing pain and disabilities, and gave up her job. Her barrister says an arborist found that a spike and concrete driven into the tree had caused rot, and that a sound tree would not normally fall in high winds; the former solicitors say the fall was a natural disaster. The reported £4.5 million figure concerns the compensation claim she says she lost the chance to pursue.