Bed Bug Liability: Free Advice!

Questioner

Hello, During a long stay in a lodge tent our children were bitten. We thought it was mosquitoes. After returning home the bites continued to itch, which indicates something other than mosquitoes. After gathering information about bugs and bites, we suspected bed bug bites. Especially after I recognized the bug in the picture that I saw crawling in the car near the suitcases... I immediately informed the accommodation in a friendly manner, with an eye to future holidaymakers. Great response from them that they were going to inspect the tent. A few days later new fresh bites on our youngest daughter. Her bed was inspected immediately and unfortunately there were indications of the presence of bed bugs. Professional pest control company was invited and they confirmed. The proposal is to treat the entire house for EUR 3000! We want to try something ourselves first, since the problem is hopefully still very limited. We have now treated the entire top floor with a powerful steam cleaner (purchased for this purpose for EUR 400) and must therefore wait and see. In the meantime, the accommodation denies that bed bugs were found in the tent. What are the possibilities to hold them responsible? Is there a case law for such cases? We can live with the costs and inconvenience incurred now, but we fear the possible problems in the future... Because if it turns out that our treatment has not been sufficient, we will have to opt for the more expensive professional solution. Thank you in advance and kind regards

Lawyer

You could hold the accommodation liable for the damage you suffered, if you can prove that the bedbugs in your home and therefore also the damage were caused by the presence of bedbugs in the lodge tent. This seems very difficult to me, especially now that the accommodation denies the presence of bedbugs in the lodge tent.

Lawyer

Do you have any evidence, witnesses, photos, emails? If not, I know ways to get them. Only with enough evidence that demonstrates the causal connection, it makes sense to hold the other party liable. I am happy to help you with this. Feel free to contact me without obligation.

Lawyer

The success of being able to recover the costs depends on the evidence. And that is not an easy task. You not only have to make it plausible that the bedbugs were present in the lodge, but also that the bedbugs in your own home came from the lodge. Sometimes it is useful to look at forums on the internet. You may come across others there who have also had problems with bedbugs in this lodge. If these are others who have been in the lodge or in the park in the same period as you, then that is an indication. Whether it is ultimately sufficient in your situation is unfortunately not possible to indicate.

Lawyer

I completely agree with the above answer, that it will be very difficult to prove the causal connection in this case. Or the other way around, that there were no bedbugs in your house prior to the holiday period. Incidentally, that is separate from the possibility of obtaining compensation in a legal procedure, but a lawsuit, no. You can contact me directly if you want help with drawing up a liability letter.

Lawyer

In addition, I would like to point out that it is a coincidence that there are several issues about bed bugs in my practice at the moment. Perhaps it concerns the same accommodation and you can strengthen each other's case with this.