The owners of a hotel in the Aberdeenshire village of Auchenblae in Scotland could be forced to pay out a six-figure sum in compensation to a woman who was injured in an explosion on the premises in 2009.
Danielle Ormond, who was a barmaid at the Drumtochty Arms at the time of the January 2009 explosion, is pursuing a compensation claim against the hotel’s owners and a gas contractor who was also on the premises when the blast took place. Ms Ormond, who suffered serious neck, back and lung injuries as a result of the incident, was one of three people hurt in the explosion.
A hearing is now to take place at Edinburgh’s Court of Session to decide whether Ms Ormond can continue with her claim. If the case goes ahead, it is expected to be heard at some point in 2014. If Ms Ormond is successful in proving that the hotel owners or the gas contractor could have prevented the accident or somehow contributed to causing it, she could potentially millions in compensation.
In order to cover such a huge sum in damages, the losing parties will need to rely quite heavily on employers’ liability insurance policies.