Tourist, Injured During Blizzard, Deserves Compensation

A tourist, who along with 38 others got trapped in a blizzard on Langjökull glacier in January of 2020 during a snowmobile tour organized by Mountaineers of Iceland, has the right to receive compensation from the company’s liability insurance for injuries suffered during the trip, Morgunblaðið reports. This is stated in a 2021 summary, written by the Insurance Complaints Board.

Data regarding the case reveal that organizers of the tour decided to go ahead with it despite the fact that all other snowmobile tours in the area had been canceled, since inclement weather had been forecast. They intended to complete the trip in time, before the storm hit. In the middle of the tour, though, the group became trapped, due to bad weather. At that point, the main guided decided not to continue the tour, but to use the snowmobiles to create shelter from the wind, and wait for assistance.

The tourist describes having had to stay put by the snowmobiles for 11 hours, followed by an approximately three-hour wait in an unheated vehicle from Mountaineers of Iceland, which was sent to the location.

He states that the conditions and this difficult experience resulted in various bodily harm, including back injury, chest pain, frostbite on his fingers and toes, nerve pain, neuritis, muscle pain, stress, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

The tourist demanded that his injuries would be compensated with funds from the liability insurance of Mountaineers of Iceland. The insurance company maintained it had no obligation to pay compensation on the grounds that the tourist’s injuries could not be traced to an sudden and unexpected event.

The Insurance Complaints Board ruled, however, that the tourist has the right to receive full compensation from the company’s liability insurance.

Related news:

Article on Iceland Monitor

Group of 39 Rescued in Blizzard on Glacier