Working overseas does not switch off your employer's duty of care. If you were posted abroad by a UK employer, or work for one on short overseas assignments, the employer must still take reasonable care for your safety. That duty extends to the places it sends you, the equipment it provides and the systems of work it sets, even where the site itself is controlled by someone else.
Can I bring the claim in a UK court?
Usually, yes, if your employer is based in the UK. A company registered and operating here can normally be sued in the courts of the part of the UK where it is based. Claims against a foreign company, such as the overseas site owner, raise harder questions about jurisdiction, and since Brexit the UK is no longer part of the EU rules that used to settle them. The UK has not rejoined the Lugano Convention, so suing a European defendant now often needs the court's permission.
Which country's law decides the claim?
The UK applies its retained version of the Rome II Regulation. The general rule is that the law of the country where the injury happened governs the claim. There are two important exceptions: if you and your employer both habitually live or are based in the same country, that country's law usually applies instead; and the court can apply another country's law if the claim is manifestly more closely connected to it. For a UK worker injured abroad by a UK employer, English law (or Scots law, if relevant) therefore often applies.
What is the time limit?
The limitation period comes from whichever law governs the claim. If English law applies, you normally have three years from the accident under the Limitation Act 1980. If the law of the country where the accident happened applies, its time limit may be much shorter, sometimes one or two years. Because you may not know which applies until a solicitor has reviewed the facts, treat the shortest possible deadline as the real one.
What if the accident was caused by someone other than my employer?
You may have a claim against the overseas site owner, another contractor or a driver, as well as your UK employer. Those claims are usually brought where that party is based and under local law. In many cases it is simpler and more effective to claim against your UK employer, whose insurer will deal with any recovery from others.
What evidence should I collect?
Get medical treatment locally and keep every record, including translations if you can. Report the accident to your UK employer in writing as well as to the local site, take photographs, and keep travel documents, assignment letters and contracts showing who sent you and why. Evidence held abroad is easily lost, so act quickly.
For the wider process, see how a work accident claim works, and for drivers on international routes see HGV driver accident claims.
Sources
Browse every plain-English guide in the work accident guides hub, or read the main guide to how a claim works.
This guide is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Every claim turns on its own facts. For advice about your specific situation, speak to a regulated solicitor.