Opinion: time to crack down on holiday sickness fraud before we all have to pay
Travel agent Thomas Cook has won a landmark victory in court against a fake holiday sickness claim. We need to see more of this before the cost of fraudulent claims is passed on to honest holidaymakers.
A family has lost its claim for £10,000 compensation from travel firm Thomas Cook after lying about falling sick while on holiday in the Canary Islands.
Thomas Cook took the family to court and a judge threw the case out this week after agreeing with the travel firm that the family’s claim was fraudulent.
“It’s not comfortable for us to be in court questioning our customers’ credibility, but the significant increase in unreported illness claims being received by the travel industry threatens holidays for all UK customers,” Chris Mottershead, managing director of Thomas Cook told the BBC.
“This case follows an increasingly common pattern for these claims, with a previously unreported illness being raised years after the holiday, with no medical evidence or other evidence to support the illness having occurred.”
Julie Lavelle, 33, and her partner Michael McIntyre, 34, claimed compensation after stating they and their two young children had fallen ill with gastroenteritis on the third day of a two-week holiday in 2013.
They blamed poor hygiene and food at their hotel in Gran Canaria and said their illness continued after they returned home.
However, Thomas Cook pointed out that they had not told hotel staff or their tour representatives that they were ill and they didn’t mention it on the holiday feedback questionnaire that Mr McIntyre filled out on the flight home.
The family and their law firm have yet to comment.
Food poisoning is the new whiplash
Last month ABTA, the travel trade organisation, launched a campaign to counter the soaring numbers of people claiming compensation saying they got sick while on holiday.
Since 2013, it says there has been a more than 500% increase in the number of compensation claims for holiday sickness, with 10s of thousands of people hoping to claim over the past year alone.
Significantly, while claims are rising, the actual number of reported sickness levels at resorts has stayed level, suggesting that a huge chunk of these claims are completely made up.
Legislation designed to stop people making false whiplash claims against car insurance firms is fuelling the rise in travel sickness claims as it contains a loophole that doesn’t cover compensation claims for illnesses caused abroad.
As a result, some of the no win, no fee claims firms that used to help people claim injury compensation in the UK are now turning their attention to encouraging people to put claims in for sickness when on a package holiday.
“The Government must urgently address this issue,” says Mark Tanzer, ABTA chief executive. “The legal loophole that is allowing firms to unduly profit from these claims must be closed. This would allow people with genuine claims access to justice but make this area less attractive to claims firms.
“Holidaymakers need to know that whatever a claims firm might say, fake claims are fraud. Holidaymakers pursuing fake or exaggerated claims risk ending up in jail either in the UK or abroad.”
Holiday prices could soar
If sickness claims continue rising at the current pace, we could all end up paying more for our holidays as travel firms up their prices to cover the compensation payouts.
We've seen this already, of course. Depending on who you ask, the menace of false whiplash claims has added up to £100 to a typical motorist's car insurance policy.
A hotel association in Mallorca has revealed that the cost of holiday sickness claims last year for them alone was £42 million. Some hoteliers in Spain and Turkey have said they may stop offering all-inclusive packages to British tourists in an attempt to reduce the chances of claims.
There are reports that some claims management firms are encouraging people to make fake or exaggerated claims.
They take a slice of any compensation won, so it is in their interests to inflate claims, even if they are dodgy.
We can all do our part
The Government is planning to tackle the problem by reducing the amount of money people can claim in an aim to make it less attractive to cheats.
“Our message to those who make false holiday sickness claims is clear – your actions are damaging and will not be tolerated,” says Justice Secretary David Lidington.
Of course, we have a role to play too. If you spot a claims management tout on your holidays this summer, ABTA is asking that you report them to your hotel manager or tour operator.
Anyone who is cold called or encouraged to make a fake or exaggerated claims should report the company to the Claims Management Regulator.
If you do genuinely fall ill on holiday as a result of food poisoning you got in your hotel you should contact the hotel or your tour operator immediately while you are still on holiday.
If you aren’t happy with their response you can take your case directly to ABTA.
Whatever happens on your next holiday, make sure you've got travel insurance to keep yourself covered. Compare single and multi-trip policies with loveMONEY.
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