New Rules to Deter Fake Holiday Sickness Claims
The legal costs associated with package holiday illness claims are to be fixed under new measures designed to deter fake claims.
At present, personal injury claims are governed by the same fixed legal costs, but these will be extended to cover those seeking compensation for falling sick abroad.
Typical fake claims involve a holidaymaker complaining that they suffered food poisoning from a meal prepared by the hotel they were staying at.
Such false claims have increased dramatically in recent years. In 2016 there were 35,000 holiday sickness claims in the UK, a surge of 500% compared to 2013 - according to figures from the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA).
In 2016 the total cost of claims amounted to £240m, according to the industry. It has been suggested the worrying trend could push up holiday prices across the board.
Concerns over mushrooming legal costs have deterred many travel firms from contesting claims. Instead, one-off payouts would be made.
Because of this, it has been suggested, claims management firms specialising in food poisoning claims have targeted holidaymakers with cold calls, asking them if they wish to make a claim.
Travel companies want the government to ban these kind of cold calls.
The body in charge of setting rules on legal costs is called the Civil Procedure Rule Committee. The government asked the committee to apply the rules associated with personal injury claims to holiday sickness claims.
Approval has been granted, and will be effective within weeks.
Justice Minister Rory Stewart said claimants who had not in reality been sick were committing fraud.
"This damages the travel industry and risks driving up costs for holidaymakers. This behaviour also tarnishes the reputation of British people abroad. That is why we are introducing measures to crack down on those who engage in this dishonest practice," he said.
Mark Tanzer, chief executive of the Association of Travel Agents said: "Closing the legal loophole before the summer should lead to a reduction in the number of false claims.
"We encourage the government to keep this matter under review and continue to pursue a ban on cold calling by claims management companies in relation to sickness claims."
Get a Quote