EXPOSED Holiday bug compensation cowboys forcing up price of your break
COWBOY firms are systematically coaching British tourists to lie about holiday sickness to win thousands of pounds in compensation.
Experts warn that the cynical practice is costing the industry millions –which will force the cost of package holidays to rise.
A Mail on Sunday investigation found that dubious firms acting for ambulance-chasing lawyers lure tourists with promises of £5,000 payouts and urge them to concoct stories of food poisoning at all-inclusive hotels.
One company told a reporter posing as a victim to pretend his entire family had been taken ill to boost his compensation pot even further.
Last night, the Ministry of Justice, which regulates the claims industry, launched an investigation into our findings, promising tough action.
An MoS reporter posing as a holidaymaker was told by UK-based claims firms to:
Get a doctor’s note, even though he was no longer ill, to triple his payout;
Pretend he had reported his ‘illness’ to hotel staff;
Falsely claim his food was not heated properly; Exaggerate the length of his illness. Over the past year, there has been an explosion in the number of claims firms specifically targeting tourists. They moved into the holiday market following a Government clampdown on bogus whiplash cases prompted by a campaign by this newspaper.
Now, the controversial firms are paid a monthly retainer to bring clients to lawyers, who in turn take their cut from any compensation paid.
Last year, one tour operator received 15 claims for holiday sickness for the whole of Spain. But this year, one hotel alone has already been hit by almost 200 cases to date. And it is a similar story at all-inclusive destinations across the world.
Tour operators generally settle cases quickly to avoid expensive court battles, despite suspecting that many of the claims are fake or exaggerated. They say food-poisoning cases at allinclusive resorts are difficult to defend as holidaymakers simply claim they ate only hotel food. One hotel director in Tenerife said some holidaymakers have even tried to launch claims up to three years after supposedly suffering food poisoning.
Because the practice is still relatively new, the full cost to the industry has yet to be calculated, although experts estimate it will run into millions, inevitably leading to higher insurance premiums for tour operators who will have to pass the increase on to honest holidaymakers.
Astonishingly, one British firm uses an ambulance emblazoned with the words Claims Clinic to cruise around Tenerife touting for business from UK tourists, often parking outside hotels and medical centres.
Although there is no evidence to suggest the firm has encouraged false claims, its aggressive tactics have infuriated hoteliers on the island, which is visited by 1.8million Britons every year.
The shaven-headed man behind the ambulance stunt, Nick Holland, has been frequently stopped by Spanish police. He said he has processed more than 150 claims since July, but insisted he was doing nothing wrong.
‘We’re completely above-board,’ he said. ‘These hoteliers have to up their game – there are more claims because there’s more awareness.’
When a female reporter questioned Holland’s business partner about his work, he tried to intimidate her by saying ‘We’ve done a full search on your family,’ before reeling off their names.
Back in the UK, The Mail on Sunday called Colchester-based Claim 4 Holiday Illness, which call themselves ‘no win, no fee specialists’.
Our reporter told the call handler, Karen, he had recently returned from an all-inclusive holiday to Tenerife where he fell ill with a stomach bug. But he admitted he did not report his symptoms to the hotel at the time or see a doctor. In fact, he said he had nothing to support a possible claim.
Nevertheless he was told to insist when formally making his claim that
Cases settled out of court – even if they are bogus Reporter told to pretend his wife and kids fell ill
he had mentioned ‘in passing’ that he was ill to a hotel receptionist.
When the reporter said he had eaten at a restaurant outside the hotel, he was told not to disclose this.
Karen said: ‘In that situation, I wouldn’t mention it if it was one night – it’s hard to prove anyway.’
He was told to lie yet again when he reported he had been ill for only two days. For a claim to be successful, a claimant must have been ill for at least three days. Karen suggested he pretend it was seven days.
Without prompting, she then said she was going to write on the reporter’s claim form that the food at the hotel was always warm rather than hot, implying it was being reheated.
Claim 4 Holiday Illness is the trading name of claims management company Gold Hill Ltd, whose boss Ken Hilliard said he was ‘horrified’ by The Mail on Sunday’s findings.
Mr Hilliard said: ‘I need to investigate this as a matter of some urgency because it is not the standard that these people are trained to be at and I am horrified that that’s the case.
‘I am not going to say any more now because I want to get on to this. I want to get hold of Karen and find out what has been going on.’
Our reporter repeated his story to Holiday Sickness Specialists. Again, he was urged to conceal the fact he had eaten outside the hotel and pretend he had casually told a receptionist he was sick.
But in an additional element of deception, he was told by the call handler, James Kane, to see his GP in the UK, despite having recovered completely. A doctor’s note, he explained, would raise his compensation from about £1,500 to up to £5,000.
And to boost his payout further, he was advised to take along his wife and children and falsely claim they too had fallen ill. Kane told our reporter that his claim would be handled by Macclesfield-based Amanda Cunliffe Solicitors, specialists in
compensation claims. A spokeswoman there said: ‘We have a very strict vetting criteria for compensation cases and take a dim view of insurance fraud. We will be investigating these allegations.’
Speaking outside his home in Liverpool, Kane said: ‘I may have given him [the reporter] advice, but I don’t tell anyone to lie... I’m not encouraging fraud.’
Typically, the new breed of claims firms use social media to advertise. And if someone tweets about having recently been on holiday, for instance, it can provoke a flurry of solicitous messages, regardless of whether they were ill.
Ministers are due to meet travel industry representatives to discuss their concerns. Of our findings, the Ministry of Justice said: ‘These are serious claims. It is important that the system is not open to abuse and we will investigate.
‘We have tough sanctions for firms that break the rules and if any wrongdoing is discovered, we will take the necessary action.’
James Dalton, of the Association of British Insurers, said: ‘Claims cowboys are moving from cars to holidays. And it’s honest customers that could pay the price.’ And Gary Lewis, chief executive of Travel Network Group, which represents travel agents and tour operators, warned tourists to brace themselves for an increase in the cost of holidays.
He said: ‘The typical claim is sickness and diarrhoea, which you can get anywhere. But claims companies are putting that on the hotel or the resort even when the claimant doesn’t raise it with the hotel or have a medical report.
‘And the insurance companies covering the tour operators are paying out even without clear evidence because they don’t want to go to court. This is creating a real financial burden which will push up the costs of holidays.’
In Tenerife, where the problem is particularly acute, Jorge Marichal, president of the island’s hoteliers’ association, likened it to ‘organised crime’. He added: ‘They stand outside their ambulances and invite
‘This is as bad as organised crime’
tourists in to make claims. They don’t ask for any doctors’ reports.’
Solicitors and claims companies used to receive thousands of pounds by representing drivers who lied about suffering whiplash. But after a Mail on Sunday campaign, the Government halted the practice of lawyers paying claims firms money for each case they passed on.
As a result of our latest investigation, Conservative MP Craig Tracey, who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Insurance and Financial Services, said he would raise the ‘extremely worrying’ issue.
He added: ‘We’ve got to protect those people who have genuine claims and perhaps we need to introduce a cap on solicitors’ fees similar to what happened with whiplash claims.’