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NEWS TRAVEL WEEKLY BUSINESS CONTINUED FROM THE BACK


She said: “We try to educate


customers to report if they are ill, and we’re more inclined to treat such claims as genuine when we get them. “The genuine claims


generally come in shortly after holidays. If you’ve been severely affected [by gastric illness] and you’re convinced it was the food at the hotel, I would have thought you would complain immediately. Two years later you would barely remember.” White added: “If you’re not


telling the truth you tend to come unstuck in the witness box. It’s about inconsistencies in evidence. Having an answer for everything can become unconvincing. If you are ill it’s a fairly simple story.” Cook has won at least two high-


profile legal cases since taking a tougher approach (see page 78). White said: “We’ve had some


encouragement from the courts. Going back a few years, it was very difficult to win a gastric illness claim. Of late we’ve had some positive judgments – it is acknowledged that there is fraud [and] the claimant is no longer always going to be given the benefit of the doubt. “We’re heading in the right


direction, but we need to keep the pressure up. I don’t think the claims management companies are any less active. It’s a lot to do with the fact that the industry has tightened up its defence strategies, applying a more forensic approach.” She insisted: “This is fraud.


It has to stop. It is having a massive impact, not just on the industry but on our suppliers abroad, on innocent customers, on genuine claimants. “It will drive up prices. We could end up losing the all- inclusive model and, frankly, some of Europe’s [hoteliers] don’t want to trade with the British market anymore.”


Cook court victories ‘give industry encouragement’


Ian Taylor ian.taylor@travelweekly.co.uk


Thomas Cook is prepared to bring fresh fraud prosecutions against holidaymakers in the fight against fake illness claims.


The company won a landmark


private prosecution for fraud in Liverpool Crown Court last October, when couple Deborah Briton and Paul Roberts were jailed after bringing a £20,000 claim for sickness on consecutive Cook holidays in Majorca in 2015 and 2016. The couple were charged with eight counts of fraud. Thomas Cook senior legal counsel for litigation Rebecca White said: “The decision to prosecute wasn’t one we took lightly. But we thought we had to do something significant, that would have an impact and a deterrent effect. To do that you need to pick your case carefully. “Roberts and Briton were repeat


visitors to the hotel. They were known to staff. They brought claims for themselves and their children arising from two holidays. [Yet] there was social media evidence that they had had a


Travel trade awaits MoJ’s response to call for evidence


The government has yet to close the door on scam holiday sickness claims. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ)


issued a call for evidence on sickness claims last October and the industry is awaiting a response. Abta senior solicitor Susan Deer said: “The call for evidence is the first step to moving these claims


78 travelweekly.co.uk 1 February 2018 DEER: ‘Moving in right direction’


within a recoverable costs regime. We’re moving in the right direction. But it’s not a silver bullet.” The association has identified


two other areas requiring progress: an increase in the small


JAILED: Paul Roberts and Deborah Briton (centre) were prosecuted by Thomas Cook and convicted of a £20,000 fraudulent sickness claim


“We thought we had to do something significant, that would have an impact and a deterrent effect”


wonderful holiday. The surprise was they didn’t admit their guilt at the first opportunity. That did them no favours.” The prison sentences drew national media attention. A second Thomas Cook case, in


Liverpool County Court in July, also attracted media interest when the court found the claims of plaintiffs


Julie Lavelle and Michael McIntyre to be “wholly implausible” and “fundamentally dishonest”. The couple had claimed for sickness three years after a Cook holiday in Gran Canaria in 2013. White told a Hill Dickinson


travel law seminar: “Why would you wait three years? If you were ill, why wouldn’t you complain? The judge found it unconvincing they would have had a 14-month-old child who was seriously ill and not have taken the child to see a doctor.” White said: “The case gave the industry a lot of encouragement. If we have to prosecute again, we will.”


claims limit, and “more-effective regulation” of claims management companies and solicitors. Deer said: “The government has said it will increase the small claims limit to £2,000 for personal injury and £5,000 for traffic accidents. We’re pushing for a £5,000 limit for holiday sickness claims. “On more-effective regulation, the Solicitors’ Regulatory Authority put out a strong warning notice to solicitors. I’m cautiously optimistic, but figures for the first half of 2017 still showed an increase [in claims].”


PICTURE: LIVERPOOL ECHO


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