NEWS 1
Paul Roberts and Deborah Briton were jailed on Friday for 15 and nine months respectively for fraudulently claiming for holiday sickness
YOU NEED TO KNOW
Ministry of Justice calls for evidence
The Ministry of Justice triggered a four-week call for evidence last Friday, the same day as Briton and Roberts were sentenced. Industry experts are being
First claims crooks jailed but ‘campaign must go on’
Harry Kemble and Ben Ireland
Leading operator bosses and travel lawyers have urged the industry to keep up the fight against fake holiday sickness claims after the first pair of fraudsters were jailed.
The sentencing of Deborah
Briton and her partner Paul Roberts, who submitted a claim for nearly £20,000 in compensation from Thomas Cook, came as the government launched a call for evidence asking travel companies to help them tackle the issue. The couple, from the Wirral, claimed that they and their two children had fallen ill on two trips to Majorca in 2015 and 2016. Briton, 53, and Roberts, 43, were
jailed at Liverpool Crown Court for nine and 15 months respectively. A Thomas Cook spokesman said:
“We had to take a stand to protect our holidays and customers from the minority who cheat the system.” Tui UK managing director Nick Longman said: “While this is a move in the right direction, there’s still a lot of work to do.” Following the sentencing, travel industry lawyers turned their attention back to unscrupulous claims management companies accused of encouraging holidaymakers to make false or exaggerated claims. Joanna Kolatsis, partner at Hill Dickinson, told Travel Weekly: “The fight must continue. I hope the industry unites to respond to the call for evidence. It will ensure the government is armed with as
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travelweekly.co.uk 19 October 2017
“This landmark case demonstrates the seriousness of the issue to the industry”
much information as possible to remove the opportunity for more fraudulent claims management companies to slip through the net. “Briton and Roberts are also,
in some ways, victims of the unscrupulous claims management companies that encouraged customers to bring these claims.” Stephen Mason, senior partner
at Travlaw, said he had little sympathy for Roberts and Briton but that he wished “some claims management companies were in the dock” instead. He said the campaign would be
asked to help shape the government’s next steps to tackle the false claims epidemic and explain to ministers why the number of claims has rocketed. The government quoted Abta figures suggesting the total cost of sickness claims has surpassed £240 million. That figure is based on the £2,100 average value of a claim, the £3,800 average cost of defending one and the number of predicted claims in 2016. Abta, which has reported a 500% rise in claims since 2013, “strongly welcomes” the call for evidence. Travel Weekly’s Fight Fake Claims campaign has been urging travel firms to speak up on the issue since June. Sign up at
tinyurl.com/fakeclaims.
an “ongoing process”, adding that “the industry is pleased the courts have taken this strong approach”. “What this publicity will do is show there are consequences to your actions and it is a crime to make a fraudulent claim,” Mason added. The total cost of claims is
now believed to have topped £240 million, according to Abta. A spokesman said: “This landmark case demonstrates the seriousness of the issue to the travel industry.” Tui said it had seen a “slowdown”
in the number of claims being made since recent court decisions against fraudulent claimants. It blacklisted a further 500 customers believed to be making false claims this week. A Jet2holidays spokesman said
the campaign to fight fake claims would only be successful once the problem was stamped out.
PICTURE: PETER BYRNE/PA WIRE/PA IMAGES
CLAIMS FIGHT
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