5 2
Spanish lawyers slam rising cost of fake claims
Ian Taylor
ian.taylor@travelweekly.co.uk
Spanish lawyers say UK tour operators’ efforts to combat false holiday sickness claims are increasing costs without halting the majority of fake claims.
Marie Rogers of Madrid law firm
Rogers & Co said: “There are fewer claims, but the claims are more expensive because tour operators are spending more on them. For hoteliers, it’s lose-lose.” Rogers and her colleague, David
Diez Ramos, who acts for Spanish hotel insurers, welcome the operators’ determination to fight fake claims, but not the way they are going about it by reviewing all claims they consider fraudulent and passing on the costs to hotels. Ramos said: “Tour operators
have to behave as though they are acting with their own money. If it is just a general policy to defend claims, it is a policy to rack up costs. The UK industry is increasing the cost of claims [and]
the costs should be shared.” Rogers insisted: “There is only
a chance of defending 1% of claims. But when you add lawyers’ fees, you’re talking about [costs of] £30,000 per claim instead of settling for £3,000. “We would like to see operators
and hoteliers work on a joint strategy and share costs, not the operators say ‘We’re going to defend every fraudulent claim and pass on the bill to the hoteliers’.” She added: “It is not like the
hotel should be paying for these fraudulent claims. Everyone in Spain knows the Brits are scamming them.” Abta urged MPs to ban cold
calls by claims management companies this week as the Financial Claims and Guidance Bill had its second reading in the Commons. Alan Wardle, Abta director of public affairs, said: “These calls encourage people to unwittingly break the law. “There is overwhelming public
support for a cold-calling ban.” › Business, back page
Juliet Dennis
juliet.dennis@
travelweekly.co.uk
Hundreds of people fell silent in tribute to Tui agent Cassie Hayes at a vigil held exactly one week after her death.
Mourners, including family,
friends and staff from surrounding shops, such as Hays Travel, attended the tribute outside Tui’s Southport branch to remember the 28-year-old assistant manager killed at work. The crowd broke into spontaneous applause after the tribute at 1.27pm last Saturday – the exact time the incident happened on January 13. A Tui spokeswoman said: “We
Spanish hotels blame UK operators for rising cost of fighting claims
have been heart-warmed by the outpouring of love and support for Cassie and her family and friends. The vigil was just one example of this and a number of our colleagues, including members of our senior retail leadership team, were there to pay their respects on behalf of Tui. Our current focus continues to be on providing all possible support to Cassie’s family, our customers and colleagues affected by this, as well as the wider team
3 STORIES HOT A vigil is held outside
the Tui store in Southport, a week after the attack that killed Cassie Hayes
Silent vigil pays tribute to Cassie
“We have been heart-warmed by the outpouring of love for Cassie and her family”
who knew or worked with Cassie.” Hays Travel shut its Southport
branch to allow staff to attend the vigil. Manager Alyson Croft said: “It was a beautiful, serene tribute. Everything seemed to stop. Lots of people stopped to pay their respects and there was spontaneous clapping, like a celebration of her life.” Croft was one of the first on
the scene when the incident happened. “It was an instant reaction to go over and see if we could help. The Tui girls coped so well; everyone was in shock.” A post-mortem found Cassie
died of shock and haemorrhaging due to a throat wound. An online fundraising campaign for Cassie’s four-year-old daughter
had reached £7,305 as Travel Weekly went to press. Andrew Burke, 30, of Vincent
Street, St Helens, has been charged with murder. He faces trial at Liverpool Crown Court on July 2.
25 January 2018
travelweekly.co.uk 5
CLAIMS FIGHT
PICTURES: LIVERPOOL ECHO
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