Article
Sickness claim couple undone by bar records
Published: Mon 19 Jun 2017 at 12:24
Updated: Mon 19 Jun 2017 at 15:29
As the campaign against false sickness claims continues to gather pace, the sheer audacity of some claims shows what the industry is up against.
Over the weekend, you may have read about one such claim. This claim was made over 15 months after a couple from Liverpool returned from their 12-day All Inclusive holiday with Jet2holidays to Gran Canaria.
As is increasingly common, the letter arrived a long time after the holiday was taken, claiming damages in connection with food poisoning. Neither Jet2holidays nor the hotel had received any complaint from the customer at the time of the holiday or subsequently.
The Oldham-based law firm claims the couple both suffered “stomach cramps and severe diarrhoea”, and both were “bed-ridden during an acute period of illness”. The symptoms allegedly came on from the second day of the holiday. The claim goes onto allege that the illness “spoiled the rest of the holiday”.
As is standard practice, we investigated the claim with the hotelier. What we discovered is a very different story to the one in the letter from the law firm.
It shows that the customers continued to enjoy a range of alcoholic drinks throughout the time of their alleged illness, in particular:
- On the night of the alleged onset of the illness, at least six shots of spirits and mixers were consumed
- The night after the onset of the illness, cocktails and spirits were consumed
- Two days after the onset of illness, a significant quantity of beer was consumed during the afternoon, along with spirits in the evening
Alcohol continued to be enjoyed throughout the rest of the holiday, despite the couple allegedly being bed-ridden during an acute period of illness.
In response, Jet2holidays CEO Steve Heapy said: “We want our customers to have a great holiday and to continue to enjoy the benefits of All Inclusive. But the danger is that these fake food poisoning claims put the All Inclusive holiday at risk. The sharp rise in the number of sickness claims is costing hoteliers and travel companies dearly, and it’s frustrating when so many are made a year or more after the holiday has ended. We risk the actions of the dishonest few spoiling the plans of many British holidaymakers.
“My message is simple. No one cares more about you on holiday than us. If you have a problem on holiday, we are there for you and we take genuine claims very seriously.
“But the food bug fraudsters are fooling customers into thinking they can make a claim even when they weren’t ill without any consequences, which is not true. These are the same guys that made so much money out of whiplash cases. I’m calling on the Government to crack down on the food bug fraudsters.”
