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Bogus sickness claims will push up holiday prices
Fraudulent holiday sickness claims will push up the price of holidays, warned Global Travel managing director Andy Stark at the group’s overseas conference this weekend.
Stark said the rise in bogus claims was a big problem for the industry and will ultimately lead to higher prices for holidaymakers.
"It will put the premiums up from an insurance prospective which will start to push up the premiums for any sized business," he said.
"It can also impact an operator’s relationship with hoteliers. Most of the hoteliers are overseas and the legislation in their local areas and countries is very different from the legislation in the UK. This can cause problems down the supply chain as hoteliers might be reluctant to pay up when there is no clear evidence, or will push up prices as a result of paying out compensation."
His warning came after Thomas Cook said it was lobbying the government to change legislation to stop unscrupulous claims companies from targeting the travel industry.
ABTA is also working to get rules changed to make holiday sickness claims less lucrative.
Jet2holidays recently began hiring undercover detectives in resorts to sniff out touts who were encouraging holidaymakers to make bogus claims.
Stark also told delegates at the Global conference in La Manga, Spain, that the industry needs to be cleverer in the way it handles school holiday pricing.
He said the industry needs to organise pricing better as the disparity has become too wide.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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