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YouTube video encouraging holiday sickness claims banned
A YouTube video encouraging holidaymakers to make sickness claims when they return from their trips has been banned following a complaint by ABTA.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld three complaints made by the travel association against the video, which was promoting holidaysicknessclaims.co.uk run by Manchester-based Claims Legal.
The video featured a mock newsreader claiming there had been a rise in the number of holidaymakers suffering from ‘some form of general holiday sickness’, before going on to extensively quote a ‘Health World Organisation’ report stating that there were 351,000 deaths worldwide from foodborne illness, 52,000 caused by salmonella and 37,000 by e-coli.
It urged those who had been on an all-inclusive holiday in the last three years and suffered from sickness – ‘even mild sickness’ – to contact holidaysicknessclaims. "As well as being formally recorded for the purpose of statistical analysis, you may be entitled to claim compensation for your sickness on a ‘no win no fee’ basis," he said.
"European regulations covering all-inclusive packaged holidays now offer greater protection for holidaymakers, and under European regulations, the burden of proof lies ultimately with the tour operator."
After agreeing with ABTA that the video on ‘TheAccidentGuys’ Youtube channel was misleading, the ASA said it must not appear again in its current form.
"We told Claims Legal to ensure they held adequate evidence to substantiate objective claims in future," it said. "We told them not to mislead about: the number of deaths related to holiday sickness; their role in the analysis of statistics in relation to holiday sickness; and about the level of protection afforded to consumers and the likelihood of their claim succeeding."
Claims Legal told the ASA it had not received any complaints about the ad, or any of its advertising. It disagreed that the video was misleading, but ‘saw the possibility that the message in the ad might on some occasions have been misconstrued’.
They said they had removed the ad from their YouTube account and all associated media platforms, and would not use it in future.
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Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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