A leading barrister and specialist in travel claims has warned the next two years could prove “really difficult” for tour operators and agents with “hundreds of thousands of claims”.
Sarah Prager of law firm 1 Chancery Court, who acts for claimants and defendants in personal injury cases including sickness, said: “We’re seeing lots and lots of gastric illness claims – single episode claims, family claims – hundreds and hundreds of thousands of claims.
“This is a really difficult time for tour operators and travel agents. It can only last a couple of years, but while it does it will be really bad because these claims farmers are really good at drumming up business. They are very persistent and many are wholly and completely unscrupulous.”
She told an Abta travel law seminar at the end of May: “It’s a problem only English holidaymakers have. Spanish hoteliers are thinking of banning us. Turkey is talking about banning us. Either we are unusually delicate or there is something about our claims structure that is encouraging these claims.
“The reason is that whiplash claims have gone and all the claims farmers have gone into the gastric illness business.”
Prager said: “These are pretty low value claims. They are completely uneconomic to defend, but if you don’t defend them you see more and more of them.
“If you choose to pay all, it will cost you a fortune. If you defend all, you will have a massive bill. You need to pick the ones to fight. You have to defend some and win them.”
Prager referred to her experience of the boom in whiplash claims in the car insurance sector, which the government has sought to address, saying: “One motor insurance company paid out all claims for a year and cut its legal bill. The following year it had an 800% increase in claims.
But she insisted: “Some claims are genuine. This is driven by the claims farmers, not claimants.”
