A loophole excluding holiday sickness claims from the fixed recoverable costs regime could be closed to tackle a surge in suspicious claims, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has said.
Currently, most personal injury claims are subject to fixed recoverable costs—but not where the incident happened abroad. The MoJ said this week it was responding to travel industry concerns over increasing numbers of suspected bogus claims for gastric illnesses, with some touts operating in European resorts.
It said a 500% rise in claims since 2013 has not been matched in other countries, and warned the trend risks driving up package holiday costs as well as ruining the reputation of Brits abroad. Tour operators say the cost of fighting claims can be out of proportion to the damages claimed, since legal costs are not controlled.
Helen Pugh, barrister at 3 Hare Court, said: ‘It is surely undeniable that there are surprising numbers of claimants and “enablers” who are abusing the system by bringing fraudulent sickness claims.
‘But are fixed fees the way forward? So-called “sickness claims” often involve complicated microbiological disputes about the source of the illness, be it contaminated food or a virus or something else.
‘Injury cases, and some illness cases, will depend upon expert evidence from specialists in standards in the holiday jurisdiction. Analysing this evidence, devising tactics and contentious hearings will frequently require counsel’s involvement.
‘The success and fairness of any fixed fee regime will need to reflect the variety, complexity and intrinsic cost of running many of these types of claims. Get the balance right and fraudsters beware. Get the balance wrong and all claimants beware.’
