Bogus holiday illness claims by Brits threaten all-inclusive holidays to Spain

ALL-INCLUSIVE holidays to Spain for British holidaymakers could be scrapped or see prices hiked due to the high number of “fraudulent” sickness claims according to a Madrid-based law firm.

Rogers & Co’s David Diez Ramos told Travel Weekly: “Sooner or later Spanish hotels will increase the price or stop selling all-inclusive to Britons.

Ramos said the law firm gets “zero” claims from other nationalities – all the sickness claims come from Britons, some of whom have allegedly been encouraged to lie to make a quick buck.

The law firm acts on behalf of the insurance industry and said Spanish hotels may increase the price of these traditionally low-cost holidays for Brits or do away with them completely after claims that they were being “held hostage” by UK visitors.

“British citizens are paying less than £1,000 for a two-week all-inclusive holiday, receiving £2,000 to £3,000 for a claim and you can add £5,000 in lawyers’ fees. Hoteliers will move from this sort of holiday.”

He added: “Ten claims of this kind a month would hit hoteliers’ profits. They have to transfer the risk to the consumer [or] hotels might be forced to move away from all-inclusive. Spanish insurance companies are going to increase the premiums or the excess or not insure this risk. We have no options.”

Ramos said one hotel in Benidorm had already stopped selling all-inclusive holidays to Brits because of the increase in false gastric illness claims. And Some hotels in the Canaries are already taking all-inclusive holidays off the market for Brits, and instead offering half-board.

The issue first made the news in 2016 after reports of a rise in insurance companies targeting Brits in Spanish resorts and encouraging them to make false sickness claims.

The Foreign Office has updated its travel advice to Spain on their website. It now states: “There have been reports of an increase in holidaymakers being encouraged to submit a claim for personal injury if they have experienced gastric illness during their stay. You should only consider pursuing a complaint or claim if you have genuinely suffered from injury or illness. If you make a false or fraudulent claim, you may face legal proceedings in the UK or Spain.”