Fraudulent food poisoning claims: Suggested antidotes

It is difficult at present to read a newspaper or the internet without encountering a mention of fraudulent claims under Regulation 15 of the Package Travel etc Regulations 1992 for compensation against tour operators on behalf of holidaymakers who purportedly contracted food poisoning. As well as unlawful, there seems to be a consensus that such activities are morally reprehensible (for example, see “End of all-inclusive holidays? British tourists face BAN over food poisoning ‘scams’” Daily Express, June 21, 2017).

Criminal prosecutions for fraud, and potential defamation proceedings by the holiday resort proprietors (e.g: “British couple face losing their home after five-star Greek hotel countersues them for £170,000 because they made a 'fake' £10,000 claim that the resort's food and drink
made them ill” The Mail on Sunday 26th May 2017) lie in wait in response to such behaviour.However, this is cold comfort for the tour operators, who will themselves feel entitled to compensation for their wasted time and resources.

This issue requires consideration of the tactics, measures, rights, and remedies available to tour operators in order to obtain redress and ideally deter future fraudulent claims.