Joe Duggan (Reporter)
TWO British holidaymakers who claimed compensation for food poisoning while in Spain sunk at least 109 alcoholic drinks in just nine days.
It comes as Mallorca police arrested two suspected ‘touts’ for allegedly encouraging tourists to post bogus insurance claims for sickness.
The pair were held in Alcudia this month for allegedly asking holidaymakers to lie about having stomach bugs.
They are believed to be the first arrests of their kind in the scams, which are costing Mallorca hoteliers around €50 million a year.
The holidaymakers from Liverpool meanwhile, were caught out by undercover investigators from holiday firm Jet2, while in the Canaries.
The detectives found CCTV footage of the pair at the Gloria Palace hotel in Gran Canaria binging on cocktails, beers and spirit, despite later claiming they were ill with diarrhoea and vomiting.
Hotel boss Jose Maria Mañaricua said: “They enjoyed a wide range of drinks, despite supposedly being sick and bedridden.”
Jet2holidays boss Steve Heapy added: “A sharp rise in claims is costing hotels and firms dear.”
Meanwhile, the Junta has demanded help from Spain’s central government to tackle the problem, which has seen bogus claims rise by 1,400% in two years, according to travel agents Thomson and First Choice.
Regional tourism minister Francisco Javier Fernandez urged Madrid to mediate ‘with the British authorities…and help the security forces on the stretches of coast affected.’
Excellent. People like this are thieves and should be prosecuted accordingly. Insurance fraud is no different to robbing a bank – it is stealing.
Is it beyond the wit of insurance companies to insist on a bona fide doctors note before paying out on a claim? And if they already do so, then some Spanish quacks are also due for jail time.