Holiday Sickness Claims | The Consumer Detriment 37
HolidayTravelWatch continues to hear from Travel Consumers suffering ’Holiday Sickness’ detriment in their holiday contracts. A recent call for help came from a Mrs I1, she stated:
“My daughter and I have just returned from a week holiday in Tenerife at the [NAME OF HOTEL], Costa Adeje, through [MAJOR TOUR OPERATOR]. We paid over £1,100 for a 4* half board deal. We arrived Fri 27th, and by evening of Sat 28th I had severe gastroenteritis, the doctor had to be called, I receved an injection and she said it was due to something I had eaten. By Monday, my daughter also had gastro enteritis, and was admitted to hospital and put on a drip and medication. I stayed with her as she is only 16. She was not released till the afternoon of Wed 2nd July, and was in bed in the hotel all Thurs. We returned home Friday. Therefore we did not have a holiday, and suffered a severe and distressing illness. She is pregant, and even thought she would loose the baby. We had only eaten in the hotel prior to my illness, and she only ate there whilst I was ill, before she became ill. This can only have been contracted in the hotel. I have medical receipts, and I informed the [MAJOR TOUR OPERATOR] rep when she was in hosptial, I also informed them of my illness as we had to cancel a trip. I am most resentful of the waste of £1,100 in the holiday costs. My insurance has dealt with medical costs, but do I have a claim against [MAJOR TOUR OPERATOR] for the holiday costs?”. (E.07.07)
Mrs I1 has received advice and assistance from the team at HolidayTravelWatch.
Frank Brehany, the Senior Consumer Advocate of HolidayTravelWatch states;
“Time and again, the story remains the same; poor standards, poor assistance and a lack of real response to a serious health threat. The time has come for the introduction of a composite safety standard minimum throughout all holiday contracts”.
All Holidaymakers affected by any of these issues should contact HolidayTravelWatch for further assistance.
Note to Editors:
Since 2005, HolidayTravelWatch has provided comment on the ever increasing threat to The Package Travel Regulations. This situation has developed partly through the changing style of purchasing holidays, but principally from the Court of Appeal decision as to what they considered constituted a ‘package’.
After considerable debate, the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (DBERR) has produced a Guidance note, in an attempt to assist with the definition as to what constitutes a ‘package’. Why is this definition important? Simply, if an agent or operator can show that they are simply selling components, then they will escape the regulatory requirements of the Air Tour Operator licence (ATOL) scheme and, the provisions of The Package Travel Regulations. If that is the case, then the hard fought rights to protect the consumer will be lost. The consumer will be unprotected.
We have contributed to the continued debate, submitting our report examining consumer detriment, to the EU Commission and DBERR in October 2007. In that report we highlighted th very real risk that is now faced by the British Travel Consumer, through 160 case studies. We have also provided what we consider to be the solution to the diminution of Travel Consumer rights.
The EU Commission are currently reviewing the Package Travel Directive, but the result of their enquiries, along with their recommendations, is not expected for some time. The reaction to the recent Guidance produced by DBERR, produced a cautious welcome from the Travel Industry, but it does not deal with their principle concern, that being the market operations of the airline industry. They argue, if they are subject to a regulatory regime, then so should the airline industry when they sell holidays on their websites. We have argued that any regulatory regime should apply across the board, not just to one segment of the Travel Industry.
We have predicted, a notion rejected by DBERR, that their Guidance note and the Court of Appeal decision gives a green light to those who want to ‘deregulate’ the package holiday.
HolidayTravelWatch has launched its petition, calling on Government and the EU Commission to protect the rights of Consumers in Holiday Contracts.
Tags: Free Complaint Letters, holiday complaints, Holiday Sickness Claims
HTW has noted that amongst the submissions to the Committee on Toxicity (COT) it has been suggested that the symptoms highlighted by crew and passengers were akin to the condition of hyperventilation.
HTW has for many years received reports from concerned holiday makers or independent travellers as to the safety of their aircraft, ship or boat, train or road transport.
