Brit couple fined over Benidorm fake sickness claim

Jamie Melling and his girlfriend Chelsea Devine, from Liverpool, are the latest Brits to be caught inventing a claim for food poisoning to get their money back on their holiday, although so far tens of thousands of complaints, with the sole aim of obtaining compensation, have been made against Spanish hotels.

Touts driving vans with ambulance signs and slogans asking if trippers want a free holiday have been seen in the Canary Islands over the last year or so, and actually approach British tourists to encourage them to put in claims.

They only have to show a purchase receipt for a box of diarrhoea tablets.

British Prime Minister Theresa May pledged last summer to crack down on the scam, which has left many resorts running the risk of going out of business.

Hotel bosses say they only ever seem to get claims from British holidaymakers, never from any other European tourists.

Ms Devine, 21 and Mr Melling, 22 claimed €2,800 each from TUI, which would automatically be recovered from the hotel or resort in question, but a judge in Liverpool commented that they continued posting selfies of their trip in which they seemed healthy and happy.

Also, like most fraudulent claims, the couple did not place theirs during their trip, nor did they complain to the hotel – in fact, they did not try to sue the tour operator for another eight months.

The judge said their statements about their food poisoning were 'identical', despite their insisting they did not 'collude'.

“It is clear the statements were not written by them. There are inaccuracies in them,” she says.

She admitted that the couple are 'young and inexperienced', which they cited as their reasons for not having complained to the Levante Beach Apartments where they were on a 10-day all-inclusive trip, but says they were 'both in contact with their parents' during the holiday and that neither family gave their children any advice.

“I do not attribute any illness to the unsatisfactory food. There is no evidence of contamination. I accept the evidence of the hotel, and there is no evidence of any outbreak,” the judge concluded.

As well as Melling and Devine having to pay compensation, their GP and solicitor may also face action, or even be struck off.

Their doctor, who gave 'evidence' to support them, turned out to be married to one of the partners at the solicitors' practice representing the couple, which could raise a conflict of interest issue.