AIBU to think the compo culture has hit a new low?

[LunaLoveg00d]

Driving in the car this morning heard an advert for a company which I will not name as they don't deserve the publicity but which went along the lines of:

"Have you been ill on holiday in the past three years? If you got food poisoning in Spain, Turkey, Mexico or anywhere else we can get you the compensation you deserve as you're covered under UK law".

I hate the "where there's blame there's a claim" culture in the first place, but getting a dodgy tummy is part and parcel of international travel. You know the risks, and avoid the salads and ice. If you get ill, you take immodium. This shower of compo merchants are saying you could get £2,000 compensation, although quite what you'd be compensated for I'm not sure as if you're on holiday there's no loss of earnings, and only a miniscule percentage of people with holiday tummy are ill enough for hospital.

So in essence what is happening is that this shower are approaching the major tour operators with their "claim", the tour operators will do whatever they can to avoid a costly court case, and are bunging them cash to shut up and go away. And then the price of everyone's holiday goes up to cover the compo claims.

Crazy.

Oh and the poster with the barbecued prawns - my only serious case of food poisoning ever (contracted in Berkshire not Barbabos) was from a prawn mayo sandwich bought from a service station in the middle of summer. It was cool when I bought it but had obviously been stored incorrectly. I was very ill for 24 hours but it never crossed my mind to sue the service station.

roussette. OP was the one who talked glibly about how 'getting a dodgy tummy is part and parcel of international travel'.

It's not just international travel. People are killed or injured by negligence in the UK.

Food poisoning can kill or seriously affect the rest of your life. A negligent approach to safety - whether in food preparation, maintenance of fixtures and fittings such as boilers, fire safety etc - should be punished severely.

As I said, the bar is set quite high. That doesn't mean that people don't know when they have been failed or that tour operators or anyone else should not be held accountable when their negligence is proven.

I don't subscribe to the view that these claims put up the cost for the rest of us. I believe that if companies are aware of their obligations and take them seriously, it helps me.

I understand your point limited. All food outlets should adhere to rules with regard to food preparation and all you say.

However, somewhere along the line, personal responsibility comes into it too. And my posts are aimed at those who take the piss. (i.e. claim for ipod, ipad, designer handbags, laptop in their missing suitcase. When in fact it contained dirty washing and some shoes.)

Oh great. Looking forward to the phone calls. Not.

And what about Noroviruses which are nothing to do with poor food hygiene?

^In tropical climates though, even when hotels and restaurants do absolutely everything within their power to keep food cool, reinforce handwashing, etc etc, bugs are going to grow at faster rates than in the UK.'

Refrigeration and hygiene is our friend wherever we are unless it's off-the-grid travel. I'm assuming that you, like me, stay in regular hotels with reception desks and flushable toilets and mini bars.

When there are outbreaks of serious food poisoning - and they have happened in the UK in mundane places like the town butcher shop - it is always a failure to store and prepare food correctly.

Same goes for other safety procedures, such as maintaining boilers in order to avoid death or injury from carbon monoxide. It might shock you to know that some people cut corners on such basic safety.

If that happens in your home to your loved ones, that is a personal tragedy that might result in prosecution if you've managed to survive. If it is your business prosecution should always follow.

I don't know why you think it's an occupational hazard of travel that sophisticated and savvy people breezily take on board and that people who have been damaged by negligence are foolish or after 'compo' to complain.

I think they're the responsible ones. And as someone who works in the industry said, the weak claims get weeded out long before an approach is made.

And what about Noroviruses which are nothing to do with poor food hygiene?

I always wonder about that. It's one of the reasons I've never been attracted to a holiday on a cruise ship - not the main one.

But if you are an operator running such holidays you should take as many precautions as you can and have adequate procedures and insurance to cover the eventualities arising from an outbreak.

I'm not aware that any cruise company hit by norovirus has blamed the passengers or tried to claim that it's part and parcel of international travel.

I suspect any company that tried to do that would be clobbered by a judge.

I was very ill for 24 hours but it never crossed my mind to sue the service station.

I understand that when you got better you couldn't be bothered. But why shouldn't it cross your mind to at the very least report it to the company?

Motorway service stations are run by huge companies making enormous profits. Many people use them. Because of the motorway network they travel all over the country and so, depending on the type of infection, they might spread it all around.

Given that, why wouldn't a responsible company want to be told about one of their outlets that was serving dangerous food?