Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress has been made on plans to tackle bogus holiday sickness claims.
Answered by Dominic Raab
The Government is committed to taking action to address the issue of package holiday personal injury claims and announced a package of measures on 9 July 2017. As part of this, we published a Call for Evidence on 13 October 2017, the responses to which will inform future decisions. In addition, the Claims Management Regulator and the Solicitors Regulation Authority have taken significant steps to deal with abuses in this area. The travel industry itself also has a vital role to play and is taking steps to address the issues around package holiday claims.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) men and (b) women were prosecuted for perjury in the family court in 2016.
Answered by Dominic Raab
10 men and 6 women were prosecuted for perjury in the family court in England and Wales in 2016.
This information was obtained from a manual review of court case files that centrally held data indicated may be relevant, and as such has not been through the same quality assurance processes as for routinely published data.
These figures relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been prosecuted for perjury in the family court in each year since 2007, by gender.
Answered by Dominic Raab
The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will meet senior leaders of the travel industry to discuss the increasing incidence of gastric illness claims made by package holiday customers.
Answered by Oliver Heald
The Government is concerned about the apparent recent increase in holiday sickness claims and its potential implications for tour operators and the holiday industry more generally. My department is liaising with the Association of British Travel Agents and other industry representatives to understand the underlying problems and identify the most appropriate and effective response.
Tackling fraudulent claims is a key priority. The Claims Management Regulator is investigating claims management companies which are soliciting holidaymakers to make sickness claims and is actively working with industry representatives, the Solicitors Regulation Authority and other regulators to target and respond effectively to any abuses. We remain committed to ensuring that those CMCs which contact consumers to offer claims services do so legally.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what measures her Department is taking to tackle illegitimate and fraudulent activity by claims-handling companies in relation to gastric illness claims made by package holiday customers.
Answered by Oliver Heald
The Government is concerned about the apparent recent increase in holiday sickness claims and its potential implications for tour operators and the holiday industry more generally. My department is liaising with the Association of British Travel Agents and other industry representatives to understand the underlying problems and identify the most appropriate and effective response.
Tackling fraudulent claims is a key priority. The Claims Management Regulator is investigating claims management companies which are soliciting holidaymakers to make sickness claims and is actively working with industry representatives, the Solicitors Regulation Authority and other regulators to target and respond effectively to any abuses. We remain committed to ensuring that those CMCs which contact consumers to offer claims services do so legally.