Last month the Bradford County Court ruled in favour of the claimants for a holiday sickness claim that began with a holiday in 2013.
As reported in The Law Gazette, the deadline to pay the damages in this case was ignored by Thomson, the holiday firm and defendant.
The claimant lawyers believe Thomson intentionally delayed the payment of damages in order to hurt the law firm’s cash flow.
It is believed that some tour operators have made it a tactic to pay damages late on purpose not only as an attempt to sour relationships between the claimant and lawyers, but also as an attack on the claimant law firm’s cash flow. This can sometimes hurt smaller claimant law firms where their resources are limited.
The £6,000 damages for the holiday sickness claim was eventually paid back by Thomson after being threatened with bailiffs.
A spokesperson for the holiday firm claimed the payment was not made due to an error with their payment system.
It is the responsibility of the holiday firms and/or insurers to ensure that they pay what they owe on time. They should not be ignoring court orders when cases are lost. Regardless of whether it was due to a payment system error or not, they still have the responsibility to pay on time. Claimant lawyers should not have to chase up and threaten with bailiffs before a response is finally evoked when it comes to paying for compensation.