Speaking at the Hays Travel Independence Group annual conference today (Saturday), in Malaga, John Hays said while he initially perceived the rise in gastric illness claims in the sector as largely a “victimless crime”, his view changed when the company came to renew its insurance policies last month.

Hays said: “The claims history as Hays Travel wasn’t too bad, but the initial quotes we were getting were for our premiums to quadruple – 300%.

“The insurers were saying because of fake gastric illness claims the whole market was terrible, so they were worried about what the claims might be in 2018.

“In the end we did renew, but we renewed at a premium for next year of double the price we paid last year, and the increase in premium was in the hundreds of thousands of pounds.”

He continued: “What these guys are doing is taking money out of the industry and it’s harming all of us.

“I know it’s a major issue for Abta. All of us need to stand together to stamp it out and the claims companies who are encouraging these dodgy claims.”