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Exit your Timeshare contract

Grounds for
Timeshare 
Claims

Most Common Grounds For Claims

 

For many of the Timeshare owners who contact us, the primary concern is to get out of their Timeshare contracts and to rid themselves & their families of long-term maintenance fee liabilities - and we can of course offer advice purely on this basis.

 

However, since 2015 when the initial breakthroughs in Timeshare mis-selling claims took place, there has been an ever increasing flood of successful claims against the likes of Club La Costa, Anfi, Silverpoint, Azure and others... which have established a series of legal precedents.
 
Moreover, the finance companies who had partnered with these Timeshare resorts to provide consumer loans to fund initial Timeshare purchases, such as Barclays Partner Finance, Shawbrook, Hitachi Finance etc... have also been the subject of a raft of mis-selling claims.  Here we list some of the most common grounds upon which mis-selling claims are based:

Deposit taken on the day

This has long been an illegal practice under the EU Timeshare Directive, but the practice was very common. Potential customers were lured to 4-6 hour sales presentations and subjected to relentless pressure until they finally agreed to go ahead - with the Timeshare sales organisation very often insisting on taking a deposit by credit/debit card or other means there and then to "seal the deal".  

Cooling-off period not offered or explained 

From 1999 onward it has been a legal requirement for Timeshare companies to provide a 14 day cooling-off period, to allow consumers sufficient time to properly reflect on their purchasing decision - and they were also obliged to clearly explain this cooling-off period to consumers. It has since come to light that, in large numbers of cases, there was no open explanation of any cooling-off period. In fact, this was kept very quiet indeed, buried away in complex small-print, or simply not offered or honoured at all.

Timeshare contract length  

Since 1999 it has also been illegal to issue a contract for a Timeshare or similar holiday ownership scheme with a term of more than 50 years. Some Timeshare companies simply flouted this law and even kept selling "in perpetuity" contracts - which effectively means the contact lasts forever. This is also plainly illegal.

"Floating Weeks" Timeshare contracts 

In the early days, a Timeshare was usually sold as a specific accommodation unit for a fixed week each year.  But, once resorts were reaching the point of being over-sold, Timeshare companies found different ways of selling more inventory than they could ever fulfill, with the concept of "floating weeks" being invented.  This practice was deemed illegal in the Spanish High Court in 2015.

Mis-selling of loans to finance Timeshare purchases 

Many of the Timeshare sales companies partnered with a variety of finance providers, to issue loans to facilitate Timeshare purchases.  However, these loans were very often issued without following prevailing financial regulations - e.g. not checking whether the customer could afford to make the repayments, providing false income information on applications and/or falsely stating that the loan was for a purpose other than buying a Timeshare (e.g. "home improvements").   A series of precedents have now been set regarding such loans, with Barclays setting aside nearly £50m for claims and Shawbrook Bank £9m already.   

This is not an exhaustive list - but is simply a guide to some of the most common grounds on which Timeshare and related finance mis-selling claims are often based.  Every case is different so, to discuss your situation and find out your options, please complete the short enquiry form, or call us on 01628 290499 today.

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