Can I claim under Section 75 for a land purchase?

daisy2013

Hello
I wonder if anyone can help, as i am confused regarding a Section 75 claim for the purchase of land.
The site states that land purchases are not covered under Section 75, however I have seen some comments from people who have sucsessfully claimed their money back.
Any help or advice would be ,much appreciated.

InsideInsurance

Why not say exactly what your problem is and why you are looking to your CC rather than the vendor?

dalesrider

You need to provide more info.
Such as how much did you spend?

chattychappy

This is complex - typically purchases relating to land have been excluded via a number of amendments to the 1974 Act.

See 3.4 in this OFT document: http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/consumer_credit/oft140a.pdf and section 16, 16C of the Act itself.

eddddy

Hi daisy

Is this in relation to a Land Banking scheme/scam? If so, I believe that some people have been successful with s75 claims on the basis that the contract was illegal, and/or by showing that the contract was an investment rather than a land purchase.

I guess the cc companies may look at each case on it's merits - but may put up a strong fight.

On the other hand, if you paid say £20k for a piece of land and now find it is worth only £100, but the contract was legal and there have been no breaches or misrepresentation, you would have no basis to claim from the cc company or anyone else.

As others have said, you really need to provide more info.

daisy2013

Thank you everyone for your comments.

My purchase was for a plot of land which I agreed to buy on the basis of a spoken assurance from the company that I would obtain planning permission for the plot. Some time later I was dissapointed to discover that I was unlikely to ever get planning permission to develop the land.

The agreement was made in my name and I used my credit card to pay a deposit of £5000, I then transferred the balance of £20,000 from my bank account. I understand that verbal misrepresentation have to be considered when claiming under Section 75, and this company told me I would deffinately obtain planning permission. This is clearly not the case and I am stuck with this plot. Has or Is anyone in a similar situation?

thenudeone

Scams like this have been mentioned on BBC Moneybox program, so you are definitely not alone.

Many consumer sales are covered by various protections but a purchaser of land is supposed to be sufficiently mature to do their own research, and the general common law rule of "caveat emptor" (buyer beware) applies, which means it's up to the buyer to satisfy themselves about what they are buying. If you were offered a plot (without planning permission) at an agreed price, and you are now the owner of it, it's difficult to see the basis for a claim.

With this amount of money at stake I expect the CC to put up a very strong fight.

I'd suggest asking for a fixed-fee or free initial interview at a solicitors to see what your chances are.

eddddy

Hi Daisy

If there was misrepresentation, you can sue through the courts. Does the company you bought from still exist?

But I suspect that this will happen:

- you claim they said "You will definitely get planning permission".
- they claim they said "You might get planning permission".

You will have exactly the same problem whether you claim under section 75 or go to court.

Even if you do have section 75 protection with this contract, the CC company may be harder to convince than a court. (The court should be unbiased, whereas the CC company may be worrying about the £25k they may lose.)

The court would decide who to believe based on "the balance of probabilities". (Essentially, whose story sounds more plausible based on the available evidence.)

As £25k is involved, I think you should talk with a solicitor.

Edit to add...

As I mentioned in my previous post, this may be considered to be a land banking scheme and could possibly be classed as a Collective Investment Scheme. If so, it should be regulated by the FCA. If it is an unregulated CIS, it's illegal.

If it's illegal, that could be a route to getting your money back under section 75. (But there are lots of 'ifs' here.)

Take a look at:
http://www.fca.org.uk/consumers/scams/investment-scams/land-banking
http://www.landregistry.gov.uk/public/guides/public-guide-21

ILW

You paid £25,000 for a plot with only a verbal indication that PP would be granted? Nothing in writing?

What would the plot be worth with PP?

I suspect this is a wind up.

eddddy

ILW wrote: »

You paid £25,000 for a plot with only a verbal indication that PP would be granted? Nothing in writing?

What would the plot be worth with PP?

I suspect this is a wind up.

Possibly a wind up... but according to the FCA:

We estimate land banking schemes have cost UK investors as much as £200m.

See: http://www.fca.org.uk/consumers/scams/investment-scams/land-banking

So the OP would not be alone!

thenudeone

ILW wrote: »

I suspect this is a wind up.

Don't be so sure.

The example discussed on BBC moneybox paid £12k for a plot of land.

Moneybox got a local estate agent who valued it at...
£75.00:eek::eek: