Mis sold loan for timeshare - Malta Azure Resorts Ltd

Marky82

Hi. My parents went on holiday to Golden Sands Radisson resort in Malta in 2008. They were given the hard sell on a timeshare by Azure Resorts Ltd and they ended up taking out a £16,700 loan for a unit for 1 week a year. This loan for a financial stretch for them but the unit was made out to be an investment that would eventually more than pay for itself. The loan was with Barclays and it has subsequently come to light that Azure were not licensed brokers and shouldn't have been selling loans. They were not interested in affordability, only getting a sale. Once my parents were 'members' the hard sell continued in future visits, and they convinced my parents to twice more take out loans that they couldn't afford, buying multiple units that could then be rented out and pay for the one they were actually using. The 3 loans came to over £36,000 in total, all from Barclays, and all sold, apparently, illegally.

The rental income was not as reliable as promised, so they did have to pay out of pocket for these loans. Luckily they did eventually manage to sell some of the units and paid back all the loans eventually. Although they are still left with one to this day. 

A few months ago they got a phone call from Claims Solutions Group, a 'solicitors' claiming they can get them out of the time share contract and after a subsequent Skype call with someone call Simon Conners were told they could also get £50,000 compensation for their mis sold loans. All it would cost them is a £6000 upfront fee! I did some digging on this company and it quickly became apparent (if it was not already!) that they were not trustworthy and told my parents not to speak to them again.

I just want to get my parents out of this situation and get them at least some of their money back. Apologies for the long post but does anyone have any advice on the best course of action. Azure Resorts Ltd went into administration this year and have since been taken over by a different company, but do we have any claim with Barclays on the mis sold loans? Like I say, they were not brokers and did not do any affordability checks before selling the loan. When my parents rang Barclays to ask for the statements from the 3 loans, rather tellingly, the person on the phone knew they were about Malta before they even looked at the account. If they do have a claim, what can they claim for (the interest paid, which amounts to about £12,000?). What is the best way to do this?

Lastly, how do we get them out of the contract? They have been trying to sell their unit for the last few years and have just been given one excuse after another. I found Stephen Boyd at Athena Law, who specialises in this sort of thing. Does anyone have any experience with him?

Please, no comments about how they should have known better. I have seen how aggressive these sleazy salesman were, and comments like that are not helpful.
Many thanks in advance.

Grumpelstiltskin

Have you seen this thread?
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6153103/timeshare-with-barclays-finance-loan
If yo put Timeshare Malta in search it throws up more.

Marky82

One of the other threads links to www.timeshareterminationteam.co.uk/, does anyone have any dealings with this company?

Do you think we have any claim against Barclays? I'm trying to find out what happened with the tribunal detailed in this article but can't find anything https://insidetimeshare.com/start-the-week-13/. The dates are after my parents' loans but the details sound exactly the same.

comeandgo

Trip Advisor has a timeshare forum.  You may get information there.

sourcrates

This advice applies to any mis-selling or pressured sale complaint.

Put your complaint in writing, giving as many details, facts etc as possible, and send it to Barclays.

In my own personal view, Barclays should have done due dilligence as to who it was using as a broker, the fact they were not FCA (or OFT as it was then) registered should have been easy to find out, they obviously did not check, nor was affordability taken into account.

The problem you might have is time, why have you waited 12 years to complain ?

The limitation act may come into play here, and Barclays may not entertain a complaint that old.

Marky82

Thanks sourcrates, that's exactly the type of advice I was after. Do you think I should specify what we would like in compensation? What do you think would be reasonable? At the very least I'd say the interest paid. 
With respect to why it has taken 12 years, to be honest I didn't think there would be any comeback until we started reading about the tribunal regarding whether loans were valid. And that only came to our attention after looking into the dodgy claims company!

sourcrates

It’s usually interest refunded in full, plus statutory interest @ 8% per annum, as a court would award.

Marky82

Marvelous. Thanks again. 

Danisadude

Im glad i found this and the linked threads in. I am 'one of those' who in 2015 had the rose coloured glasses and holiday love and signed up to one of these deals. 
Over the last few weeks i have been chased by 7 or 8 different companies all offering to help me out of my timeshare, but they all want around 3k upfront and 30% of what was claimed back at the end. 
All of the calls seem similar, they all want whats best for me, giving me loads of gibberish about section 75 and 140, about how i can pay on a CC and im doubley protected. But none of them seem all that legit, most of the companies have little info around them. What ive come here for today, is to find others that have been through this scenario and come out the other side.
I understand i can write to Azure, tell them to get lost, and i can end my deal with them free, however my greedy brain kicks in, and says ive lost my 10G's then.
Ive looked at all the linked threads, i have a solicitor who does all our general stuff like how purchases etc, is this the kind of thing i can take to them direct and cut out these dodgy !!!!!! cold calls? Im happy to pay somebody to do the work for me, and get the best for me with correct legal terminology but i dont want to be scammed by somebody i dont know.

sourcrates

Timeshare agreements can be very complex and difficult to understand, however, you don`t need a claims management company to make a complaint, you simply write a letter to the company describing your concerns, tell them why you are unhappy, and what you want them to do about it.

One thing i would suggest you do first though is get some legal advice on your position, the Legal Beagles website is a good place to start, and their advice is free.

Should legal action be required, you can commence this yourself on the MCOL website, and just pay the statutory fee, rather than 35% to a CMC.

PenelopeRose65

Hi, I am also on of those who took out a timeshare in Malta with all associated promises and then subsequent upgrade, now that the Barclays ruling is in place, can anyone advise whether they have been able to claim back their loan if they had paid it up - we handed back our timeshare in 2019 with a commitment from Azure that we could take 3 weeks holiday as a payment from them in return - we booked to go to Bali 2020 but due to COVID could not go and was informed that there was no alternative now they were in administration.

Many thanks in advance for any advice and for any details of reputable solicitors etc we could use as we are getting loads of calls from "solicitors" offering support etc which is just like the hard sell we had when purchasing the timeshare in the first place! Also as we took our first timeshare out in I think it was 2007 we no longer have any details of the Barclay loan - can anyone advise how we would be able to get this information please.