Caravan Park Fees and Coronovirus Lockdown

lincroft1710

John_Philip_Howarth said:

Aylesbury Duck, so what do you recommend. Thst every caravan owner takes a solicitor with them when they buy a caravan and sign the pitch fee agreement. ? The fact that the contract is unregulated needs looking into. I have written to the Government and the Competions and Marketing Authority but they are not interested.

Before you buy the caravan, ask for a copy of the pitch agreement and if you consider certain rules/conditions unfair, try to negotiate their removal. If the site owner refuses or does not convince you they are fair, then don't buy the van.

If all potential caravan purchasers did this, then site owners would soon remove unfair and/or onerous rules/conditions.

Thrugelmir

John_Philip_Howarth said:

Aylesbury Duck, so what do you recommend. Thst every caravan owner takes a solicitor with them when they buy a caravan and sign the pitch fee agreement. ? The fact that the contract is unregulated needs looking into. I have written to the Government and the Competions and Marketing Authority but they are not interested.

Reading the agreement would be a start. Takes an event such as Covid to shake people out of their own complacency.  People are only concerned when it's their own money. Never bothered when it's someone elses. That's human nature. 

Lesspend

Jeremy535897 said:

The VAT reduction was designed to help the businesses rather than their customers. It was for each business to decide how much, if any, of the reduction to pass on to customers. In addition, with this sort of service, the VAT point (and consequently the rate) is not always what you think.

The point is that the year 20 bill was for the site fee plus 20% vat, which the owner subsequently advised that due to the lockdown effect, he would maintain the same cost for year 21. - When year 21 bill came it was as he said maintained at the same price but indicating 5% vat. - hence the site fee had increased quite a lot???  - I feel that I have been the subject of an opportunist fraud made possible by a not so well thought out process by the government in its quest to help this virus difficulty.

jon81uk

Lesspend said:

Jeremy535897 said:

The VAT reduction was designed to help the businesses rather than their customers. It was for each business to decide how much, if any, of the reduction to pass on to customers. In addition, with this sort of service, the VAT point (and consequently the rate) is not always what you think.

The point is that the year 20 bill was for the site fee plus 20% vat, which the owner subsequently advised that due to the lockdown effect, he would maintain the same cost for year 21. - When year 21 bill came it was as he said maintained at the same price but indicating 5% vat. - hence the site fee had increased quite a lot???  - I feel that I have been the subject of an opportunist fraud made possible by a not so well thought out process by the government in its quest to help this virus difficulty.

If the price is £100 then it doesn't matter if it is £95 plus VAT or £80 plus VAT if you agreed to pay £100.

Aylesbury_Duck

John_Philip_Howarth said:

Aylesbury Duck, so what do you recommend. Thst every caravan owner takes a solicitor with them when they buy a caravan and sign the pitch fee agreement. ? The fact that the contract is unregulated needs looking into. I have written to the Government and the Competions and Marketing Authority but they are not interested.

Why not?  You employ a conveyancer to do just that when you buy a house.  Some of these caravans/mobile/static homes cost tens of thousands of pounds, and that's before you've even counted the cost of an annual pitch and any resulting service fees.  Are you saying that paying a professional perhaps a few hundred pounds to look over a five- or six-figure purchase and tenancy agreement is not a good idea?

John_Philip_Howarth

Thrugulmir ", Reading the agreement would be a start. Takes an event such as Covid to shake people out of their own complacency.  People are only concerned when it's their own money. Never bothered when it's someone elses. That's human nature. "
As you are probably aware, the pitch fee agreement makes no mention of the available weeks in the year when you can actually use your caravan.If only gives you the opening and closing dates of each season. The agreement is to store your caravan on the owners land , not how many weeks you can stay there . This is where the park owners have the upper hand.
Also the fact the caravan park owners all seem to get away with insisting on a bank transfer for fees or a cheque, to stop owners trying to claim back from a section 75 for a credit card payment.

Aylesbury_Duck

John_Philip_Howarth said:

Thrugulmir ", Reading the agreement would be a start. Takes an event such as Covid to shake people out of their own complacency.  People are only concerned when it's their own money. Never bothered when it's someone elses. That's human nature. "
As you are probably aware, the pitch fee agreement makes no mention of the available weeks in the year when you can actually use your caravan.If only gives you the opening and closing dates of each season. The agreement is to store your caravan on the owners land , not how many weeks you can stay there . This is where the park owners have the upper hand.
Also the fact the caravan park owners all seem to get away with insisting on a bank transfer for fees or a cheque, to stop owners trying to claim back from a section 75 for a credit card payment.

How would a section 75 claim apply, when the service paid for has been provided?

You are providing more and more evidence that people have no case and that their own due diligence is lacking, which is not what I thought you set out to do.  Yes, the park owners have the upper hand, but no one has a gun held to their head when buying a caravan and choosing a site for it.  They willingly sign those contracts.  And if they don't want to pay by bank transfer or cheque, look elsewhere.

It's a major purchase/investment. For most people, probably the second biggest they'll ever make.  That's why it's so silly that people aren't getting advice and are entering into expensive contracts without reading them and/or understanding them.

John_Philip_Howarth

Aylesbury !!!!!!
Taken from MSE last lock down.

If you paid the fees by credit card, you can try a Section 75 claim (or chargeback)

Section 75 is an important UK consumer protection law made in the 1970s that means your credit provider MUST take the same responsibility as the retailer if things go wrong with a purchase.

The law means your credit card must protect purchases over £100 for free, so if there's a problem you could get your money back. This little-known scheme's taken on much more importance in recent weeks, as coronavirus has led to a spate of cancellations, with many asking if Section 75 could help.

The key to Section 75 is that the supplier must be in breach of its contract with you. To make a claim, you need to contact your credit card company (you can still claim on an account that's closed), not Visa, Mastercard or Amex. 

If you are really aware of your facts please advise any caravan park where you are allowed to pay the annual pitch fees by debit or credit card.

MACKEM99

please advise any caravan park where you are allowed to pay the annual pitch fees by debit or credit card.

Tingdene.

https://payments.tingdenelifestyleparks.co.uk/buildorder.aspx

Aylesbury_Duck

John_Philip_Howarth said:

Aylesbury !!!!!!
Taken from MSE last lock down.

If you paid the fees by credit card, you can try a Section 75 claim (or chargeback)

Section 75 is an important UK consumer protection law made in the 1970s that means your credit provider MUST take the same responsibility as the retailer if things go wrong with a purchase.

The law means your credit card must protect purchases over £100 for free, so if there's a problem you could get your money back. This little-known scheme's taken on much more importance in recent weeks, as coronavirus has led to a spate of cancellations, with many asking if Section 75 could help.

The key to Section 75 is that the supplier must be in breach of its contract with you. To make a claim, you need to contact your credit card company (you can still claim on an account that's closed), not Visa, Mastercard or Amex. 

If you are really aware of your facts please advise any caravan park where you are allowed to pay the annual pitch fees by debit or credit card.

And?  That's a description of section 75, where it applies and how it works generally, of which I'm well aware.  The relevant part there is "that the supplier must be in breach of its contract with you".  That's the bit I'm disputing applies in these circumstances.  If you've paid a caravan park to house your caravan for a year and they've done so, where is the breach?  If there isn't one, paying by credit card is of no help.  There may be part of an annual fee that covers a specific service they've not delivered, in which case, a partial refund can be claimed (whether paid by credit card or not) but again, it comes down to the customer understanding what's in their contract and what they're paying for.

You can add as many exclamation marks as you want, but I've yet to see a rational explanation of how caravan parks are in breach of contract whilst current laws don't allow caravan owners to holiday there.  Nor have I seen your answer as to why seeking some legal advice before entering into such a major commitment is not a good idea.