Missold Static Caravan

Golfer1969

Hello, I am after some advice if possible. Last year I had to hand back my static caravan to the Finance Company. The reason I could no longer afford the increasing pitch fees which over 3 years went from £3k to over £6k. Then on top of that the depreciation of the caravan which I bought for £48k but was only offered £18k after 3 years. I have contacted Holiday Park Advice Centre who put me in contact with the ECC who wanted over £5k to take my claim on. My question is has anybody tried to claim for being missold their caravan by a park and what is the best way to go about this? This nearly bankrupted me so would really like to try and get some compensation. Thanks.

Penguin_

How were you mis-sold your caravan? 

molerat

How was it mis-sold ?  I thought it was general knowledge that static caravans are a money pit.

The fact that a vulture company will only take on the case with an up front charge says something about your chance of a successful claim.

SiliconChip

As is nearly always the case when mis-sold is used it's actually a case of mis-bought.

I'd be wary of using ECC based on what I've seen about them in other threads, mainly on the subject of timeshares but I guess they could also deal with static caravan issues.

swingaloo

If you look at the Holiday Park Action Group you will see hundreds of people in exactly the same position and worse. The number of buyers who are having to hand vans back is astounding. All taken in by salesmen but all not doing due diligence before signing on the dotted line.

It may pay you to have a good look at that site as they have a group claim going on which may be of use to you.

Tucosalamanca

I'm early fifties, this was happening on caravan parks 30 years ago (probably longer but that's before my time).

It's not a new thing.
Buy a static van, think you're special because vanity is a powerful emotion and the sales people are very good at pushing the right buttons.
Reluctantly stump up increasing fees until you've had enough or the park tell you that it's time to upgrade your van (as yours is too old for the park).
Park offers you a pittance or even charges an astronomical sum to have the van removed.
Not forgetting all the other 'charges'.

I can't understand how so many people are still falling for this?
It's not a dig at OP, I still see family and friends falling for it, when they absolutely should/do know better.

Television, radio, newspapers, social media. Horror stories are everywhere and yet people still go for it.....

Grumpy_chap

Golfer1969 said:

Hello, I am after some advice if possible. Last year I had to hand back my static caravan to the Finance Company. The reason I could no longer afford the increasing pitch fees which over 3 years went from £3k to over £6k. Then on top of that the depreciation of the caravan which I bought for £48k but was only offered £18k after 3 years. I have contacted Holiday Park Advice Centre who put me in contact with the ECC who wanted over £5k to take my claim on. My question is has anybody tried to claim for being missold their caravan by a park and what is the best way to go about this? This nearly bankrupted me so would really like to try and get some compensation. Thanks.

In what way were you mis-sold the static caravan?
In what way did the static caravan nearly bankrupt you?

Your purchased the static caravan for £48k.  Presumably you could afford that purchase / the repayments on that purchase when the agreement was entered into.
You knew the static caravan would be a depreciating asset.
Did the caravan park make any guarantees or references to the future value of the static caravan at any future point?
Did the original purchase have any constraints stated as to maximum time the static caravan could remain at the current site?

You knew at the outset that annual fees were payable for the pitch fee.
Was any reference made in the contract relating to the process by which the pitch fees increase?
If not, then the pitch fees are open to the vagaries of inflation and pricing each year.  There is no "one size fits all" inflation figure.  I suspect that the site operators have been impacted by rather more than the headline rate of inflation by factors such as energy costs and costs to employ lower pay scale staff.  This results in an increase in the pitch fees at a rate above the general / headline rate of inflation.

If the costs for the static caravan were really close to causing your bankruptcy, then selling at the £18k (or any higher value you can achieve if not selling back to the site operator) and being rid of the ongoing burden is probably the best thing you can do.

I do not want to sound harsh with the above comments but realise they may not be what you want to hear.  These may be the comments that prompt the questions that allow you to share more and pertinent information which may assist members of the forum to give more structured advice as to next steps.

That advice might also give some guidance as to any potential legal claim you might have and the strength of that claim, so inform your decision as to whether paying £5k to ECC to take you case on would be a wise decision.
What would be the basis of any claim that you ask to be taken on?
What other costs are you committing to if you engage ECC beyond the initial £5k?  (Monetary / time / stress / ongoing need to provide information.)
If the case via ECC is successful, what proportion of any award do ECC retain?

My strong advice before considering instructing any external support / claims company to take on your case would be to try to establish exactly what you think the case might be that you would make a claim for (legal basis) and what award you might receive as a result of that claim assuming you are successful.  That will then allow you to consider the value of a claim, either via a claims company or, if there is a simple and clear case, you might be able to make exactly the same claim with exactly the same prospects independently via small claims.

david29dpo

This "scam" as been going on for years.
As this is a money saving site, i am amazed the amount of people who fall for it.
A friend of mine bought a lodge for 125K with a site fee of 5k a year.
Five years later, sold for 24k to the site, 7k yearly fees
The site sold the same lodge for 75k a week later.

Sorry but your screwed. 

Pollycat

Tucosalamanca said:

I'm early fifties, this was happening on caravan parks 30 years ago (probably longer but that's before my time).

It's not a new thing.
Buy a static van, think you're special because vanity is a powerful emotion and the sales people are very good at pushing the right buttons.
Reluctantly stump up increasing fees until you've had enough or the park tell you that it's time to upgrade your van (as yours is too old for the park).
Park offers you a pittance or even charges an astronomical sum to have the van removed.
Not forgetting all the other 'charges'.

I can't understand how so many people are still falling for this?
It's not a dig at OP, I still see family and friends falling for it, when they absolutely should/do know better.

Television, radio, newspapers, social media. Horror stories are everywhere and yet people still go for it.....

david29dpo said:

This "scam" as been going on for years.
As this is a money saving site, i am amazed the amount of people who fall for it.
A friend of mine bought a lodge for 125K with a site fee of 5k a year.
Five years later, sold for 24k to the site, 7k yearly fees
The site sold the same lodge for 75k a week later.

Sorry but your screwed. 

Not everyone who buys a static caravan 'falls for it'. 

My parents had various caravans on various sites for over 50 years.
As children, we had lots of happy holidays.

My sister - who couldn't afford a 'proper' holiday - managed to give her kids happy holidays for years.

After my parents retired, they spent months at a time at their caravan.
They were happy there (on a small site with no club, no pool, no shower block) with like-minded people who also appreciated the quiet life.

They never claimed they were 'mis-sold' a caravan - because they went into it with their eyes open.

Jenni_D

There's a difference between caravan and static caravan. The latter is more akin to a small house that people use as their near-permanent home (subject to site rules), whereas the former is (technically, if not done so in reality) mobile and is used for occasional/regular holidays. Myself and parents/siblings also used to regularly holiday at a caravan (owned between my parents and aunt/uncle) on a site with minimal facilities* and we all really enjoyed those breaks. But we never considered it a static caravan.

* there was a toilet block with running water, but cold only - standing in a low-down Belfast-type sink getting washed in cold water was fun. 👀 Drinking water had to be collected from a standpipe and stored in a big plastic barrel.  

Tucosalamanca

I don't think it's a case of mis-selling, rather a case of not realising how expensive it can be (or how poor returns can be if hiring out).
Has anyone noticed how much more popular seasonal touring pitches are becoming?
Many of the benefits of static ownership, without many of the costs.
Caravan owners also have the benefit of being able to leave site and tour if they wish. I think it's a good compromise for those who enjoy holiday parks.