Below is an email sent to the TCA from a timeshare consumer who successfully won their claim against Barclays bank.
This is a great example of how persistence and accuracy will help you with your claim for compensation!
“We claimed under the Act recently.
Initially we claimed against Barclays Partner Finance who financed a loan to acquire a Timeshare at Dyserth Falls Resort (which was Graig Park Country Village & Country Club when we first bought in 2007)
Barclays first response was to turn down our claim insisting that we were outside of the time limit stated in the Act (ie 6 years when in fact over 7 years had lapsed in our case !). I refused to accept this & pointed out that there were unusual circumstances involved at this resort (ie fraud, police involvement etc etc) which warranted them looking again at our claim. This they did but, still refused to accept our claim.
At this stage I contacted the Financial Ombudsman. The first thing he did was to ask for copies of ALL paperwork/contracts etc relating to the resort inc maintenance payments etc.
After looking at all paperwork & reading through other reports I had sent him (which I felt were relevant to our case ie Reports of fraud, evidence suggesting that the resort had re-opened early in Jan 2015 & was trading as a private resort etc etc) he came to the conclusion that the resort was ‘in breach of contract’ & therefore our contract should be cancelled & any remaining years left which we would be unable to use, to be compensated for in a cash settlement.
So, briefly the decision, which Barclays accepted, was:
- Our contract (which was for 30 years) to be cancelled.
- Any years left on the contract that we would be unable to use (ie 23) to be compensated for – so payment awarded to be 23/30 x original price paid
- Barclays to take over the Timeshare from us & any further liability, thus freeing us of any further involvement in the resort.
Hope this will be of help to any others who maybe are not sure of what to do or are being bullied by their Credit Company/Bank.
My advice is to gather ALL paperwork you think is relevant (& any other reports you think that show your resort is not being run in any way in your interest, but be very focused & very accurate in all information you send to FOS in order to maintain your credibility) & go for it as you have nothing to lose!!”
For more information regarding this article or assistance in any other timeshare related issues please contact the TCA on 01908 881058 or email: info@TimeshareConsumerAssociation.org.uk