As of the 15th January 2020, Silverpoint SL has been declared by the Tenerife’s Commercial Court to be in “Concurso de Acreedores”, this means bankruptcy. Concurso de Acreedores is not as straight forward as simple bankruptcy though, it is a Spanish legal situation that can be provoked voluntarily by the company or involuntarily by a creditor when a company is considered to have more creditors than assets. Essentially the company is further in debt than all of the assets it has put together. To our knowledge, Silverpoint were transferring assets and funds to other various companies in an attempt to delay or even avoid paying what the courts have ordered.
https://www.infoempresa.com/en-in/es/company/silverpoint-vacations-sl
Is this the first time that Silverpoint has been in this predicament?
It has been expected that sooner rather than later, Silverpoint would soon find themselves in bankruptcy.
Resort Properties began in the early 80s. This company then branched into Palm Beach Club, Beverly Hills Club, Beverly Hills Heights and Hollywood Mirage. Years later these companies along with Club Paradiso fell into bankruptcy they all turned into Silverpoint SL. With Silverpoint now entering liquidation, these timeshare resorts have subsequently transferred their marketing and maintenance to yet another company ‘ONA group’. It seems that this is common practice for the company having been through this process in the past.
Mark Cushway, the CEO of Silverpoint and previous CEO of Resort Properties has very clearly been party to the companies operations and for this reason he may find himself liable and facing the legal consequences.
Where does this leave consumers awaiting court hearings or looking to submit a claim against Silverpoint?
There are a huge amount of clients that have now exited from their Silverpoint timeshare contracts and many processing compensation claims. This is usually due to irregularities in their contracts which contravene Spanish law and other grounds relating to misrepresentation.
https://ecc-eu.com/latest-victories/silverpoint
Even after bankruptcy such claims can be successful and payments awarded, however the difference is that from now on claims will be submitted to the Commercial Courts instead of the Civil Courts. This means that the clients will now be classified as creditors so will then have priority in the eyes of the law. For those owners still going through the claims process there will be no negative impact on yourself or your case; however it may prove to be considerably more time consuming and technically complicated.
What other options are available?
An alternative solution could be to seek the services of an FCA regulated Claims Management Company who will assist you with compiling a Section 75 claim.
Section 75 is a legal protection outlined within the UK Consumer Credit Act 1974, which was put in place to protect credit card consumers against mis-selling, misrepresentation and contractual breaches. Regardless of what product or service you purchased, if you paid with a credit card or took out a loan to fund the purchase then under British law; as with the vendor, your credit provider or loan company are equally responsible.
In this circumstance being that Silverpoint have gone into liquidation, your contract is now deemed to be “in breach”. As long as you spent over £100 and not more than £30,000 on the full purchase and you paid at least part by credit card or loan and can provide statements to prove it.
There is a 6 year period from 15th January 2020 to submit a claim. It is possible to claim against your credit card company or bank for a full reimbursement of your entire purchase cost, plus statutory interest at 8%.
We can recommend the following no-win no-fee FCA regulated Claims Management Company for this service;
Silverpoint, are they the only ones?
Silverpoint may not be the only group facing the courts as the Provincial State Prosecutor in Gran Canaria seems to already be taking an interest in the timeshare group; ANFI Resorts. This is due to the fact that ANFI appear to be making the same moves as Silverpoint by moving their money around in order to hide it.
https://insidetimeshare.com/breaking-news-prosecutors-office-denounces-anfi/
https://m1legal.com/our-victories
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