Our story: Autumn 2018 Spanish timeshare claims and court victories (M1 Legal)

Welcome to ECC’s Autumn e-zine

We hope you enjoy this edition. If you have any questions or comments about any of the stories, please email us at pr@ecc-eu.com.

Our latest victories

M1 Legal secures the biggest financial timeshare victory in Spain

Earlier this week we published a press release about a major court win in Spain, where our legal partners M1 Legal secured €365,000 for our clients. You can read all about it here.

More success against Club La Costa

There have also been two further settlements for British couples in the Spanish courts. Just days after M1 Legal won an award of €365,000 for a Southampton couple, they secured two more victories.

Both cases were against Club La Costa, although the contractual name used was Paradise Trading SLU. In both matters, Paradise Trading SLU argued that it was not a contractual party and was simply acting as a sales agent for Club La Costa Resorts Development Limited.

The judge ruled that if a company has the power to end a contract, is responsible for collecting purchase payments, and applies pressure to clients over non-payment, then it can be liable as a contractual party. The judge also held that both contracts were null and void because they did not meet minimum legal contractual requirements.

It was considered irrelevant that Paradise Trading SLU did not issue the membership certificate.

Mr & Mrs Kelly of Worcestershire were awarded £26,728 plus legal fees, and another client was awarded £10,755 plus legal fees.

Club La Costa is aware that there are in excess of 100 cases in court and, in addition, M1 Legal is preparing a further 165 cases for submission.

Salina Wharf payouts

It’s been a busy few months securing more pay-outs connected to Salina Wharf. The Maltese resort closed in December 2016, leaving owners without the occupancy rights set out in their contracts.

M1 Legal has processed many claims with various high street banks, resulting in compensation totalling more than £20,000 in the last two months alone.

To find out more about your timeshare contract and any lending linked to it, call one of our advisers on 0203 6704 616.

Was your loan referred by an unauthorised broker?

Finance lenders have recently come under scrutiny for allowing brokers (often sales representatives) to introduce loans to consumers without FCA authorisation. Our Spanish lawyers, M1 Legal, recently attended a hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice involving Barclays Partner Finance (BPF), the Financial Conduct Authority and Mr James Sheehan, the barrister representing M1 Legal clients who purchased timeshares at Azure Resorts Ltd and financed them through BPF.

BPF financed loans signed between 1 April 2014 and 24 April 2016 that were all referred by employees of Azure Services, which was an unauthorised entity at that time. The hearing considered whether consumer detriment should be taken into account when the FCA decides whether to issue a Validation Order to uphold the loans. The judge determined that consumer detriment is a relevant factor for the FCA to consider on a broader basis when making its decision. This gives fresh hope to consumers who say they were misrepresented and encouraged to take out finance.

To find out if your timeshare loan was referred by an unauthorised broker, contact ECC on 0203 6704 616.

Azure Action Group update

M1 Legal continues to grow its Action Group for Azure Island Residence Club, with numbers now nearing 80 claimants. Owners of Azure timeshares have complained about mis-selling.

Many owners were encouraged to take out finance with Barclays Partner Finance to subsidise the cost of the timeshare and say they were misrepresented not only about the purchase, but also about the loan terms. Many were promised re-sales within a fixed timeframe, which they were told would pay off the loan in full and leave a substantial profit.

None of our clients has achieved the promised re-sale. Instead, they have been left with a timeshare while repaying substantial loans and costly maintenance fees, with no sign of the re-sale they were led to expect.

To join our Action Group, call 0203 6704 616 or email adriana@m1legal.com to register your interest.

Types of claims

Did you know there are different types of claims you may be eligible for? We recently created two videos to help explain the options and the key requirements.

Video 1: Understanding Spanish timeshare claims

In 2015, the Spanish Supreme Court made a landmark timeshare ruling backdated to 1999. Since then, many Spanish timeshare contracts signed from 1999 onwards have been deemed null and void.

Click the image above to watch the video, or click here to see if you may be eligible to claim.

Video 2: Understanding misrepresentation

There are many types of misrepresentation. Click the image above to watch the video, or click here for a clearer explanation and to see whether you may have a potential claim.

Visiting Costa del Sol?

As autumn gets underway, many of you will be travelling to Spain for holidays. If you’re visiting Málaga or the Costa del Sol, we would love to meet you. Please feel free to call in to our office to say hello and meet the team.

We’re easy to find in the Mijas Costa/Fuengirola area, right on the main Costa road (the N-340), directly opposite Mijas Aqua Park, in the office block above Iceland supermarket. If you have any difficulty finding us or getting here, please call 0034 951 562 209.