Timeshare Consumer Association aims to claim back maintenance fees during Covid-19 lockdowns
Cancelled travel and ongoing timeshare maintenance fees during lockdown
The Timeshare Consumer Association (TCA) is a consumer body that campaigns for timeshare owners’ rights. With lockdown restrictions and widespread travel disruption, many owners have been unable to use their timeshare holidays. However, maintenance fees have continued to be charged, leaving people paying for a timeshare they could not visit.
The TCA has launched a campaign aimed at helping timeshare owners recover money where maintenance fees were paid for periods when use of the resort was not possible due to pandemic restrictions. The situation has been particularly worrying for British timeshare owners with resorts overseas, including in Spain, where border controls and travel restrictions have affected access. British travellers who are not residents or do not hold a green residency certificate have been advised not to attempt to enter the country.
This follows announcements from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) that firms which fail to refund customers for cancelled holidays, flights and related activities because of the virus outbreak could face court action if they break the law.
The Timeshare Consumer Association says timeshare owners may also be missing out on refunds worth millions of pounds.
To support the campaign, the TCA has created an online Maintenance Survey to gather information from timeshare owners. In their words, this is “so that we can better understand the situation faced in relation to their maintenance fees with the objective to seek refunds for those affected.”
The TCA is keen to hear whether maintenance has already been paid, and how much, for any period when owners have been unable to use their timeshare now or in the future due to the Covid-19 outbreak. It also asks whether a holiday was cancelled, whether payments had already been made, whether any refund or credit note was offered for the missed week(s), and whether flights were refunded.
“There are millions of pounds currently sat in timeshare developers’ pockets and their stance is to offer worthless promissory notes, similar to those being offered illegally by airlines and tour operators,” said a TCA spokesman, Charles Drummond-Moray. “We have cash rich timeshare companies invoicing for yearly maintenance costs and the poor timeshare owners get hammered again.
“The CMA has launched investigations into this flouting of the law but timeshare owners appear to have been ignored and individuals could be due thousands of pounds.”
On Thursday (April 30), the CMA (Consumer and Marketing Association) announced that four out of five complaints it received about the Covid-19 crisis related to cancellations of flights and holidays, and the payment of refunds — with holidaymakers facing pressure from airlines and travel companies to accept vouchers instead of refunds for journeys and accommodation.
The CMA said consumer law requires a full refund if a contract to provide promised goods or services has been cancelled. This includes situations where no service is provided due to Covid-19 restrictions during lockdown, as well as where the consumer has to cancel because of the restrictions.
Could you be owed a timeshare maintenance fee refund?
The Timeshare Advice Centre is supporting the work the TCA is doing and invites you to complete this survey, as we believe your voice should be heard. To take part, please visit www.timeshareconsumerassociation.org.uk and register.
Related links
This is a widely discussed issue, and the press release has been picked up by several established media outlets, including the London Stock Exchange and Yahoo Finance. You can read more via the links below.
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