Are European Consumer Claims (ECC) the market leaders in timeshare compensation claims? Here’s why we think so

Journalism allows freedom of speech, but we still need to be careful about making bold claims about our own business. With that in mind, here’s why we believe European Consumer Claims (ECC) leads the timeshare compensation claims sector.

European Consumer Claims is “number one”

Number one?

It’s a strong statement—and it needs equally strong evidence, particularly in an area where the well-funded timeshare industry and its lobby groups fight hard to protect their interests.

For decades, timeshare sales businesses operated with little consequence while making vast sums from ordinary people. Now, courts are increasingly awarding compensation to victims. That shift has put the industry under real pressure, and some timeshare-backed entities work to discredit and disrupt the claims companies helping people pursue redress—especially those targeted by high-pressure sales tactics on the Spanish costas, the islands and elsewhere.

Timeshare-funded organisations also know you will research before you act. That’s why they sponsor multiple pro-timeshare “advice” websites designed to steer people away from pursuing compensation claims.

They also scrutinise every word published by claims firms like European Consumer Claims (ECC), looking for reasons to lodge what are widely considered nuisance complaints with bodies such as the Advertising Standards Authority. Any minor correction is then promoted as a “major victory” in ongoing attempts to undermine the firms bringing legal challenges.

With adversaries as determined as these, ECC does not claim to be number one lightly.

We stand by that claim.

Below are the metrics we believe support it:

Corporate history

ECC: credibility built from the start

ECC was formed in 2016, shortly after the first ever successful timeshare compensation claim (won by Norwegian national Tove Grimsbo against Anfi">Anfi Del Mar).

Until 2016, nobody knew for certain whether any of the thousands of claims being pursued against European timeshare businesses would succeed—or whether they would amount to little more than an expensive experiment.

Ms Grimsbo’s €40,000 compensation award established a vital legal precedent and opened the door for European Consumer Claims to incorporate and ethically represent other timeshare victims.

In the seven years since that judgment—reflecting the scale of demand for financial justice—ECC has grown to dominate the claims industry.

At the time of publication, seven years is the maximum period a claims firm can have operated while knowing with certainty that timeshare compensation claims can achieve successful legal outcomes.

Awards total to date

Tens of millions in compensation awards

From the company’s inception to the time of writing, ECC’s associated firm of lawyers, M1 Legal, have secured 1247 award victories.

The total value is £23.4 million. These cases are already won.

There are over 1000 further claims currently in progress at various stages of the relevant legal systems, worth a further £22.3 million.

Consistent year-on-year increases of between 30% and 50% in ECC’s compensation victory totals demonstrate the size of the untapped market, and ECC does not expect demand to slow any time soon.

We are not aware of any other claims firm with a portfolio—and an evidenced record of success—on this scale.

Offices and partners

Henley, New York and Malaga

ECC operates from a well-appointed head office in Henley-on-Thames (UK), with offices in both Spain and the US. We are always happy to welcome visitors at our customer centres, either in person or by video call. Only genuine claims firms offer this level of accessibility. It demonstrates that we have nothing to hide.

We work closely with multiple legal experts in Spain and the UK, including M1, Michelmores, Mishcon De Reya and Pinder Reaux.

ECC recognises that a broad, international spread of legal talent is essential due to the multi-jurisdictional nature of many timeshare operations. With our coverage, there is nowhere timeshare companies can hide from ECC.

We believe ECC’s corporate footprint—along with our partnerships—is more substantial and more credible than that of our rivals.

Volume of staff

Hundreds of staff across multiple countries

ECC currently employs a workforce (including leadership) of 173 dedicated professionals.

We are not aware of any other firm in the same space with even half as many full-time staff.

This large team enables ECC to employ dedicated specialists who support every stage of the claim or relinquishment process.

Yes, we need a high headcount because we support a high volume of clients and claims. But it also means we can draw on a strong depth of expertise and experience from across both the claims and timeshare industries.

Post-sales departments

Dedicated specialist support after you sign up

One major difference between retaining ECC and choosing less experienced or less trustworthy “competition” is the level of post-sales care.

ECC has a Post Sales team of 16 expert administration personnel.

We also have Onboarding and Documents departments, whose role is to help clients—some of whom may be older or less confident with technology—with the paperwork and evidence needed for a claim. Where documents are missing, the Documents team has several options to obtain records from resorts directly via legal channels.

A Pre-Legal department then assesses and prepares the compiled documents before assigning each case to the lawyer or firm with the most relevant experience dealing with the resort in question.

Alongside online client portals that allow clients to check progress, we have a dedicated Customer Assistance Area with 8 full-time staff to answer queries and provide support by video call, phone, email or chat. Video calls are our preferred option because we believe communication is more effective when you can speak face-to-face.

Client feedback and reviews

Consistent five-star ratings from clients

ECC’s industry-leading commitment to service and communication has earned a strong reputation for customer care, reflected across major online review platforms.

Five stars (or as close as is realistically possible) is ECC’s typical rating. Internally, we accept nothing less than a five-star standard.

Alongside written reviews, ECC encourages clients to leave video testimonies published on our website. “The concept is straightforward,” says Andrew Cooper, CEO of ECC. “When you can see the real human being giving the video testimonial, you have more opportunity to judge their authenticity than you do with a written reference. It is quite simply more credible.”

These video reviews are audited by KFP Consulting, headed by former UK Trading Standards CEO, Leon Livermore.

KFP contacts each new video reviewer to confirm that:

• They are a genuine ECC client
• Their testimony reflects their genuine experience with ECC
• They have not been offered payment or any other incentive to recommend ECC

A combination of the above

There may be rival firms that come close to ECC in certain areas. We can think of one or two that have been operating for a similar length of time, for example.

However, we confidently assert that no other timeshare claims company matches ECC across more than one of the measures listed above.

We invite any observer to prove otherwise.

Find out for yourself

If you are stuck in a timeshare contract you are no longer happy with, get in touch with our team to arrange a free, no-obligation consultation.

Discover for yourself what makes ECC “number one”.