How to protect yourself from Exaggerated Timeshare Claims
The internet is awash with unregulated timeshare claims management companies making bold statements of their clients winning large sums of money, through the Spanish court system. How truthful are they being?
We will be writing about this in more detail over the next few weeks, so keep a look out for our weekly blog on our website sarahwaddingtons.com, as well as our Facebook and Instagram pages.
Protect yourself from unregulated claims management companies and potential Timeshare scams.
With so many unregulated companies contacting timeshare owners, we understand that often it is hard to spot the red flags. So, we have detailed below some of the key things that should help protect you from potentially falling victim of a Timeshare scam:
1.You are cold-called.
If you are called by a person or company that you have not heard of, or directly requested a call back from, you should be on alert. Ask them how they got your number and who gave consent for them to contact you. If no satisfactory explanation is forthcoming, immediately terminate the call.
Cold calling is a serious offence, and your data may have been subject to a General Data Protection (GDPR) breach.
2.They are not SRA registered.
Ask them for their Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) registration number. If they cannot provide one, you may be at risk. If they do provide one, check the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) website.
3. They are not registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Ask them for their FCA registration number. If they cannot provide one, you may be at risk. If they do provide one check on the FCA website.
4. They are not a UK registered company
Ask them for their UK Companies House registration number. If they cannot provide one, you may be at risk. If they do provide one, check on Companies House.
5. They are not VAT registered.
Ask them for their UK VAT registration number. If they cannot provide one, you may be at risk. If they do provide one check on if its valid on .GOV
6. They do not accept credit cards
If they do not, then this is a serious warning that you may be at risk. The true reason as to why they don’t accept credit cards is very simple: you are protected, under the Consumer Act if you pay by credit card, and if they do not provide the service you can claim all your money back. If they do not accept payment by credit card, and no matter what they say, you may be at risk.
7. Accepting Revolut Payments
If they ask you to pay into a Revolut account, this is another warning that you may be at risk. Ask yourself, why are they using Revolut, rather than one of the traditional banks? Could it be that they have had so many complaints that their banking facilities have been rescinded. BE VERY AWARE.
8. They won’t provide you with the information above
If they are unable to provide you with this information, avoid answering, or suggest they will send it to you later, you may be at risk, so terminate the call. This sort of information should be easily accessible, and is there to protect you from potential scams. It will allow you to check the validity of the company you are engaging with.
9. They have no Website.
Most businesses have a website these days. If they are unable to provide you with a live website, you may be at risk.
10. They won’t give you time to check out the information.
Once you have all this information written down or emailed over from the caller, request some time to do your due diligence. If they try to pressure you into signing on the day, or paying a deposit, beware, as you may be at risk. A genuine organisation should allow people to do their own research. Applying pressure to sign up, pay deposits, or suggestions that their “offer” is only valid that day, should all be a sign for you to take a step back and think about whether or not you should proceed.
Remember you can also seek independent advice from a Solicitor. You can contact us on 01920 481 499 and our Solicitors will be happy to assist.
How to deal with potential exaggerated claims of Timeshare compensation
We are often sent or told about various claims of large sums of money being awarded to Timeshare owners via the Spanish court system. A quick search on the internet will bring up many articles suggesting this. We question the validity of these claims and so should you.
If a company is telling you that they have won timeshare owners money in the Spanish courts, you should ask them to answer the following question in writing:
How many of their clients have been successful in winning compensation in the Spanish Courts?
Of those clients, how many have had the award transferred into their bank account?
What is the total cumulative figure of money that clients have had physically transferred into their bank account?
For all those cases that have been “won” in the Spanish court system, what is the average wait time between “winning” and the clients receiving the money into their bank account?
How many clients are still awaiting physical payment to be transferred into their bank account?
How long is the longest client been waiting for payment to be made into their bank account?
This information is NOT CONFIDENTIAL. It does not contain private or confidential data, and they should be happy to provide it to you. If they cannot, or will not, BEWARE.
The bigger picture.
We believe that many people are being misled, with half-truth. Yes, people are winning in the Spanish courts. However, we believe that, despite these “wins”, many if not all of these Timeshare owners have yet to have had actual money paid into their bank accounts.
We will go onto explain why this might be the case, in our next blog.
Sarah Waddington Solicitors
Sarah Waddington Solicitors do NOT work with any 3rd parties and are not working in partnership with any other companies. If you are told otherwise, please get as much detail as you can and forward it on to us. We will deal with it appropriately.
If you want any assistance please feel free to get in touch with us on 01924 601 097, or request a call back
Finally, remember any genuine solicitor will be extremely careful to manage a client’s expectations. They will be honest and realistic with what could possibly be achieved in regard to your individual case. If someone claiming to be a lawyer or solicitor has been in contact, be sure to do your research and check if they are regulated by the SRA and if the individual is registered as a solicitor.