‘Timeshare loans bled our dad dry’

One reader has been forced into council accommodation by the burden of repaying his loan, writes Harry Brennan

Acompany that invited people on free holidays to sell them timeshares has said it will vigorously defend itself against allegations of misselling as disgruntled customers fight to get their money back.

Club la Costa, which sold timeshares in Spain, Britain, Austria, Turkey and America, fell into administration in November, with around 700 claims worth € 32m (£ 28m) against it for alleged breaches of Spanish timeshare sales laws.

But lawyers have warned that pursuing claims may be fruitless after the firm’s administrators disclosed that the company had just £1.3m to pay its creditors and had resorted to selling off office furniture, IT equipment and iPads.

Customers have complained about allegedly aggressive sales tactics, including being sold timeshares for tens of thousands of pounds at seminars on free holidays at CLC resorts.

Others were unhappy with regularly increasing membership fees, “upselling”, not being able to sell their timeshares, or being sold highinterest loans to pay for timeshares via third- party lenders. CLC had tieups with a number of lenders including Shawbrook Bank and Hitachi Personal Finance.

Stuart Crawford, 69, who was forced to retire early by mobility problems and a diagnosis of dementia, is still on the hook for almost £700 in monthly loan repayments to the two lenders for a holiday club membership he is now unable to use because of his failing health.

His family said the repayments for long- term loans totalling almost £ 45,000 had “bled him dry” and become so burdensome that he had been forced into council- funded accommodation.

CLC said Mr Crawford had been on 23 holidays with his club membership in 14 different countries with family and friends. But Alistair Crawford, his son and attorney, said his father was now “trapped with the loans” and unable to sell his timeshare, which provides no income. He said his father had also lost £5,000 to a scam claims firm called EZE Group, which had promised to help him, before its owners were jailed.

“My parents’ financial position has been so affected by this that they are about to have to seek local authority accommodation suitable for my father’s disabilities, and the debt could leave my mother destitute after he dies,” he said.

Mr Crawford claimed CLC had sold his father timeshares without fully explaining the risk of not being able to easily exit the arrangement if he was unable to use his club membership. He said he was also encouraged to buy upgrades, such as a membership of the firm’s yacht club. CLC said it was “astonished” by the claims, saying they appeared “vexatious and unwarranted”.

Stephen Boyd of solicitors Athena Law said claimants were more likely to have success pursuing UK lenders that financed the sale of the timeshares.

British lenders face 3,700 Financial Ombudsman Service complaints about “point- of-sale” loans relating to timeshares, Telegraph Money has learnt.

Shawbrook Bank and Hitachi Personal Finance have more than 1,000 complaints against them in total, said the ombudsman. The cases are ongoing.

Shawbrook said it investigated all complaints and always took action if it saw evidence of poor treatment. Hitachi Personal Finance said it had revised Mr Crawford’s payment plan in light of his situation and it always helped customers who were struggling.

A CLC spokesman said: “These holidays amounted to a total of eight months of vacations for between two and six people, including cruises.”

He said the holidays were “excellent value for money” and added that the firm would “defend our position as vigorously as we have done in other cases brought by unscrupulous claims management companies, or by individuals”.

Parent group CLC World, its members and resorts continue to operate as normal.