Nearly everyone in the world has heard about timeshare, whether they own or not, but very few understand the laws surrounding timeshare or it’s complexity. Here at Timeshare Advice we have a detailed background of the laws and directives that timeshare companies should be adhering to, and we would like to give you a clearer understanding.
The UK Timeshare Act 1992 was the first law that applied to timeshare and was put into place to regulate the conduct of timeshare companies selling timeshare to private purchasers. This act was then replaced by the Timeshare Holiday Products, Resale and Exchange Contracts Regulations 2010 in February 2011. This new directive meant there were new common rules for all countries in the EEA. The common laws helped people avoid confusion.
Since 1997 a Directive has been in place and has been issued by the European Parliament which was then replaced by a second Directive in 2009, that actually came into effect in 2011. The second Directive was issued due to discrepancies in the wording of the first Directive.
The unfair terms in Consumer Contract Regulations Law came into effect in 1999, which meant enforcement authorities could stop contracts that were unfair to consumers. This law overlapped with the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 has now replaced this law and is more widely known.
Understanding the complexity of timeshare can be difficult but hopefully understanding a little about what the laws are and when they came into effect will be useful.
All of our timeshare specialists here at Timeshare Advice have many years of experience and are fully trained in the timeshare industry and its complicated laws. They have all spent numerous hours analysing timeshare contracts and understanding even the tiniest of details.
Unfortunately, it is not as easy as just reading through the contract and finding the problem, so we strongly advise against trying to do this yourself. If you are wanting to exit your timeshare because you feel that it was sold to you unlawfully, looking at the contract yourself could mean that you may miss any possible evidence of wrongdoing. As already mentioned timeshare law is not easy to understand.
The timeshare companies are likely to have used unusual or complicated terms or misleading words, something we like to call timeshare jargon. Our timeshare specialists have gone through many contracts and know what they are looking for and how to act on it. Part of their job is also keep up to date on the changes and ‘goings on’ within the timeshare industry.
If you need any further information or are looking for advice on what you need to do, don’t hesitate to call us on 0800 0124683 to speak to someone straight away or visit our website www.timeshare-advice.co.uk.
See our recent post regarding the a-z of timeshare jargon.