HCS 4

National Assembly for Wales
Communities, Equality and Local Government Committee
Holiday Caravan Sites (Wales) Bill
Response from: Edmund and Diane Cartwright

We have been asked to contact you regarding a proposal to ensure greater protection for consumers regarding static caravan sites. We purchased a static caravan on                                                          for £11,000 and two years later due to illness had to sell. Despite the owner assuring us when we purchased the van that he would re-sell the van within a certain timescale when we asked him to he refused but said he would 'take it off our hands' if we paid him £600 plus VAT. He refused to allow anyone else onto the site to even look at the van and eventually ordered us off the site. To cut a long story short the van was eventually craned off the site and we were given £600. Had we not persevered the site owner would have sold the caravan for £1,500, re-sold the decking and had our fee too.

Just as a 'for instance' if you fail to pay outstanding bills the interest rate is 1% per day compound.

Other owners had similar experiences.

When we bought the van we expected a written contract but when we asked the site owner said it was all done on trust, besides which they were a member of one of the main trade associations. They are members of one except although they helped draw up the guidelines with the OFT they withdrew before implementing it.

There is in reality very little protection without a written agreement and the owners can make life quite 'awkward' if you fall out with them.

Clear written agreements in line with the OFT guidelines should be mandatory.