When Mrs C booked a promotional holiday with Silverpoint Vacations in Tenerife in the summer of 2012, she never thought it would lead to a long running dispute with Barclays Partner Finance about a loan agreement.
The promotional holiday package offered by Silverpoint was conditional upon Mrs C and her family attending a presentation on the benefits of Silverpoint Vacation Club timeshares. The holiday in Tenerife included complimentary transfers from the airport and promised the opportunity to hear about Silverpoint’s fantastic resorts, facilities and the exciting excursions on offer.
Mrs C and her family went to the timeshare presentation whilst on holiday, and were persuaded to purchase a timeshare in Club Paradiso, Los Cristianos. Whilst in Tenerife they signed contract documents and were offered a finance agreement with Clydesdale Financial Services trading as Barclays Partner Finance (‘Barclays’). However, the loan finance documents were not dealt with by a representative of Barclays but by a member of Silverpoint Vacations Ltd which was not regulated to conduct such business by the Financial Conduct Authority (‘FCA’).
Barclays offered finance to Mrs C and in August 2012 agreed a fixed term loan for £30,000 at 8.8% APR payable over 10 years.
Unfortunately, Club Paradiso did not survive long and closed its doors in May 2019 appointing liquidators the following year. Mrs C was left with liability for the loan and in September 2020 made a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman that the loan had been mis-sold.
Barclays Partner Finance have rejected the complaint saying it is out of time under the Limitation Act but Mrs C contests this, and will argue the claim was brought within 3 years of her becoming aware that she had cause for complaint in accordance with the FCA’s rules.
In May 2021 Mrs C made the final closing payment on her loan but her complaint to the Financial Ombudsman is still outstanding.
Mrs C has now instructed the Financial Mis-Selling Team at Hugh James to act on her behalf in connection with her complaint to the Ombudsman and is inviting other timeshare owners who entered loan agreements with Barclays Partner Finance to come forward to join the fight for compensation.
Mrs C’s case follows the recent judgement on compensation claims for the Azure group of timeshare owners. The Azure cases involved very similar circumstances which lead to Barclays recognised that loan agreements used to purchase timeshares in Malta were in fact unenforceable as they had been brokered by unauthorised broker in breach of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. In the Azure case Barclays ultimately agreed to refund all payments made under the agreements and pay 8% interest. At present, it does not seem that Barclays are willing to do the same for Mrs C and others that purchased timeshares through Silverpoint.
