Voluntary Termination

[Angelus]

Hi!
we have an issue with a static caravan we did a VT for.
the site owners are now refusing to refund our site fees paid in December for Jan2020/Dec2020 despite handing keys back on 31st January 2020
We expected 80% refund as per t & c’s
any advice?

[R0b]

Hello

Have you carefully read the T&Cs which entitle you to an 80% refund and have you complied with those conditions if there are any? If you have then you should be on solid ground but if you haven't, then they would likely be able to refuse a refund.

[Angelus]

Initially they said they’d send a cheque
when we contacted them this week we received this
“My understanding is that you are not entitled to a site fee refund because you handed the caravan back to the finance company, thereby terminating your agreement with us. Your voluntary termination of your agreement with the finance company, effectively handing the keys to them, means that we are now left with a caravan on our park that we do not want but have to buy from the finance company.

I suggest that you take further advice before proceeding to court as I really would not want you to end up out of pocket because of this.”

it seems to me that their agreement with the finance company means they’re out of pocket and we’re the folk they’re taking it out on
These are their T&c’s

Pitch Fees

Pitch fees represent the rental of your pitch for the coming year. These are invoiced once a year in September and payable by 1st January each year. Please refer to your licence agreement for more details about the proportion of pitch fee you would be due back based on when you terminate your licence agreement and leave park. Any refunds due are calculated to the date of your vacating your pitch and will be actioned within thirty days of your departure.

[R0b]

Well you need to look at the terms and conditions as a whole, and that clause there suggest you might be entitled to something as described in your licence agreement but difficult to say without seeing the rest of the terms. Are you able to upload a version of the terms with your personal info removed?

[Angelus]

Unfortunately we can’t find the original terms we signed at the beginning of our tenure at the site.

I’ll continue to look for them.

So the fact they said originally they’d send a cheque that means nothing?

[R0b]

Well pretty much, unless there's something in the contract that allows for it. Sending a cheque might be their preferred method but it is still subject to the terms that you agreed with them, otherwise why would there be a need for terms and conditions if you can simply disregard them?

If you don't have the terms and conditions that you signed then you could make a subject access request for all documentation they hold about you, including any copies of signed terms and conditions.

If you don't have the original terms, can I ask how you know the clause around pitch fees? Or are we talking about two different things?

[Angelus]

The terms I quoted are on their website
we also have an email from them confirming percentages of refunds depending when you leave the site

[R0b]

Can you share the company's website that your dealing with and when did you enter into the contract?

[Angelus]

https://inspireleisure.com/heatherga...orthumberland/
we signed finance agreement in September 2017
Possession of caravan was March 2018 as the former owners were still in residence due to their new van, same site, wasn’t ready.
we had a bit of a carry on attempting to actually take possession

[R0b]

I think it's important to know what was said in your agreement as that will set out what refund you are entitled to along withany qualifications. Whilst the website indicates that a refund may be due, and your email supports that position, there's no guarantee that a court would agree with you in the absence of your licence agreement.

Like I mentioned before, you should look to obtain a copy of the signed agreement by way of a subject access request. If no agreement is provided because they don't have a copy then you could look to rely on the email as the basis of your claim suggesting they can't then renege on it. If you don't want to go through all of that and you've exhausted all other options, then your next steps would be to send a letter before action, setting out the background to the dispute and why they are in breach of their obligations to give you a refund. Allow them a minimum of 14 days to pay (you can supply bank details for transferring the money if you wish) and if not, then you would need to start legal proceedings.

If legal proceedings is not a route you wish to take, then your options might be very limited in obtaining a refund.

[Angelus]

How do you do a subject action request?
weve done all the other stuff already
looks like a small claims is the only way forward for us

[ostell]

SAR - Look to your right on the page, under shortcuts*

[Angelus]

We’ve received no response regarding our SAR request

We have no idea how to do a small claim to get our fees back and what constitutes evidence

Fully prepared to take the caravan site to court, just not sure what we need to state and do we name the site or the owners, or the company head office?

[Angelus]

We’ve received no response regarding our SAR request
We have no idea how to do a small claim to get our fees back and what constitutes evidence
Fully prepared to take the caravan site to court, just not sure what we need to state and do we name the site or the owners, or the company head office?