PROTECTING THE CONSUMER FROM HOLIDAY CLUB SCAMS

Early day motion 1480, tabled 8 July 2004 by Lord Bruce of Bennachie (Liberal Democrat). Signed by 43 members.

That this House notes that the majority of holiday club operators provide consumers with high quality holidays but that legislation is lagging behind the development of these organisations, and consequently this summer thousands of British holidaymakers will lose their savings at the hands of disreputable operators exploiting the hole in consumer protection; notes that such companies employ high pressure psychological selling techniques involving extremely lengthy presentations and that many people who are unaware of their rights will sign up for membership costing thousands of pounds simply to be allowed to leave; further notes that the deals offered are designed to avoid giving consumers the protection of European law on timeshare selling and that once a consumer has signed the contract it is binding despite the dream holiday subsequently provided often being of very low quality with limited availability and supplemented by obligatory extras making it more expensive than the high street equivalent; and welcomes the Office of Fair Trading campaign to warn people of the dangers of signing up to holiday clubs but believes the only way to give holiday club members full protection is for the Government and the European Commission to extend the scope of timeshare law to include holiday clubs, thus introducing a cooling off period and an automatic cancellation right for those who have been bullied into paying for holiday club membership but who have subsequently changed their minds.

Signatures by party: Labour 20, Liberal Democrat 15, Labour/Co-operative 2, Plaid Cymru 2, Conservative 1, DUP 1, Scottish National Party 1, UUP 1.