Tammer_Stern
newbie
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2021
- Messages
- 1
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- Resorts Owned
- Lochanhully (Scotland)
I really hope someone can offer some solid advice on what I should do. All of the following is in Scotland. I was advised to try here by someone on reddit.
Context
My mum has been deteriorating for the last few years and is now in a nursing home with dementia. I have power of attorney and am dealing with her affairs.
One of the things I’m dealing with is my mum’s membership of a holiday club in Scotland. She bought this in 1987 – a “timeshare” arrangement with a week at the club and the chance to swap for week’s elsewhere in the world, in theory. The membership came with an obligation to pay an annual management charge for the upkeep of the holiday resort that she is a member of. Over the years, she had a week in March where she would use one of the holiday lodges.
The Problem
My mum was in hospital for a few months before going into a nursing home. She went into hospital in late 2019 and into a nursing home in May 2020. She has therefore been unable to use the holiday club from 2020 onwards. With the pandemic, no one would be using it anyway due to lockdown.
The first thing I came across was a letter from a debt management company (Network Credit Services) for a bill of £500 for the holiday club. I have gone through all my mum’s correspondence and emails (no mean feat) and have seen no other correspondence or bill for this amount. I phoned them and they explained what it was and suggested I contact the firm behind the holiday club (a large hotel group here in Scotland).
I contacted the hotel group to ask if this was genuine and, if so, what it relates to. After a lengthy lockdown delay, they said it is the management fee for 2020 (and since then 2021 has become due too). I explained my mum’s condition and asked how this can be cancelled along with her membership. They said that giving up membership can be done at specific times and requires payment of all outstanding management fees plus 4 years management fees in lieu of 4 years’ notice (So £2100 + £1000 management fees). They say that the membership can be sold or passed on to a family member – not likely to be appealing to anyone given the management fees.
I feel that 3 aspects of this are unfair and possibly may not be legally enforceable:
I have read the holiday club’s constitution and it says that termination can be notified every 2 years and the termination payment is “determined from time to time by the Founding Member” (the parent company).
I have worked on product costs in Financial Services in my job and we are not allowed to have vague rules on how much we charge, that we can change from time to time, due to the Unfair Contract Terms Act - which makes me think this agreement is dodgy.
Context
My mum has been deteriorating for the last few years and is now in a nursing home with dementia. I have power of attorney and am dealing with her affairs.
One of the things I’m dealing with is my mum’s membership of a holiday club in Scotland. She bought this in 1987 – a “timeshare” arrangement with a week at the club and the chance to swap for week’s elsewhere in the world, in theory. The membership came with an obligation to pay an annual management charge for the upkeep of the holiday resort that she is a member of. Over the years, she had a week in March where she would use one of the holiday lodges.
The Problem
My mum was in hospital for a few months before going into a nursing home. She went into hospital in late 2019 and into a nursing home in May 2020. She has therefore been unable to use the holiday club from 2020 onwards. With the pandemic, no one would be using it anyway due to lockdown.
The first thing I came across was a letter from a debt management company (Network Credit Services) for a bill of £500 for the holiday club. I have gone through all my mum’s correspondence and emails (no mean feat) and have seen no other correspondence or bill for this amount. I phoned them and they explained what it was and suggested I contact the firm behind the holiday club (a large hotel group here in Scotland).
I contacted the hotel group to ask if this was genuine and, if so, what it relates to. After a lengthy lockdown delay, they said it is the management fee for 2020 (and since then 2021 has become due too). I explained my mum’s condition and asked how this can be cancelled along with her membership. They said that giving up membership can be done at specific times and requires payment of all outstanding management fees plus 4 years management fees in lieu of 4 years’ notice (So £2100 + £1000 management fees). They say that the membership can be sold or passed on to a family member – not likely to be appealing to anyone given the management fees.
I feel that 3 aspects of this are unfair and possibly may not be legally enforceable:
- The management fees of £1,000 when no one can have been using the facilities due to lockdown. They will also be charging interest on this.
- The termination fee of 4 years’ worth of fees is extortionate.
- No means of getting out of this due to my mum’s health. I am not even sure what would happen if she were to die. They would probably try to pass the membership on to me.
I have read the holiday club’s constitution and it says that termination can be notified every 2 years and the termination payment is “determined from time to time by the Founding Member” (the parent company).
I have worked on product costs in Financial Services in my job and we are not allowed to have vague rules on how much we charge, that we can change from time to time, due to the Unfair Contract Terms Act - which makes me think this agreement is dodgy.
