M1 Legal has been fighting for customers of one of the oldest timeshare complexes in Spain for six years, and their diligent work has started to pay off this month.
Big victories for timeshare customers
For the last few decades, one of Spain’s oldest timeshare complexes, Pueblo Evita, has been issuing illegal contracts – something it has not been alone in doing.
It has been a huge challenge to find liable companies that members can sue, but that all changed in April 2022 when M1 Legal managed to successfully sue:
- Pueblo Evita Marketing Company Ltd
- MB Benalmadena S.L.U. (the maintenance company)
Torremolinos Court number 3 declared both companies in default, and timeshare customers have finally been able to get justice.
Fernando Sansegundo is the head of M1 Legal in Spain, and he calls the victories “hugely significant”.
He says: “Our team has taken on and defeated every single illegally operating timeshare company in Spain. These judgements have opened the door for hundreds of Pueblo Evita victims to sue for compensation.”
Awards into the millions of pounds
But this is not the only thing that made April a great month because M1 Legal also saw half a million pounds in awards for its clients – something that Sansegundo says is now “becoming a commonplace”.
April alone saw “twenty-seven separate victories, representing a total value of £501,400 for the recipients.”
One of these was a large award of £265,674 against Club la Costa, which 13 claimants shared.
Sansegundo says: “When you bear in mind that most of these people just wanted to be free of the annual fee commitments, to be awarded well over £20,000 as well was a result that made every claimant grateful”
Other big wins for M1 Legal this month included:
- £109,543 against Anfi – Six claimants shared
- £67,027 against Onagrup – Three claimants shared
- £36,519 against Marriott – Two claimants shared
- £19,682 against Lion Resorts and Perblau 2000
Big individual wins in April
There were some big individual wins during the month as well, Sansegundo confirms.
“A Surrey couple called Lee and Dionne were awarded £45,300 against Club La Costa. This was because the contract was illegal in that it was for over 50 years, and also because of lack of correct information on the property. This usually means they were sold floating time, or points, both of which have been illegal to sell since 1999.
“Simon and Anne from Sheerness in Kent, a very nice couple, won £38,255. This was also against Club La Costa, and for exactly the same reasons.
“The third largest award went to a Slough couple called Paul and Helen. These former Anfi owners were awarded £36,827 because (again) of lack of correct information on the property.
These are “significant amounts of money,” says Sansegundo. “People who were worried about owing money to their timeshare companies every year for decades, or in some cases forever, are now not only free but receiving enough compensation to buy a luxury car or put a child through university.”
No more delay tactics
Delaying tactics have long been used by timeshare companies to try and hold off the efforts of M1 Legal. Now, the situation has changed, and the process is speeding up for claimants.
“So far in 2022 (correct at time of writing) M1 Legal has achieved 139 successful awards,” says Sansegundo. “This is a total of £2,287,850. Thirty-four of those awards were against Anfi, adding up to £515,427.
“Sixty-three more awards were against Club La Costa and they total a staggering £1,136,793.”
Compensation may be due for others who bought timeshare in Spain on or after January 5th,1999.
According to Sansegundo “now is the time to make your claim if you have an issue with your timeshare, or the way in which you were sold the membership.
“The exploratory work has been done. The major hurdles have been overcome. The courts are familiar with the offences committed by timeshare companies and how these affected owners. Compensation is being awarded in record amounts, and it won’t last forever because these companies don’t have unlimited resources.”
If you are a timeshare owner and want to find out more about your options, the best thing you can do is get in touch with European Consumer Claims (ECC), M1 Legal’s associated claims firm.
“There are too many cases for M1 to handle them all,” concludes Sansegundo. “So ECC handle all enquiries in order to select the strongest cases. The consultation is free, and it means nobody wastes any time or resources on a case that doesn’t have any chance of success. If ECC accept your case, you pretty much guarantee success.
“M1’s success rate in court is currently running at 98.6%. And the very few we did lose were a long time ago, when we were just starting out in this field.”
