“If I had known what I know now before buying the caravan, I wouldn’t have touched them with a barge pole” says former customer David following 90% depreciation in value of Haven Holidays caravan in only 2 years
Tough times
David (name changed at own request), a 43 year old former public sector worker from Aberdeenshire was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in his lower abdomen in summer of 2022. Following largely unsuccessful radiotherapy and chemotherapy David underwent radical surgery to remove multiple organs. Following a three month stay in hospital David was discharged, but had limited mobility and was unable to work.
David’s, partner Leslie (also name changed) and two children made the decision to look at buying a caravan. “It seemed a sensible option in view of my unpredictable prognosis,” says David. “I had ongoing surgical complications which meant we were unable any significant distance for a holiday.
“We didn’t want our kids (seven and five at the time) to miss out on quality time as a family, playing and having fun together.
“David and Leslie chose Haven because they were a larger operator with, apparently, a good reputation,” explains Greg Wilson CEO of European Consumer Claims (ECC) the firm representing David and Leslie in this matter.
Wilson continues: “The family were living in the north west of England at the time and liked the look of a site called Haven Lakeland Leisure Park near Grange-over-Sands at Morecambe Bay in Cumbria.”
Haven Holidays
David and Leslie arranged a visit and tour of the park with salesman Benjamin. “We outlined what we were looking for in terms of price range, style etc,” says David. “Due to the lateness of the season Benjamin told us that there was only one caravan that would fit our criteria We had a look and all agreed that it would suit our needs.
“Due to my uncertain health prognosis, an absolute deal-breaker for us was that we needed to be able to sell the caravan back to the park if I took a turn for the worse. Leslie and I expected that there would be some depreciation of course.
“Benjamin assured us that we could definitely do that. He appeared sympathetic to our situation and made it perfectly clear that we would always be able to sell the caravan back to Haven or if we preferred, we could sell it privately.”
David and Leslie understood from Benjamin that the steep annual £7000 fees included water and electricity. They also accepted that they would need to pay for insurance.
The real costs
The family went ahead with the £30,000 purchase and did enjoy the caravan for the remainder of 2022 and 2023. But the expenses started to mount.
“Insurance had to be bought expensively through Haven, there was no chance to shop around,” says David. “We also needed to install a veranda to keep our dog inside and to allow me to enter and exit the caravan safely. Again, this had to be arranged with the park’s approved supplier and cost an extra £2500.
“Use of the facilities such as mini golf and climbing wall, which we felt we were led to believe were included in the ground rent, were actually charged extra. The only free facilities to use were the pool and access to the bar area.
“We soon got bills for water and electricity. We were shocked to find not only that these were not included in the ground rent, but they had to be paid through the park at an inflated rate.
“Other unexpected expenses were fire extinguishers, fire alarm, CO2 alarm and ongoing gas safety inspections.
“None of these costs were made clear during the sale. We feel strongly that the sales presentation was misleading and even deceptive when it came to the total costs of Haven Holidays caravan ownership.
“Instead of £7000 a year, the real annual figure is closer to £9000 now that the ground rent has been increased.
Severe depreciation
In 2024, Benjamin made contact again to try and interest the family in upgrading. Due to the age of David and Leslie’s caravan (10 years) they were prohibited from renting it out to recoup revenue. “We were offered £16,000 for our caravan as trade-in value, which we thought a little low after only two years,” David explains. We decided not to go ahead with the upgrade. We just did not need any additional financial commitments at the time.
“Towards the end of this holiday we decided to sell the caravan. The expenses were out of control and there was uncertainty around my ongoing health issues.”
David and Leslie approached the park to take advantage of the sales presentation promise to buy the caravan back. They were taken aback to find that the offer was not going to be honoured.
“We were told outright that Haven were not buying caravans back ‘at this time’. Instead they offered to put us in contact with a local broker. That broker offered us £3000 to ‘take it off our hands’
“We expected some depreciation. But a 90% drop in value in two years is extreme. Haven were extremely unhelpful and dismissive at this point. Park staff had to be constantly chased for answers to emails or to return phone calls. A far cry from the empathy and understanding they displayed towards my circumstances when we first approached them to discuss buying the caravan. Their poor and delayed communication caused us increased stress, sleepless nights and financial anxiety.
“Altogether this whole experience has cost our family around £55,000 to be Haven Holidays caravan owners, for only two years.
“If I had known what I know now before buying this caravan I would not have considered doing business with Haven.
“I would not have touched them with a barge pole.”
National problem
“The holiday park industry is currently getting a lot of negative media attention, and deservedly so in our opinion,” says Greg Wilson.
“We have spoken to thousands of people who are reporting similar experiences to those of David and Leslie. Misleading or deceptive sales presentations (no joke when this kind of money is involved); disproportionate depreciation; hidden costs; and unfair conditions.
“Luckily there is often a very good possibility for people who have been mistreated by rogue holiday park operators to seek redress via reputable claims companies.”
