“What I had hoped would be a peaceful, long term home has become a source of ongoing financial stress and emotional distress” says resident
Hostile
When care worker Penny Morland moved into the White Cliffs holiday park located at Capel-le-Ferne near the stunning white cliffs of Dover, she thought she was moving into an idyllic, holiday environment. Coming out of a recent divorce, the park appeared to offer a bright new start at a reasonable price.
“I paid £27,500 and couldn’t wait to move in” says Penny, 55, who is originally from South Wales. “But no sooner had the ink dried on the contract than I was issued draconian parameters for conduct on the park.
“I was to avoid upsetting the neighbours, which is fair enough obviously. But I was also given strict orders to never question any of the park’s policies. The penalty for doing so would be having my caravan permanently removed from the park and have additional charges imposed for this.
“Also forbidden under the same penalty of caravan removal was any type of direct communication with the site owner, John Crudgington. If I saw him around the park, I was to avoid contact and never engage with him. These conditions were made clear to me by the park manager, Mike Chown.”
Huge losses
“What really shocked Penny, and also us as her representatives, was the way the caravans are bought and sold on the park,” says Greg Wilson, CEO of European Consumer Claims, the firm claiming against White Cliffs on Penny’s behalf.
“Penny tells us that when she first purchased her mobile home she was told there could be a small reduction in value if she chose to leave and sell the unit, either back to the park or privately,” continues Greg. “But apparently that did not turn out to be the case.”
“Over time I discovered that residents were being offered as little as £3000 for caravans they had paid £30,000 for,” says Penny. “But then White Cliffs resell the exact same caravan for £30,000 again to the next customer. It appears highly exploitative and lacks transparency.”
Unfair costs?
“The electricity has to be paid for via the park and the costs seem to be completely arbitrary,” Penny adds. “For years we were charged at 66p a unit, an exceptionally high rate. Sometimes it is less than that, but despite me keeping consumption to a minimum (not using electric heaters for example) my own costs are disproportionately high. Even when I go on holiday my bills are higher than couples who stay in their caravans all day.
According to Penny, any maintenance work has to be arranged through the park manager Mike Chown. “We are not allowed to shop around for a better deal,” says Penny. “And Mike takes a percentage of the cost charged by the builders. This arrangement naturally gives me and other residents concerns about fairness and potential conflict of interest.”
“… just people who live in our garden”
“The environment here is degrading, and interactions with site management often leave me feeling humiliated and powerless,” says Penny. “During a party held by the owner, a family member publicly stated: ‘we are millionaires and you are just people who live in our garden,’ which we all found incredibly demeaning.”
“The common sentiment among residents is that we must ‘put up or shut up,’ further emphasizing the atmosphere of intimidation.
Expert comment
Greg Wilson and ECC have been dealing with similar consumer complaints for many years. Greg comments:“The UK holiday park and lodge industry are rife with this type of behaviour, unfortunately. We have thousands of clients and the holiday park complaints generally run along similar themes to those brought up by Penny.
“Misleading or deceptive sales practices are commonly reported. With the amounts of money involved – tens or sometimes hundreds of thousands of pounds – this is obviously unacceptable.
“Extreme and unjustified depreciation in the value of what the park offers customers for their caravans or lodges is unacceptable when the park sells the same units afterwards for vastly inflated prices. Selling privately is often difficult to do and even when it is possible, the park takes a 15% or even 20% commission.”
“Monopolies on having to buy your utilities through the park at hiked up prices, or being mandatory to have any work done through ‘approved’ (often very expensive) contractors happens a lot. Again, we feel that this is unfair as it does not allow for competition.
“The bottom line is that many of these parks have taken advantage of some fairly lax consumer laws for decades now. And the legal system is catching up with them.“
