ECC - Brexit Paves the Way for Timeshare Mediation

Brexit Paves the Way for Timeshare Mediation

Published May 30, 2019

Brexit should be seen as an opportunity and not a hindrance for those in the UK fighting disputes over unwanted timeshares says a Spanish legal expert. The claim comes from Adriana Stoyanova, a lawyer with Malaga based M1 Legal, specialists in timeshare contract law linked with the UK based European Consumer Claims Ltd.

“Brexit is most likely to affect disputes where one timeshare party is based in the UK and the other in an EU member state,” said Stoyanova. “Although it is still not clear what would happen if and when Brexit takes place, clients negotiating contracts with UK based companies would be well advised to agree on EU based instead of British jurisdiction.

“This enables them to benefit from EU laws regarding the recognition and enforcement of judgements in civil and commercial matters and judicial assistance in document delivery and taking of evidence.”

For example, so far in 2019 M1 Legal has secured 22 victories on jurisdiction against timeshare company Club La Costa who appealed against Spanish court decisions to try and get the hearings in the UK. But the judge ruled the cases should be heard in Spain which is of greater benefit to UK clients. All 22 cases will be resolved by the Spanish courts.

Stoyanova said the harmonised EU regulations covering these matters will likely no longer be applicable to UK jurisdictions after Brexit and could lead to costly time consumption and even parallel proceedings and contradictory judgements.

“The practical steps that all parties involved in cross-border contracts will take into consideration include thinking carefully about potential dispute and enforcement issues, and adopting a 'conditional' dispute resolution clause that allows a degree of flexibility as the UK's position becomes clearer.

“This means to think about mediation and arbitration as an alternative,” added Stoyanova.

“It seems likely that arbitration will be less affected by Brexit, at least from a legal perspective. The legal framework supporting arbitration will remain unchanged, and the separate enforcement mechanisms available for arbitration may offer greater certainty and advantage in comparison to litigation.”

But she added that Brexit gives mediation the opportunity to reinvent itself for a number of reasons: faster than general litigation; cost effective - mediation will be much cheaper than general litigation; protective against legal costs (in the UK) when a valid offer to mediate is made; mediation is confidential, benefiting parties saving their good public image; balances the power; saves the relationships between businesses; it can negotiate payment plans which would keep businesses' cash flow healthy.

European Consumer Claims Ltd are the UK and Europe's leading experts in helping to release people from unwanted timeshare contracts and making claims for people to get their money back, assigning Spanish cases to their legal experts M1 Legal in Malaga.

Malaga Legal Professional Networking Event

M1 Legal, the new heroes in timeshare claims

In the picture: M1Legal lawyers Patricia Criado and Jaime González

Recently, M1 Legal attended a legal professional networking event which was held over 2 days creating great local and international brand awareness. They were situated side by side with leading Spanish law offices along with Law and higher education professionals from the UK. They happily answered questions from consumers and professionals throughout the two days educating people about timeshare claims.

Timeshare Tips

If your resort offers you an upgrade, be very careful as normally the existing contract is cancelled in favour of a new contract showing the upgrade. The problem arises when the new contract is written in accordance with the current law resulting in the inability to sue the resort in respect of the earlier unlawful contract.
If you are surrendering your timeshare back to your resort, be careful when signing the surrender document as it will normally include a disclaimer clause which will prevent you from taking any legal action against your resort or it's associated companies.

632 cases in the courts

299 cases being prepared

In 2019, M1 Legal currently has secured
50 victories totalling £753,612

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The head office is located in Mijas Costa, southern Spain and we would love everyone to visit the M1 hub. However, in reality we know that this is often difficult for people to arrange so we have satellite offices across the UK for convenience.

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