Contacting your MP about problems at your holiday caravan park...
Challenging Unfair Terms continued…
Elsewhere in this magazine we discuss how social networking websites can assist with communication between caravan owners across the UK and we would like to actively encourage caravan owners to start being more pro-active with regard to unfair terms and unfair treatment at holiday caravan parks in the UK.
The ‘McAllister bill’, also reported in this magazine, is gaining momentum with the end result hopefully being that holiday park operators will be bound to provide all caravan owners with a written contract. This is a major move, and one that we will hopefully follow here on the mainland, but we need your help…
The bill that is set for introduction in Northern Ireland has come about after a lot of pressure from caravan owners and a very persistent MLA – John McCallister.
Alongside this activity, there has been a lot of recent discussion in London by MPs representing park home owners sited on residential caravan parks. This activity goes to show that even with legislative protection – residential owners are covered by the Mobile Homes Act 1983 – there are still many issues that need to be addressed.
It may also be that this flurry of activity will make all MPs more receptive than previously to the problems of the static holiday caravanner.
The easiest thing you can do to help is to contact you local MP with any concerns you have about your holiday caravan ownership. It’s really important that you keep your letter concise and easy to understand and that you don’t confuse the issue.
Examples of the kind of problems that would benefit from this approach include:
· You haven’t got a written agreement.
· You have got an agreement, but no security of tenure.
· Your agreement contains potentially unfair terms.
The first item in the above list is the most important. If you do not have a written contract, you are in a very weak position if anything goes wrong at your caravan park. Contracts need to be clear and understandable and not contain “unfair terms”. Google “OFT 734” for more information about unfair terms. There’s also plenty of information on the NACO website.
We’ve included an example letter below, which gives an insight into how to represent yourself.
Your Name,
House,
Street,
Town,
Post Code
Phone Number
MPs Name
House of Commons,
LONDON,
SW1A 0AA
Monday, 02 August 2010
Dear Mr / Mrs,
Re: Unfair Treatment of Static Holiday Caravan Owners at <<CARAVAN PARK NAME>>
I am writing to you as my parliamentary representative, to ask for your help in resolving problems that we are experiencing with the park owner at my caravan park. I am concerned about the unfair and possibly unlawful treatment of holiday caravan owners at this holiday park.
This affects me because I am a holiday caravan owner situated on this park and strongly feel that we need some legislative protection to prevent the continued use of unfair terms and actions.
The OFT released a guidance document in 2005 entitled “Unfair Terms in Holiday Caravan Agreements (OFT 734)”. This is a very useful document as it ensures that park operators adhere to government guidelines.
We have a contract with our site owner but he does not comply with it. We would like to ask that you raise this issue with the Housing Minister, Grant Shapps, MP, as soon as possible, please.
It is important to note that we are not residential park homeowners; we are holiday caravan owners and are not afforded any specific legislative protection.
If you would like further information on issues affecting holiday caravan owners in the UK please contact NACO - the National Association of Caravan Owners – on 01255 820 321, or via their website www.nacoservices.com
Yours sincerely,
<<Your Name>>
