A British couple are celebrating after a Spanish court victory that saw a judge order their timeshare company to pay just over £52,500 in compensation, with support from M1 Legal.
July brings a run of timeshare court wins
July proved to be a strong month for timeshare owners pursuing claims, with a number of significant victories recorded against timeshare companies.
Malaga-based law firm M1 Legal, which specialises in timeshare cases, reported 31 positive outcomes from hearings in July 2022.
More than £440,000 awarded
Across those cases, claimants were awarded more than £440,000 in compensation. Many had been sold timeshares over the past few decades under contracts that are now illegal in Spain.
Two of the largest awards
Andrew and Connie (not their real names) received the biggest award. The couple, from Witham in Essex, no longer need to pay timeshare maintenance fees and were awarded £52,236 in their case against CLC World. Sean and Ann (names changed), from Leicester, were also pleased after being awarded £43,609.
Why resorts are paying compensation
Why are timeshare resorts being forced to pay out? Because for around two decades they ignored Spanish consumer timeshare laws and continued issuing contracts that did not comply.
Had they followed the rules, they would have missed out on substantial profits — so they chose to disregard them.
The result is that many affected owners may now be entitled to compensation, and more people are seeing major court wins.
A growing fightback from timeshare owners
Many resorts believed they could get away with it, assuming customers wouldn’t have the legal knowledge — or the patience — to challenge them.
They were wrong.
With M1 Legal supporting timeshare owners since 2016, companies are increasingly being ordered to pay compensation.
M1 Legal's success rate is currently 98.6% of compensation cases for its timeshare clients.
“Illegal business” since 1999
Fernando Sansegundo, head of M1 Legal, said the month was "fairly typical in that the biggest M1 successes were against CLC World, Diamond Resorts Europe, and Anfi Resorts."
According to Sansegundo, "these three resorts, while by no means the only culprits, have been prolific in the amount of illegal business they have written since 1999.
He added: "since the beginning of July, M1 Legal has won over £287,000 in compensation awards against CLC World. We have also won more than £69,200 against Anfi Resorts, and £44,644 against Diamond Resorts Europe. DRE have not even been trading in Europe for several years. They were bought out by Hilton a couple of years ago, and they are still paying the price for their previous contempt for both their customers and the law.
Sansegundo is delighted for the Essex couple: "Andrew and Connie have been rewarded for their courage in challenging their resort's behaviour. M1 Legal have not only achieved their £52,236 compensation award but will almost certainly secure the couple simple interest and legal fees too."
Spanish courts “have run out of patience”
Many cases are being decided against timeshare companies in the Spanish courts, which, as Sansegundo says, "have run out of patience." He explains that "Europe's biggest resorts are being forced to pay compensation on an unprecedented scale. The financial drain is forcing most of them to close down."
Who may be able to claim?
Anyone who bought a timeshare after 1999 could find they have grounds to claim compensation under Spanish timeshare law.
Speak with us today at the Timeshare Advice Centre for a free, no-obligation consultation and discover your options as a timeshare owner.
