Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to support consumers who have experienced potential (a) mis-selling and (b) fraud on fractional timeshare finance products.

The government takes the issue of fraud very seriously and is dedicated to protecting the public from this devastating crime. Tackling fraud requires a unified and coordinated response from government, regulators, law enforcement and the private sector to better protect the public and businesses from fraud.

The legislation surrounding the sale of timeshares and credit agreements relating to timeshares provide routes of redress where consumers have been misled.

Firstly, it is an offence under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 for traders to engage in unfair commercial practices which mislead consumers, and it is punishable by a fine or imprisonment for up to two years. The Act will also afford rights of redress for consumers.

Regarding the timeshare market specifically, the Timeshare, Holiday Products, Resale and Exchange Regulations 2010 provide protections for consumers buying and selling timeshares and other long-term “holiday club” memberships, including provision for consumers to withdraw from their contract.

Consumers are protected from fraud in consumer law. Consumers that believe they have been fraudulently sold timeshare products should raise their concerns with the relevant enforcement authorities.

In cases where a consumer took out a regulated financial product to purchase a timeshare, they may have recourse to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) if that product was mis-sold.

When complaints are made to the FOS, these should be dealt with in a timely manner. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Handbook, which sets out the rules on how the FOS should handle complaints, states that ‘the ombudsman will attempt to resolve complaints at the earliest possible stage’.  Ensuring timely outcomes is one of the FOS’s main priorities for 2025-26 and it has set itself a target to resolve 85 per cent of cases received in the year within 6 months.