New agreement between caravan bodies and Office of Fair Trading

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has drawn up new guidelines to protect consumers during their purchase, siting, pitch charge reviews and eventual removal of holiday caravans on holiday parks.

This agreement has been endorsed by both the British Holiday & Home Parks Association (BH&HA) and the National Caravan Council (NCC).

Mike Haley, OFT head of consumer protection, said: "We welcome the efforts made by The British Holiday & Home Parks Association and the National Caravan Council to tackle the concerns in this market and offer clearer and fairer terms to consumers buying holiday caravans sited on holiday parks.

"We hope this will set an example to all park owners and encourage them to review their terms and conditions to ensure they are fair."

The OFT has powers under Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 and the Enterprise Act 2002 to help caravan purchasers who feel that Park owners may be acting a little prematurely to make changes to contracts.

15/01/2008 16:53:28