Compensation for a mis-sold caravan

The first question most people ask is what they might get. It is an understandable question and it is the one nobody can answer honestly at the start.

What can be explained is what compensation is actually for, what tends to affect it, and why any figure quoted before somebody has read your paperwork is a guess dressed up as an answer.

This page does that. It contains no figures, no averages and no calculator, because none of those would be telling you the truth.

Check where you stand

What to look for

What affects the picture

Compensation aims to address the position somebody was put in by how a sale was conducted. These are the things that bear on it. None of them produces a number on its own.

What you were actually told

The starting point is the gap between what was said to persuade you to buy and what turned out to be true. A specific, evidenced statement about value, income or costs is a stronger foundation than a general feeling that the sale was pushy. The clearer the recollection, and the more that supports it, the clearer the picture becomes.

What you can evidence

Brochures, printed income projections, emails, a note made at the time, a witness who was in the room. Evidence does not have to be formal, and few people have a complete file. But what can be shown will always carry further than what can only be asserted.

What it has cost you

The money side is not only the purchase price. Fees paid, charges that were never mentioned and the difference between what you were led to expect on resale and what actually happened may all form part of the picture. This is why your invoices and statements matter so much.

Who was involved in the sale

Sales are not always made by one party alone. Where other people or businesses were part of how the sale was arranged and presented to you, that may form part of what is looked at, alongside the sale itself. It can change both what is examined and who it involves.

How much time has passed

Time limits generally apply, and they can run from when you bought or from the point you could reasonably have realised something was wrong. Delay can also make evidence harder to obtain, because people move on and records are not kept forever.

How the other side responds

Some matters are resolved by agreement and some are contested at every step. That affects both the outcome and how long the process takes. It is also entirely outside anybody's control at the point you first enquire, which is another reason early figures mean so little.

Why we will not give you a figure

Anybody who quotes you an amount before reading your paperwork is guessing, and a guess that turns out to be optimistic does real harm. People make decisions around these numbers, and we would rather say nothing than say something we cannot stand behind.

Be wary of averages too. An average is built from cases that have nothing in common with yours: different purchase prices, different promises, different evidence, different responses from the other side. It tells you about a spreadsheet, not about your situation.

What you can be given, early on, is an honest view of whether there may be something worth pursuing at all. That is a genuinely useful answer, and it is free.

If a matter proceeds, the terms are set out in writing before you commit to anything. Where a no-win, no-fee arrangement applies, the success fee and how it works will be explained in full first. You should never be asked to sign something whose costs have not been spelled out.

The check below takes a couple of minutes. It asks five short questions about what you bought and what you were told, and it commits you to nothing.

Check if you may have a claim — takes 30 seconds

Three short questions. There are no right or wrong answers, and nothing you enter commits you to anything.

What did you buy?

Question 1 of 3

Questions people ask

Why will nobody tell me what I might receive?

Because at the enquiry stage nobody knows. The outcome depends on what happened, what can be evidenced and how the other side responds. A figure given before any of that is understood is not information, it is marketing.

Is compensation always money?

Not always. Some matters are resolved in other ways, and some, particularly with residential park homes, are really about rights being respected rather than a payment. You would be told plainly if that were the position in your case.

What does no-win, no-fee actually mean?

It means that if the matter is unsuccessful you pay nothing. Where it succeeds, a success fee applies, and it is set out in writing before you agree to anything so you know exactly what applies.

Does a successful outcome mean I lose the caravan?

Not as a rule. What is being looked at is how the sale was conducted, not the caravan itself. Anything that would affect your use of it would be explained to you in advance and would be your decision.

How long does the process take?

It depends entirely on the matter and on how the other side responds. Some conclude within months, others run considerably longer. A firm timescale given before anyone has read your paperwork is not a reliable one.

Mis-sold a caravan: where you stand
The main guide to what mis-selling looks like and what to do next.
Mis-sold a static caravan
Depreciation, site age rules and the promises statics are sold on.
Mis-sold a caravan on a holiday park
How the park's own sales process and licence terms shape the picture.
Mis-sold a park home
Residential park homes work differently, with their own rules and remedies.

Start with whether there is anything there

The check is free, takes a couple of minutes and puts you under no obligation. It will not give you a figure, and nor will anyone honest at this stage.