THE MISSELLING OF TIMESHARES

That this House is concerned that the sale of membership of timeshare schemes and products often involves practices which are psychologically manipulative, use misleading information and unfairly exploit vulnerable, often elderly, consumers, leading to those consumers taking out very expensive borrowing commitments which they cannot afford; notes that the sale of membership of such schemes also ties consumers into very long-term commitments to pay large annual fees to the timeshare companies whether or not these consumers are able to make use of the schemes often leading to financial and emotional crisis and even physical illness; and is further concerned that the present UK legislative framework needs revising and improving to provide adequate protections from these practices and a method by which consumers can leave these schemes and bring their liabilities under them to an end.