Buying Advice

OUR MEMBERS’ ADVICE AND RECOMMENDATIONS TO YOU

 

1: GENERAL

2: RESEARCH BEFORE BUYING

3: ORDERING YOUR HOLIDAY HOME

4: DELIVERY, SITING AND HANDOVER

5: WARRANTIES

6: IN CASE OF PROBLEMS

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1: GENERAL

• This Code is intended to benefit both businesses and consumers that purchase Holiday Homes - some advice may therefore apply only to consumers and vice versa. If anything is not clear to you, at any stage of your dealings with us, please clarify it with us or take advice as necessary before you commit yourself to any transaction. And to allow us to serve you best, please co-operate fully and openly with us at all times.

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2: RESEARCH BEFORE BUYING

• Likely Usage - Try to define what you will mainly use the Holiday Home for (e.g. own use, family use, hiring out, seasonal use, etc., all of which may influence the specification of your Holiday Home).
• Running Costs - Remember to take into account annual charges such as pitch fees and rates, and annual running costs (e.g. gas, electricity, water, insurance, winterisation, safety checks etc.).
• Suitability - Research the new or pre-owned Holiday Home you are considering purchasing to ensure that it meets your expectations: in other words, suits your requirements and budget. #
• New or Pre-owned? - Consider whether you want to buy a new or a pre-owned Holiday Home.
• Offers - Research product offers as widely as possible.
• The NCC leaflet "Understanding how to make the best use of your caravan holiday home" also contains a wealth of useful information for current and prospective owners. Click here to download a copy.

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3: ORDERING YOUR HOLIDAY HOME

• Special Needs - Please inform us of any special needs or additional requirements as we cannot provide advice on the suitability of a Holiday Home model for any particular purpose if you have not explained your needs to us (e.g.: disability requirements, French doors, etc.).
• Specification - Check that the specification and appearance of the Holiday Home you are ordering from us matches your requirements, as some features are often optional or substitutable extras.
• The Purchase Agreement - Remember that this is a legally binding document.
• Ordering a pre-owned Holiday Home - Ask to see, and obtain copies of, the relevant safety check certificates for any pre-owned Holiday Home you intend to purchase.
• Deposits - When making a deposit, make sure everything is clear to you, or take advice as necessary to understand how it is secured, the length of the cooling off period and the cancellation terms.

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4: DELIVERY, SITING AND HANDOVER

• Safe Access - If you are a park owner, please work with us as and when appropriate to ensure the haulier has safe access to a designated loading/ unloading area at the delivery site where public access is restricted in the interests of safety.
• Condition - Please satisfy yourself that you are content with the condition of the Holiday Home prior to, or after, transportation and siting and communicate any potential issues or concerns to us.
• Inspection - If you are a park owner, draw the haulier’s attention to any problems or damage noted before siting takes place; make a note on the hauliers/distributors delivery sheet and ensure both parties sign. Copies should be kept by all parties - park, haulier and distributor.
• Siting - If you wish, ask for a member of the park staff to be present during the siting.
• Handover - Ensure you are aware of and fully understand all aspects around the handover procedure, warranties and warranty procedures and clarify with us anything on which you would like any additional explanation.

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5: WARRANTIES

• Purpose of Warranty - Please remember that a manufacturer’s new warranty is a simple and straightforward method for allowing any faults of manufacture to be corrected at no cost to you, without the necessity of pursuing legal remedies against the seller. In general terms warranty repair work will only be covered at no cost to you as long as it is undertaken by a centre authorised by the manufacturer or warranty provider.
• Warranty Conditions - Take advice as necessary to ensure that you are aware of and fully understand all aspects of the product warranty, including the servicing criteria (e.g. winterisation) and specifically the service intervals in terms of time periods.
• Keeping Records - After the expiry of any warranty, keep records of work completed, including detailed invoices.

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6: IN CASE OF PROBLEMS

• Let us know - We understand that there may be times that you are not happy with the service we provide and may wish to make a complaint. To help us address these promptly and effectively, please refer the matter to us in the first instance, preferably in writing.
• Our response - As a condition of this Code of Practice, we maintain a written complaints procedure and we advise you to familiarise yourself with it so that you know how we will deal with and respond to any complaint.
• Time to complete agreed actions - Remember that although we may be able to issue a response or final decision to a complaint within the set timescales, this does not automatically mean that we are able to complete any agreed remedial action within the same timescales (e.g. we may be reliant on parts supply from a third party, etc.).
• If you remain dissatisfied - If we have issued our response and/or final decision and you remain dissatisfied, or we have failed to respond within the specified timescales, you may refer the matter to the NCC Informal Dispute Resolution Service. If that service fails to resolve the complaint, it can be escalated to the Independent Case Examiner (the Examiner).
• Other means of redress - Please remember that, while the Examiner’s final decision will be binding on both you and us, you are free to seek other legal means of redress if you wish to do so - either before or after your complaint has been considered. Please note though that the outcome/decision of any case referred to the Examiner may be taken into account by any other redress provider (e.g. Arbitrator/other Independent Case Examiner/ Ombudsman) and vice versa.
• Further Information - For additional information about complaint handling, please refer to Chapter 8 of the Code and/or the guidance on the Code website. (www.approveddistributors.co.uk)