Bedworth couple left £45,000 out of pocket over Haven caravan purchase
A retired lorry driver and his wife say ground rent, site fees and poor site management turned their Haven Holidays caravan purchase into a costly ordeal, prompting them to seek help from a consumer claims firm.
Christopher and Ida Jeff, from Bedworth, say they have lost around £45,000 after buying a static caravan at Haven’s Doniford Bay park in Somerset, according to a release from European Consumer Claims (ECC).
The couple, long-time visitors to the beachfront site, bought an older caravan for £14,859 in 2023 after being encouraged by a Haven salesperson. According to Christopher Jeff, additional costs quickly mounted, including around £5,000 to refit the caravan with essentials such as a fridge freezer and bedding, plus roughly £4,900 for decking, a storage box and a bench.
Rising fees and site problems
The Jeffs said their first year’s site fees came to more than £6,000, despite an initial payment of £3,127 that they had believed covered the full year. Fees have since risen to £8,161 annually, more than half the value of the caravan itself.
The family also reported difficulties after a national grid outage reportedly damaged electrical items across the park. Christopher Jeff said he was initially told his boiler needed replacing, but after three months and several engineer visits was informed the appliance was in fact a water heater and unaffected. He described the response from site staff as lacking in accountability and communication.
Renting and resale difficulties
To offset costs, the couple attempted to rent out the caravan privately, but said they would have needed to let it every week of the season at £450 including passes simply to break even. They said Haven’s own rental rates undercut this significantly, at times as low as £150 in the off season. The Jeffs managed to rent the caravan for five weeks in 2024, with income from Ida Jeff’s sales commission used to cover the shortfall.
Unable to keep up with ground rent, the couple attempted to sell the caravan back to Haven, but were told the company had sufficient stock and would not make an offer unless they upgraded to a more expensive unit. A private sale offer of £3,000 was later withdrawn, with the couple noting that after a 15% commission to the park, they would have received £2,550, representing a loss of £12,450 over 18 months.
Seeking redress
After hearing radio adverts, the Jeffs approached Henley-based European Consumer Claims for assistance. ECC chief executive Greg Wilson said the company had been aware of issues within the holiday park sector but described the scale of the problems uncovered as shocking. He said ECC, working with consumer lawyers, has various means available to pursue financial redress for affected caravan owners.