Motor home rip off

[Deleted member 6532]

Ok got a contact number for the said lady. She has QC looking into it with a view to doing a class action. There are hundreds of innocent buyers involved. On Monday there is a interview on radio 4 between 12.18 -1pm. They will be asking everyone affected to email. I will pm you the telephone number.

Hi, I just received a letter today from a solicitor, same story as above and we bought a van back in March 2019. I have just joined as a full member so would you be able to send me the contact details of the lady mentioned above.
Many thanks
Terry

 

[Markd]

Commiserations - I hope you are successful.
I wonder if anyone twigged the problem before they got legal notification and managed to move their van on?

 

[Deleted member 6532]

Ok got a contact number for the said lady. She has QC looking into it with a view to doing a class action. There are hundreds of innocent buyers involved. On Monday there is a interview on radio 4 between 12.18 -1pm. They will be asking everyone affected to email. I will pm you the telephone number

Bought my motor home in March 2019 though eBay have now received letter from lawyers saying there was a charge on vehicle.The company I bought of have gone burst and the guy has done a runner with the money has anyone else had this experience

Hi, exactly the same has happened to me, bought mine in March 2019 and just received a letter today. Are you any further on, have you joined a group of other buyers?

 

[Markd]

Terry - It's a pity that you've only just caught on to the problem; I think that legally you could probably have disposed of it and passed on the problem before you were formally advised about the charge.
Anyway there does seem to be a group in place fighting the repossessions so a lot of positive support available.

 

[Pinchcliff]

BBC Radio 4 had most of "You and Yours" devoted to this issue today, sounds really complex, the thrust appears to be that the courts will have to make a judgement. I wish all those concerned well.

 

[paulhelenwilko]

Link to the radio programme about Unbeatable Hire is here :

BBC Radio 4 - You and Yours, Motor home loans, Sustainability vs Covid, Christmas alone.

People who lent a motorhome rental business money are facing big losses after it collapsed

www.bbc.co.uk

Seems there are investors (some seem to be motorhomers) and the buyers of the used motorhomes that are the losers. I wish you all the best and hope you get some positive news soon.

However the director just appears to have moved on and started a new company selling hand sanitizer.

 

[Deleted member 6532]

BBC Radio 4 had most of "You and Yours" devoted to this issue today, sounds really complex, the thrust appears to be that the courts will have to make a judgement. I wish all those concerned well.

Yes I listened to it, quite a balanced broadcast tbf. It's clear the approach from the solicitors is to try to get the investors to go after the new owners of the motorhomes rather than the director of Unbeatable Hire. Not a nice letter to receive 2 days before Christmas telling you a motorhome you purchased in good faith has someone else with an interest registered with Companies House, horrible. If anyone knows anyone who may have bought a motor home from Unbeatable Hire please let them know that there are others going through the same thing and would be happy to make contact.

 

[Markd]

Link to the radio programme about Unbeatable Hire is here :

BBC Radio 4 - You and Yours, Motor home loans, Sustainability vs Covid, Christmas alone.

People who lent a motorhome rental business money are facing big losses after it collapsed

www.bbc.co.uk

Seems there are investors (some seem to be motorhomers) and the buyers of the used motorhomes that are the losers. I wish you all the best and hope you get some positive news soon.

However the director just appears to have moved on and started a new company selling hand sanitizer.

Yup that's what we established a hundred posts ago

 

[Markd]

Yes I listened to it, quite a balanced broadcast tbf. It's clear the approach from the solicitors is to try to get the investors to go after the new owners of the motorhomes rather than the director of Unbeatable Hire. Not a nice letter to receive 2 days before Christmas telling you a motorhome you purchased in good faith has someone else with an interest registered with Companies House, horrible. If anyone knows anyone who may have bought a motor home from Unbeatable Hire please let them know that there are others going through the same thing and would be happy to make contact.

No point in going after the director - he's got no money!
The vans have some value but probably nowhere near the amount secured against them.

I wouldn't wonder that the vans were sold at a 'competitive' price and when an HPI check came back clean the buyers thought they'd done enough due diligence.
We'll eventually find out what a judge thinks!

Hopefully the programme will have raised awareness about the possibility of chattel mortgages when buying direct from companies rather than a dealer.

 

[jagmanx]

For me...morally The investors took a risk in trying to make a quick buck so as with investing is risky shares..they have lost out

The buyers bought in good faith amd in many cases will have checked HPI
I know Legally it may be different

Hoe can you check if a company or individual has an interest anyway ?
What happened to the money paid by the current owners ?

The current owners got sucked in by buying a cheapish ex-rental.
Not dissimilar from buying an ex-hire car at a low price duye to higher usage / wear&tear.
So in some senses the vehicles might be thought of as sub-standard !

So my sympathy is more for those who purchased vehicle .
But I do have sympathy for those who made the bad investment

 

[Markd]

Hoe can you check if a company or individual has an interest anyway ?
What happened to the money paid by the current owners ?

You simply look at the charges registered at Companies House.
As it happens Unbeatablehire were quite good at filling the charges - presumably because the investors wanted proof of their security.

Probably went to pay off other debts.
There's a very good synopsis of how the company failed in the receiver's report on the Companies House listing.

It was all there to be seen if anyone cared to look beyond the superficiality of the deal being offered.

I expect everything seemed fine to the purchasers - con men are good at reassurance!

The investors were happy with the interest they received many got their money back at the end of 3 years and some reinvested in new vans.
Some rolled over on the same van which was probably not the best idea as with all the will on the world a rental van is going to depreciate.

I've got a degree of sympathy both investors and buyers - they've all been conned.

 

[snapster]

No point in going after the director - he's got no money.........................

But does he have a house and a car.....

Seems quite common these days, start a business, get into debt, get rid of the business and debts, start a new business....etc.

 

[TrevandJenny]

I found this online tonight.

Kyoto Furniture Ltd, Company Number 085294423 and

Vaaroom Ltd Company Number 12430566 T/A Unbeatablehire.
857 London Rd, Grays RM20 3AT

They are still trading in Essex. https://www.unbeatablehire.com ( maybe its the old site ) links to new company

new site www.vaaroom.com, main director of this motorhome rental company is same as former director of unbeatablehire, read the accounts and note same format of charges being registered at companies house as that of unbeatablehire. Same director.

All is revealed in companies house.
.

Find and update company information - GOV.UK

Free company information from Companies House including registered office address, filing history, accounts, annual return, officers, charges, business activity

find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk

 

[Markd]

But does he have a house and a car.....

Seems quite common these days, start a business, get into debt, get rid of the business and debts, start a new business....etc.

Limited company - no personal responsibility?
The andministrators would have collected what they legally could.
Their reports are worth a read if you want to understand what happened.

He sounded really plausible on You and Yours.

I agree about people moving from one failure to another unless they are banned - even then!

 

[Me359]

Limited company - no personal responsibility?
The andministrators would have collected what they legally could.
Their reports are worth a read if you want to understand what happened.

He sounded really plausible on You and Yours.

I agree about people moving from one failure to another unless they are banned - even then!

Heard has paid out 2 mill on new house

 

[Markd]

Alright for some!
I wonder who lent him the money and will they get it back when he sells it

 

[Markd]

One gathers that a lot of renters had difficulty recovering damage deposits.
Probably a way of keeping up cash flow towards the end when income was falling and outgoings remained high.

I see no record of him being a 'serial' bankrupter - multiple yes as Unbeatablehire and the associated booking companies went together.
But before and since I don't think so.

I hold no brief for him but we should be accurate.

 

[Markd]

Heard has paid out 2 mill on new house

Yes - bought by another company 2 years before he put Unbeatablehire into liquidation and 2.5 years before he started selling off motorhomes.
£1.2 million borrowed on it.

 

[Me359]

Yes - bought by another company 2 years before he put Unbeatablehire into liquidation and 2.5 years before he started selling off motorhomes.
£1.2 million borrowed on i

Yes - bought by another company 2 years before he put Unbeatablehire into liquidation and 2.5 years before he started selling off motorhomes.
£1.2 million borrowed on it.

Well approx 50K he has earned from each van he has sold not a bad income

 

[Me359]

Well approx 50 k on each van he sold not a bad income