But buyers being caught up in business insolvencies is not a new issue.<\/p>\n
Building companies<\/a> and tech giant Dick Smith in 2016<\/a> have left customers out of pocket, while the collapse of whitegoods company Kleenmaid saw a former director jailed<\/a>.<\/p>\n It may be hard to get your money back if a business goes bust. (ABC News: Tristan Hooft)<\/p>\n When it comes to getting back money you have forked out for a deposit, Deloitte senior liquidator Richard Hughes said there are no guarantees.<\/p>\n “There is no risk-free way of doing anything these days,” he said.<\/p>\n “You have to be really careful.”<\/p>\n Deloitte liquidator Richard Hughes says there are is no guarantee for getting money back.\u00a0 (Supplied)<\/p>\n And if possible, he warns, do not pay by cash.<\/p>\n Is paying by credit card the answer?<\/p>\n Mr Hughes helped creditors fight over the carcass of Kleenmaid, which collapsed owing $100 million, and says credit card payments can be good insurance.<\/p>\n His forensic examination of the company’s books found customers were set to lose $25 million in deposits.<\/p>\n But when he realised half of those had been paid on credit card, he was able to help get $12.5 million back into disillusioned customers’ bank accounts.<\/p>\n A former director of Kleenmaid has been sentenced to seven years in jail for fraud and insolvent trading. (ABC TV News – file image)<\/p>\n This was through charge back requests, which is when customers have paid for good or services they did not receive, like a cancelled flight or a brand new caravan.<\/p>\n How does a charge back request work?<\/p>\n The Australian Banking Association describes it this way.<\/p>\n “When someone pays for goods or services by card that they never receive, they can ask their bank to dispute the transaction,” a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n “The rules are set and administered by the card schemes, such as Visa and Mastercard \u2014 time limits apply, so customers should contact their bank as soon as possible.”<\/p>\n The customer’s bank lodges the claim through the scheme with the business’s bank.<\/p>\n The rules are set and administered by the card schemes. (AAP: David Crosling)<\/p>\n “If the claim succeeds, the money goes back to the customer and is taken from the business’s bank,” the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n “Payments by cash don’t carry charge back rights.”<\/p>\n The Office of Fair Trading said financial institutions may be able to assist customers who have paid “by credit card, debit card, or through a secure payment provider such as PayPal”.<\/p>\n Will changes to card fees make it hard to pay by credit?<\/p>\n From October 1, the reserve bank banned credit and debit card surcharges across major card networks.<\/p>\n Some customers may be concerned about whether these changes will impact their ability to pay a deposit, and whether companies may stop accepting credit card payments.<\/p>\n Surcharges on debit and credit cards to be removed <\/a><\/p>\n The removal of surcharges on debit and credit cards is one of the sweeping reforms from the Reserve Bank.<\/p>\n But Mr Hughes said he believed businesses would still be happy to take credit card deposits, with card fees most likely added into their quotes.<\/p>\n If a small business insists on only cash, it could be seen as a red flag.<\/p>\n Customers are also encouraged to do a financial health check on the business they are putting their faith in.<\/p>\n It is also important to remember that unlike real estate companies, which are legally bound to hold deposits in a protected trust account, small businesses are not.<\/p>\n How to check if a business is struggling<\/p>\n ASIC says warning signs customers can watch out for include:<\/p>\n bad reviewsongoing lossesboard disputes and director resignations, or loss of management personnelsuppliers placing the company on cash-on-delivery termsa sudden change of namemovement of a business or its assets to another company<\/p>\n ASIC encourages customers to check whether a company has entered liquidation or external administration through ASIC Connect<\/a> or ASIC’s Published Notices website<\/a>.<\/p>\n Will creditors get money back?<\/p>\n When a company goes into liquidation, the question every creditor wants answered is simple: am I going to get my money back?<\/p>\n According to ASIC, the data is stark.<\/p>\n In most small to medium-sized corporate insolvencies, 97 per cent of creditors received between 0\u201311 cents in the dollar.<\/p>\n Australian Off Road (AOR) shut its doors in September after 26 years operating on the Sunshine Coast,. (ABC Sunshine Coast: Josh Dye)<\/p>\n In the recent cases of collapsed caravan companies, majority of customers have not been able to get their money back, and have seen their savings vanish.<\/p>\n Caravanning Queensland Trade advised any customers who have purchased a product they haven’t received to contact the appointed administrator or liquidator as soon as possible, and bring their contract, receipts and proof of payment.<\/p>\n “For anyone considering buying a caravan, Caravanning Queensland recommends a deposit of 10 per cent of the purchase price, with the balance paid when the completed van is ready for inspection and handover,” chief executive Jason Plant said.<\/p>\n “We remain committed to promoting responsible business practice, transparency and consumer confidence across the caravan and RV industry.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The spate of caravan companies going bust has led to hundreds of customers losing tens of thousands of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":938633,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99,83468,181484,116015,197571,274034],"class_list":["post-938632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-caravan","tag-caravan-industry","tag-caravans","tag-insolvency","tag-travel-industry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/938632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=938632"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/938632\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/938633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=938632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=938632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=938632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792800611_397_fb88443092fe9e5c62e1edf59bbdef92.jpeg\")
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