A local lawyer has agreed to act for those Island Energy customers who were affected by October’s gas outage.
Advocate Philip Sinel, Senior Partner at Sinels and Co, believes there has been a “clear breach of contract” between the gas provider and its customers, and that consumers have suffered losses or incurred extra costs as a result of having no gas supply to their homes – up to 14 days or more in some cases.
He said: “Sinels is happy to act on behalf of those consumers affected by last year’s gas outage as, in our view, there has been a clear breach of contract. Losses have occurred, and as a result, the supplier should be liable for those in our view, and we will do our best to recover those losses for consumers.”
More than 250 Island Energy customers who are unhappy with the £11.56 ‘goodwill gesture’ offered by Island Energy have so far registered with us. If you would like to be included in the action being taken by the Jersey Consumer Council and Sinels, please register below by completing this short online form.
Please ensure that when you fill in this form you include an email and your Island Energy customer number:
On 7 October a technical fault by Island Energy left around 4,000 Islanders without gas. This lasted for days - and in some cases up to 14 days - before the gas was returned to them. Had the energy provider been regulated – like in the UK - it would have had to pay £60 for every day a customer went without gas beyond the first 24 hours.
Since then, Island Energy have increased the prices of gas by 12%, which is about £13.80 for an average family house. Whilst in Guernsey they raised the price by 8%.
On 25 January, we were given word that Island Energy were giving customers a gesture of goodwill by refunding the standing charge for October, worth £11.56.
Telephone: 01534 61161
Email: contact@consumercouncil.je