So Much for Consumer Protection

A LOOPHOLE means 200 householders have missed any hope of compensation for lost gas supplies.

Parts of the coastal village of Staithes, North Yorkshire, were without power for up to 11 days.

Normally consumers would expect compensation for loss of gas for more than 24 hour s.

But they have not received a penny after various organisations said it wasn’t their fault.

Keith Libbey, speaking for the residents, told me how no-one accepted responsibility.

He said: "We lost our gas supply due to a burst water pipe leaking into the gas.

"Then, while the water pipe was being repaired, the gas pipe was damaged. I got my gas back 11 days later and since then I have been trying to claim compensation."

What happened next was like a game of pass the parcel.

Energy supplier Eon said: "It’s not our responsibility. It would be a matter for the operator of the pipe."

Pipe operator ES Pipelines said: "It’s not our responsibility to refund customers

And Yorkshire Water said it wasn’t up to them either.

That is when I discovered a loophole in the regulations covering comp ensation.

There is supposed to be a system in place to compensate consumers when they are left without gas for more than a day. It would normally be paid by the pipe operator.

However, the regulations are as much use as a chocolate fireguard in Keith’s case.

Let’s go back to ES Pipelines.

They told Keith: "The legislation excludes circumstances where the interruption to the gas supply was caused by water ingress to the gas supply, which is what happened at Sta ithes."

Hang on a second. Wasn’t there an agreement that some operators would pay compensation on a voluntary basis? It was one of the assurances given to consumers when the old Transco network was broken up.

Again, let’s go back to ES pipe lines.

Keith was told: "The ex-Transco gas network operators have agreed with Ofgem, the industry regulator, to pay compensation on a voluntary basis for water ingress.

"This isn’t the case for independent gas transporters."

And ES Pipelines are an independent gas transporter. So much for consumer protection.

And, adding insult to injury, new regulations mean Keith would be entitled to compensation if the same thing happened today.

But the changes do not apply in retrospect . . . so Keith still loses out.

(c) 2008 Sunday Sun – Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.