Watchdog raises concern as Manx gas customers face being cut off

Talks are to be held next week over a recent spate of disconnection notices sent out by the Isle of Man's monopoly gas firm, a consumer watchdog has said.

Isle of Man Energy said 30 customers who had built up "significant" debt had been issued the letters last week.

Office Fair of Trading chairman John Wannenburgh MHK said many had found it "very difficult" to contact the firm as its public counter shut last week.

A meeting between the firm and the consumer watchdog is set for Monday.

Mr Wannenburgh said the Office Fair of Trading (OFT) understood 90 more people faced being cut off this week, and vulnerable people had been in touch to say they had been disconnected.

He said those who supplied evidence of payment to the firm were being told that they would "only be reconnected within the next five days", which was "completely unacceptable".

An Isle of Man Energy spokesman said efforts to share data on vulnerable users with the OFT were underway, and urged customers to declare if they needed "priority treatment" due to their circumstances.

Disconnection notices had been sent to 0.5% of the firm's customers, and many of those had since been in touch to arrange repayment plans, he said.

Mr Wannenburgh said the company's actions as the island's sole gas supplier were "not good enough" and questions remained over poor communication.

"Is it a coincidence that the desk closed last week and this week all the disconnections are rolled out? I think not," he said.

Earlier this month the firm announced it would close its public counter permanently in a move to providing online and phone-based customer services.

Call centre teams had "not seen an increase in calls" following the issuing of the notices, the spokesman said.

Why not follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X? You can also send story ideas to [email protected]