Disconnected customer wins pay award from Manx Gas

David Andrew Brown had been a residential tariff customer for 13 years

A Santon man has been awarded more than £1,000 after a court ruled Isle of Man Energy (Manx Gas Limited) breached its contract by cutting off his gas supply.

David Andrew Brown had been a residential tariff customer for 13 years, before his supply was terminated on 15 August last year.

As there were children in the house, with one aged five, Mr Brown argued the disconnection ‘left a vulnerable family without gas’.

Mr Brown took the company to court requesting his home be reconnected; he argued the disconnection was unlawful and applied for damages for breach of contract.

He alleged that he had to ‘resort to more expensive forms of energy’ to heat his home, encountered a loss of earnings and there was damage to his house through damp.

He also claimed for general inconvenience caused to his family, with the value of the claim stated as being between £15,000 and £50,000.

Manx Gas Limited argued that the disconnection was lawful, due to Mr Brown’s non-payment of invoices over the previous 11 months.

The court heard Mr Brown had an outstanding gas bill of £3,428.94, with the company counter-claiming for that amount.

He was sent a letter warning of disconnection on 17 July, which referred to his account number and the arrears against his name.

Mr Brown accepted that he did not make any payment at this date.

He said that he had subsequently discovered that there were two letters warning of disconnection but one of which he had not received.

Deemster John Needham stated in his ruling that Mr Brown was ‘a credible witness who gave an account of matters as he remembered events.’

He said: “It was obvious that he felt angry at the actions of the defendant but also honestly answered the questions posed of him in terms of his own actions during the period up to disconnection and accepted that perhaps he could have acted differently to avert the disconnection.”

The judgement also refers to Manx Gas Limited’s rebrand to ‘Isle of Man Energy’ in September 2022 – as Mr Brown ‘spent significant time’ in his defence ‘explaining the difficulty for customers regarding the new invoices making no mention of Manx Gas’.

It was alleged that when the company rebranded it relied on press releases, rather than informing each customer individually of the change.

Invoices referred to the new trading name but made no mention of the old name.

Deemster Needham said: “Whilst I accept the point that a customer who had missed any public statement made by the defendant in the media may have been initially confused, I cannot accept the claimant’s position that customers “would have no way of knowing they are the same company or one is the trading name of the other or connected in anyway whatsoever”.

“Aside from the invoices themselves referring to the same unique customer number and an identical VAT number for the defendant, it would be a matter of moments for an internet search to highlight the change of name.

“Although I accept that perhaps an extremely elderly or otherwise vulnerable customer may have had difficulty in that regard, such certainly does not describe the claimant.”

Mr Brown had argued he didn’t receive some invoices but, on other occasions, he attempted to rectify the non-payment issue several times by attempting to call as well as writing to Manx Gas Limited.

He also stated he faced a wait time on the telephone of upwards of 70 minutes in one instance.

By Mr Brown’s own admission, his non-payment of gas was ‘not as a result of fuel poverty’, but ‘as a result of a lack of confidence in Manx Gas Limited’s accounting procedures and the validity of the bills he had received’.

His case was that he was not aware of the change of the trading name, and as a result he questioned the validity of the invoices that he had received.

Deemster Needham said: “The attempts that the claimant made by telephone to contact the defendant about billing were unsuccessful because of unanswered calls and his two letters, one sent recorded delivered in November 2022 providing an actual meter reading, and one hand delivered at the end of July 2023 with reference to the notice of disconnection, were both inadvertently, and one could say “carelessly”, lost by the defendant.

“In the circumstances, the claimant believed he was justified in withholding payment and therefore the subsequent disconnection, which unfortunately occurred when the claimant and his family were away on holiday, was unlawful and causative of subsequent losses and inconvenience incurred.”

The court heard ultimately, Mr Brown was disconnected on 15 August 2023, whilst he was away on holiday.

He again contacted the company, but then took them to court for breach of contract; claiming for the cost of portable heaters, additional energy costs, rectification of damp and general damages for inconvenience.

In his judgement Deemster John Needham awarded Mr Brown a total of £4,610, but also awarded Manx Gas £3,278.94, offsetting Mr Brown’s total awarded damages.

It means he will receive £1,331.06 from the company.

You can find the judgement in full HERE.

Manx Radio has contacted Isle of Man Energy (Manx Gas Limited) for comment.