Newsroom

The most recent Bord Gáis Energy Index was launched yesterday. This shows that over the last year, there has been a 64% reduction in wholesale gas prices, and a 38% reduction in wholesale electricity prices. Unfortunately, consumers in Northern Ireland over the last month have only, at best, seen modest reductions in their gas prices, and increases of around 6-8% in their electricity prices.

The Consumer Council is advising drivers in Northern Ireland on how to avoid penalties whilst parking on private land or in a car park which is operated by a private organisation, such as a retail park.

The Consumer Council is advising ATOL protected Thomas Cook customers to claim their refund as soon as possible.

The Consumer Council has had a successful year in 2018/19, advising and signposting a total of 1,213 consumers. Throughout the period, 3,782 enquiries and complaints were investigated, resulting in £212k being returned to the pockets of consumers in Northern Ireland.

The Consumer Council would like to remind consumers that following the Freeview changes on the 4 September 2019, support is still available for householders that are still missing their Freeview or Saorview channels after completing a retune.

Each week, The Consumer Council monitors home heating oil prices across Northern Ireland. Since the drone strike on the oil facilities in Saudi Arabia on 14 September 2019, there has been a 7% increase in home heating oil prices in Northern Ireland. Whereas, over the same time period wholesale crude oil prices have only increased by 2.8%.

On 23 August 2019, The Consumer Council and Radius Housing teamed up to host a Friday Funday at Rose Street in Belfast.

The Consumer Council has advised passengers affected by Thomas Cook’s compulsory liquidation to check with the Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) special Thomas Cook website (thomascook.caa.co.uk) for the most up to date advice and information.