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With bad weather comes travel disruption. Here is Consumer Council’s round-up of who to contact regarding bus, train, ferry and flight information:

The Consumer Council has welcomed today’s launch of Northern Ireland Water’s (NI Water’s) winter preparation campaign. The Public Awareness Campaign, launched by Regional Development Minister, Danny Kennedy, MLA will be rolled out across Northern Ireland.

The Consumer Council will be out and about in bus and rail stations across Northern Ireland over the coming weeks to give consumers helpful advice and information on your rights as a passenger and what to do when things go wrong.
Information days will be held in Bangor, Derry, Lisburn and Belfast.

The report issued by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) today states that on the whole competition is working in the home heating oil (HHO) industry. However, consumers in Northern Ireland are telling the Consumer Council that competition and choice are luxuries of the wealthier.

The Consumer Council has presented the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) with further evidence, which came directly from NI consumers, in a bid to lower car insurance in Northern Ireland. The OFT agreed to undertake an investigation into the car insurance market, with a specific focus on Northern Ireland, after the Consumer Council made a formal submission in August asking it to tackle the issue. Since then, the Consumer Council’s public petition has gained over 5,000 signatures as part of a four pronged campaign to reduce the spiralling cost of car insurance here.

Consumers in lower income areas across Northern Ireland are benefitting from new, free to use cash machines. Working together the Consumer Council and LINK have seen seven new free to use machines installed in the last 12 months, and 52 since the programme began in 2006.

The Consumer Council has said flybe’s decision to withdraw flights from Belfast to Liverpool and Belfast to Doncaster from 30 October gives very short notice to passengers who will now have to make other arrangements. It has called flybe to be proactive in contacting passengers and arranging a refund.

The Consumer Council has reminded energy users that higher electricity and gas prices kick in today, 1 October, following last month’s series of announcements from energy suppliers. The price rises which range from 18.6 per cent for electricity to 35.4 per cent for gas, will see consumers paying on average an extra £200 a year on heating and lighting their home.