Isle of Man Energy has been ordered to pay a man £1,300 after it cut off his gas.
David Brown had sought a claim of between £15,000 and £50,000 against Manx Gas Ltd.
Mr Brown claimed it was unlawful for the company to cut him off in August 2023 and sought reconnection and damages for breach of contract/duty.
However, the gas company said it was lawful as he hadn’t paid invoices for a period of 11 months prior to disconnection. It counterclaimed for the total bill for gas, £3,428.94.
While he hadn’t paid the bills, Mr Brown had made several attempts to contact the contact, including one phone call that lasted over 70 minutes.
He said that is was not that he could not afford to pay for the gas, rather it was a “lack of confidence in Manx Gas Limited’s accounting procedures and the validity of the bills he had received”.
Deemster John Needham ruled: “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.”
Deemster Needham awarded Mr Brown £4,610, but also granted the company £3,278.94, leaving Mr Brown with a total payment of £1,331.06.
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