New 47kg LPG what are you paying thread 24 November 2018 at 12:23AM edited 24 November 2018 at 8:28PM in LPG, Heating Oil, Solid & Other Fuels 49 replies 13.2K views

frugalstephen

Gotta laugh, price of a cylinder here (near Belfast) is £94!! I would keep quiet buddy, you're on to a good thing :rotfl:

fewkeste

frugalstephen wrote: »

Gotta laugh, price of a cylinder here (near Belfast) is £94!! I would keep quiet buddy, you're on to a good thing :rotfl:

Wow! How many different suppliers are you able to order from? Are they all in the same ball park in terms of price?

I wonder if there are any logistical reasons to justify that price hike? I can't think of any so I could only conclude they are ripping you off.

Are you the gentleman that once tried to get some sort of official investigation into LPG prices in NI?

I wonder if these price hikes are prevalent in the south - do you know?

frugalstephen

Yes, I am that gentleman LOL No official authority was interested at all. Even tried the 'Consumer Council' a government body in NI who dismissed my complaint as being unfounded. There is a spread of prices of about £2 either way. Yes, it is a total rip off and has been for years. Luckily for me, I only need it for a decorative fire, which because of said rip off, has not been lit for years. I'd hate to be actually reliant on it for heating etc. Still makes me smile when 'mainland' prices are constantly £30/£40 cheaper on one single cylinder. Under the same model, I should be paying £2.20/litre of petrol, so grateful for small mercies :beer:

fewkeste

@frugalstephen What about starting a petition on the 10 Downing Street website? I understand anyone can initiate one and if it gets above a certain number of signatures, then Parliament is obliged to discuss/debate the topic.

frugalstephen

A valid comment, though I believe it needs 100,000 signatures before being considered. That's a big percentage of NI citizens to sign up (can't see anyone else being remotely interested) so unlikely to gain the required support. Besides, all the government activities revolve around Brexit, and NI cylinder gas prices just aren't sexy LOL

A._Badger

This is something that the CMA should be looking into. They are currently rampaging through all kinds of industries (the easy targets) claiming they are campaigning against unfair practises.

With absolutely no expectation of success, I am going to try to budge them over this flagrant abuse of a duopoly,

fewkeste

frugalstephen wrote: »

A valid comment, though I believe it needs 100,000 signatures before being considered. That's a big percentage of NI citizens to sign up (can't see anyone else being remotely interested) so unlikely to gain the required support. Besides, all the government activities revolve around Brexit, and NI cylinder gas prices just aren't sexy LOL

I think that it wouldn't just be NI LPG users that would sign but all LPG users in the whole of the UK would be potential supporters I would imagine. Let's face it anyone who buys LPG can't help but notice that something weird is going on.

I accept that NI is a particularly serious example of exploitation but don't make the mistake/assumption that there wouldn't be support from the rest of the UK - I think there would; especially if someone like Martin drew attention to it in his TV show & newsletter.

frugalstephen

Quick update - I followed up the complaint I made some years back, and have just received this response, may be some hope yet!



"Thank you for your further correspondence to The Consumer Council in relation to the price differential of liquid petroleum gas between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.
The Consumer Council wrote to the Competition and Markets Authority about this issue in March 2019. In our correspondence we reiterated The Consumer Council belief that home heating oil and LPG markets are not working as effectively for consumers in Northern Ireland as they should. We also asked the CMA to investigate our off-grid market. We submitted additional evidence in October 2019. I have attached for your attention a copy of the two letters.

We are yet to hear formally from the CMA about any decision to launch our investigation, but we believe that we have provided robust evidence to support our ask.

Thanks and regards

Paulino

Paulino Garcia
Head of Policy (energy)
Concumer Council Northern Ireland"

fewkeste

frugalstephen wrote: »

Quick update - I followed up the complaint I made some years back, and have just received this response, may be some hope yet!

Nice one - Well done!!

Presumably you will respond and thank/acknowledge their efforts. In that communication, can you suggest to them that they encourage the CMA to take the view that the whole of the UK including NI should be looked at by the CMA? (although I do acknowledge that NI seems to be a pretty clear example of exploitation)

The CMA may be more minded to assign resources to this if they think it's a UK wide problem; albeit the NI situation seems to be a particularly egregious example.

We wait with bated breath the results of the investigation (if they do it of course.)

Dave_Somerset

Hi All,
Has anyone purchased LPG in Somerset recently, just noticed the valve has gone red.


Good news about the NI investigation. Agreed, the whole UK and NI market needs investigating