Consumer Focus to look at heating oil

13 November 2008

Home heating oil customers could soon receive greater levels of protection after it was confirmed that Consumer Focus would be monitoring the market.

People who rely on heating oil do not receive any form of protection from bodies such as Ofgem and Energywatch, which represent the interests of domestic gas and electricity customers.

However, Lord Larry Whitty, the chairman of Consumer Focus, has told the Commons business and enterprise select committee that his organisation will take into account the needs of home heating oil consumers when assessing the domestic energy market.

He revealed the news in response to a question from Scottish National Party energy spokesman Mike Weir, who declared himself delighted with the response.

"This has been a particularly important issue in Scotland where almost a third of homes are not on the mains gas grid. Many, especially in rural areas, rely on home fuel oil," said Mr Weir.

The news comes at a time when home heating oil prices in the UK are falling, with figures compiled by BoilerJuice showing a reduction of more than 30 per cent in the average cost of the fuel over the last four months.

Click here to view home heating oil price trends