Storms payout criticism

The storms brought down lines across the UK

A major power company is being criticised for not compensating all the consumers cut off by severe storms across north Wales last October.

SP Manweb, which distributes power in the area, will only be compensating those who made formal complaints at the time.

A total 72,000 customers in north Wales and Cheshire were cut off when power lines were brought down.

Of those, 24,000 people qualified for compensation because they were cut off for at least 18 hours.

But only a fraction will receive any money.

Some customers will get a maximum of £200, some will get £25, while others will not be paid at all.

Consumer watchdog Energywatch Wales claims 99% of those affected by the storms did not make a formal complaint because they could not get through to advice lines.

SP Manweb said the small number of pay-outs reflected its performance during the storms.

Meanwhile, MP for Merionydd Nant Conwy Elfyn Llwyd has told BBC Wales that there could be a repeat of these failures unless SP Manweb hires more engineers.

Mr Llwyd also said that he was very disappointed the firm was hiding behind statutory provisions, which mean that only those who claimed would be refunded.

"I put it very forcefully to the chief executive and regional heads they would be very unpopular if they relied on the statutory provisions alone and that is exactly what they are doing."

Energywatch spokeswoman Joss Kernick said that they were unhappy that compensation had taken so long and did not include everyone.

Some houses were without power for days

"People don't expect there not to be storms, but they do expect a certain level of reasonable customer service," she said.

"Levels fell well below this standard and that's when we feel companies should be giving automatic compensation.

"The average time that people were without power in south Wales was 56 hours and in north Wales it was 96 hours.

"Many people could not get through to the companies to get any advice or ask about claims at all.

"It is just not good enough really."

She explained that SP Manweb were the main distributors in north Wales, while Western Power distribution served south Wales.

"They (power companies) hide behind these statutory provisions," she said.

Energywatch is urging a big review for how claims are rectified in future.

A statement released by SP Manweb said that the "small total amount of compensation payments reflects the company's performance during the October storms when the vast majority of affected customers were reconnected within 18 hours".

The statement added that a government-commissioned report on how the UK's electricity companies performed during the October storms, said SP Manweb "demonstrated strength in depth in coping with an emergency on this scale."

The report praised the company for transferring staff from Scotland and utilising them quickly and effectively.