At Home

You may have heard that certain insurance providers are pulling out of the Channel Islands due to a change of the law in Gibraltar. This law change has indeed reduced the number of motor insurers who will provide cover in Jersey. We've done some research and have compiled a list of those insurers still offering business to the Channel Islands. This is the list of insurers (accurate as of September 2023):  Accredited Insurance (Europe) Limited Ageas Insurance Limited Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance UK Limited Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance Company of Europe Limited Allianz Global Corporate & Speciality SE Allianz Insurance Plc American International Group UK Limited (AIG UK Limited) Assurant General Insurance Limited Aviva Insurance Limited AXA Insurance UK Plc AXA XL Insurance Company UK Limited CHUBB European Group Limited Churchill Insurance Company Limited Covea Insurance Plc Ecclesiastical Insurance Office Plc Great Lakes Insurance SE Great Lakes Insurance UK Ltd Gresham Insurance Company Limited HCC International Insurance Company Plc Highway Insurance Company Limited Hiscox Insurance Company Limited Insurance Corporation of the Channel Islands Limited Liverpool Victoria Insurance Company Limited MS Amlin Insurance SE National Farmers Union Mutual Insurance Society Limited QBE Europe SA/NV QBE UK Limited RAC Insurance Limited Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Plc The Prudential Assurance Company Limited Tradex Insurance Company Ltd Travelers Insurance Company Limited Travelers Insurance Designated Activity Company UK Insurance Limited White Horse Insurance Ireland Designated Activity Company XL Insurance Company SE Zurich Insurance Company Ltd When looking for insurance, always remember to compare prices to get the best deal for you. Your insurance broker – such as Rossborough, Islands Insurance or Channel Insurance Brokers – might be able to help you with this.

Would you mind taking 2 minutes to complete our credit card availability survey? Recent History Credit card availability to Islanders, or the increasing lack of it, has been on our radar for 2-3 years. We have held multiple meetings with local financial institutions, Jersey Finance, Jersey Banking Association, as well as representatives of the previous government representatives.   Recently, the Council contacted several other providers including AMEX, MBNA, M&S Bank, Virgin Money and Tesco, and received replies from all. We have since become aware that John Lewis is also following the same pattern.   Reasons Their reasons for either pulling out of the Channel Islands altogether; no longer accepting new applications; or only offering existing customers a replacement card; are two-fold:   1). Jersey is not part of the United Kingdom. 2). Providing the service is no longer commercially viable.   Locally, we are only aware that HSBC offers new applications to non-account holders if the applicant meets the appropriate requirements.   Having received more enquiries from islanders during the last year, and many in the last month, it appears the situation is worsening so we're trying to find out how many applications or renewal requests have been refused.   Survey Link The closing date is Wednesday 14 September. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/creditcardavailability Thank you    

We've published the Findings Report of our three-month investigation into higher mortgage rates in Jersey. Jersey's mortgage rates have been consistently higher than those in the UK, sparking concern among consumers and prompting our investigation. At the time of launching our investigation in March 2024, a number of banks were offering local rates at more than 1% higher than the UK equivalent. The gap has closed at the time of writing this report, although can change with very little notice. That said, even the smallest increase in mortgage rates have a significant impact on the total amount repaid, due to the size of the loan and the length of time it takes to be paid off. Following correspondence from a number of Islanders, and a call for more transparency over mortgage rates from the property conveyancing sector, the Jersey Consumer Council sent an open letter on behalf of consumers in Jersey to the six main mortgage lenders in Jersey during March 2024. They were: Royal Bank of Scotland International Barclays Skipton Santander HSBC Lloyds We then conducted a broad investigation into the reasons behind mortgage rates in Jersey being higher than those offered by the same branded banks in the UK. We found this leads to confusion for consumers, who, along with already paying significantly higher prices for property compared to many parts of the UK, struggle to understand why they are being asked to pay up to £20,000 more per £100,000 of loan over the lifetime of a mortgage when borrowing over 25 years. The banks attribute this difference to their status as ring-fenced and separate entities from their UK counterparts. Despite this separation, many of these banks still align with their UK outfit in terms of branding, marketing material, contact details and, most significantly, the offer of Jersey-based mortgage products which track the Bank of England’s base rate, and rates generally which fluctuate with the Bank of England interest rates. The Consumer Council, however, has concluded that the elevated mortgage rates are further influenced by the higher savings rates offered in Jersey, which are designed to attract both local and inward investment. The Council's findings highlight the need for greater transparency from the banking industry to help consumers better understand the differences, and a reassessment by the Government of Jersey on the balance between attracting inward investment and ensuring affordable home ownership for Islanders. Click here to read our report.

Please make sure you give us your email and Island Energy customer number as they will be needed for those wanting to be involved in any claim that we might secure. COMPLETE THE GAS SURVEY   Any Island Energy customers who are unhappy or dissatisfied with the £11.56 ‘goodwill gesture’ offered to households following the outage in October last year are being asked to get in touch with the Jersey Consumer Council. The Council is looking at what options it has available to try to secure the compensation Island Energy customers deserve or at least a refund of the costs many consumers incurred during the gas outage in October last year. To start that process, those impacted are being asked to complete a short online survey on consumercouncil.je to enable the Council to assess to what extent individual households were impacted. Chairman Carl Walker said: ‘We already know of Islanders who went without hot water, could not cook hot meals at home and could turn on their heating during the outage, so taking three months to come up with an offer of £11.56 is nothing short of an insult to its customers by Island Energy. “We will now work on behalf of all those affected to try and secure a better deal for them – and everything and anything is on the table at this stage. Once we know how many Islanders we will be representing, we shall choose the best course of action and do our very best.” On 7 October a technical fault by Island Energy left around 4,000 Islanders without gas. This lasted for days - and in some cases up to 14 days - before the gas was returned to them. Had the energy provider been regulated – like in the UK - it would have had to pay £60 for every day a customer went without gas beyond the first 24 hours. Since then, Island Energy have increased the prices of gas by 12%, which is about £13.80 for an average family house. Whilst in Guernsey they raised the price by 8%. On 25 January, we were given word that Island Energy were giving customers a gesture of goodwill by refunding the standing charge for October, worth £11.56. Dissatisfied Island Energy customers are asked to click on the link below and complete the survey as honestly as possible. If they know of any neighbours or relatives who do not have access to the internet but who were also affected by the outage, please visit those individuals or call them and complete the survey with them or on their behalf, so that we can get a fair picture of the situation.

There’s bad news for Sky TV customers – the satellite television company have announced that they’ll be increasing their prices again in April, by a massive 8.1 per cent. The increase works out as £5.60 per month, or £67.20 per year, on the average bill. Almost all Sky TV customers will experience a price increase on 1 April, however, it will affect people on different packages differently, with the £5.60 per month figure only being an average. Some customers might see bigger rises higher than that. The eight per cent increase comes at the same time as consumers are seeing many other bills rising. A Sky spokesperson said in a statement: "This is not a decision we have taken lightly. “We have tried to minimise the impact to customers with an average price increase across all our TV customers of 8.1%, which is below levels of inflation again this year. “Competitors’ average increase over the last two years have been nearly double Sky’s average increase over the same period." Sky Glass and Sky Stream customers who signed up on or after 18 October 2022 are exempt from the rise. This includes customers that took out an 18-month contract or a monthly rolling plan on or after this date. If you took out a rolling monthly plan before 18 October 2022, you’ll still see prices rise (it wasn't possible to take out a longer contract on Glass or Stream before this date).   Thinking about leaving Sky? Know your rights: If you’re outside your minimum contract term with Sky TV, you can leave penalty-free. To do this, contact Sky by phone on 0333 759 1230 or online. You'll need to give 31 days' notice for TV packages. If you’re still in your minimum term on a Sky TV contract then, unfortunately, you won’t be able to leave without paying an exit fee. You don't have the right to exit your contract penalty-free simply because of these price rises – Sky says that this is because you’ll have already been warned in the terms and conditions that prices could rise.   Haggling for a better deal If you don't want to give up your Sky subscription, you could instead attempt to haggle with Sky. Martin Lewis’ Money Saving Expert team found that an enormous 84 per cent of people managed to find success by haggling for a better deal. They offer the following tips when haggling for a better deal: Benchmark the best deal elsewhere, so you ask for a realistic discount. Get through to the retentions (sometimes called disconnections) department. They have the most power to slash costs, as it's their job to keep you. Use charm and be friendly. Aggression or anger will just put their back up. Don't panic if they call your bluff and say they'll disconnect you. If they won't slash the price, see if they can include any extras, such as a boosted TV package. And remember, if you’re a Channel Island customer, you’re entitled to a 20 per cent ‘goodwill’ discount on your Sky subscription, to make up for the fact that you shouldn’t be paying 20 per cent VAT. The Jersey Evening Post fought to have the discount removed from Channel Islands customers’ bills. Customers in Jersey can call 0344 2411965 to speak to a customer service adviser and their 20% goodwill discount on Sky TV products will be applied to their account, if it hasn’t already been. The line is open from 8.30am until 9pm.

Jersey Electricity has announced that it will be increasing its prices by 12% from the start of next year. It means that, from 1 January 2024, the cost of an average domestic annual electricity bill of around £1,200 will go up by £3 per week. Jersey Electricity said that they are announcing the increase early to give customers more certainty of what they can expect from their electricity bills in the near-term, and that they will be freezing their current prices until next year. They said that the rise is in line with the recently announced All Items Jersey Retail Prices Index (RPI) of 12.7% and will enable them to keep pace with rising costs due to the volatility of international energy prices. In the meantime, consumers are reminded that Jersey Electricity’s My JE app allows you to understand better how your electricity is being consumed, and where you may be able to make some savings. It’s also a useful tool for keeping on top of your bills.