We're delighted to see that ITV are reporting the Amazon delivery problems have been fixed. If you continue to have problems please let us know.  Amazon told ITV News: https://www.itv.com/news/channel/2023-08-22/amazon-fixes-technical-issue-which-blocked-jersey-orders        

The terrible wildfires in Greece and other parts of Europe have made travel and holiday plans uncertain for lots of people. If you’ve been affected by travel disruption or are preparing to go away, Which? have put together a help guide to travel advice and compensation. Find out more here.

The Consumer Council has been contacted by some Islanders to ask about some confusing pricing at M&S. In a recent article the Jersey Evening Post have reported the reason for this:  Jersey Evening Post article  

The Unite union has said that nearly a thousand airport workers will take strike action at Gatwick Airport this summer. The BBC reports that the strike action will disrupt travel from Friday 28 July to Tuesday 1 August, and then again from Friday August to Tuesday 8 August. Airlines that will be affected include, British Airways, Easy Jet, Ryanair, Tui, and Wizz. It’s sometimes difficult to think about the worst-case scenarios before we go away, but we strongly advise that you always have travel insurance – especially with so much talk of travel disruption this summer. There’s a whole host of reasons why you need to make sure you’re covered every time you leave the Island, no matter the length of your trip – from unexpected medical expenses to last minute cancellations. Here's our Travel Insurance Checklist to help ensure you have the best travel over: The distinction between European and worldwide cover might seem simple, but some travel insurers have different ways of classifying your journey. Check what counts as Europe and what counts as Worldwide when booking your insurance, and make sure that you’re definitely covered for all the places you’re visiting. If you need cover for risky activities, such as skiing, then you must declare this, or you won’t be covered. You may be better buying an annual policy rather than single trip cover, depending on the nature of your trip – especially if there’s a chance you may travel again at some point in the next 12 months. Single-trip cover insures you for one specific journey, whereas annual policies (sometimes referred to as 'multi-trip' policies) provide you with ongoing cover throughout the year, though they usually have limitations on the number of days travel they'll cover. Generally speaking, annual policies tend to be more expensive than single-trip policies, but they become more cost-effective the more you travel. Travelling with your partner or your family? You have the option of covering everyone under the same policy, which might work out cheaper. However, if one of the travellers in your party needs specialist cover due to their age or medical conditions, it may increase the cost of the policy. A good travel insurance policy should provide cover for illness, injury or death and repatriation. Check that the policy covers all the following: Liability for accidents involving others The airline going out of business Natural disasters or natural events such as volcanic ash clouds or severe weather Political instability Security risks For more travel tips and questions answered read our Spring magazine.    

Once again, we see that the cost of living continues to hover above the ten per cent mark for consumers in Jersey. However, the rate at which our Jersey Consumer Council ‘Basket of Basics’ has increased over the past two years is currently sitting at a wallet-busting level. Other than potatoes, everything has shot up, giving an average increase of a staggering 25% over two years.  The 14 items, we believe, represent a core of a lot of people’s shopping and, if these ‘basic’ items can climb so drastically, then it goes to show why Islanders continue to struggle every time they visit a supermarket. This kind of data – which is there for all to see on pricecomparison.je – highlights that our Island’s decision makers should not always rely on the headline inflation figures being published, and instead drill down further to see how real people are being impacted by real, everyday prices. While we wait for prices to stop climbing so fast, we encourage you all to keep shopping around. Please don’t assume that just because you always go to the same supermarket, you’re getting the best value. The price difference on exactly the same item across our small Island is both staggering and concerning. In the meantime, our Council volunteers continue to walk up and down the aisles with a clipboard every fortnight, gathering nearly 150 product prices, to help you decide where might be best place to do your shopping. See the full table showing how much the basic items have risen in the last two years on page two or our latest magazine here. You can find the latest prices for these products in the ‘JCC Essentials’ section of pricecomparison.je or our Price Comparison app.

Jersey's government has received almost 4,000 submissions for the Community Cost Bonus this year. The annual payment is available to help Islanders who are struggling with increasing food costs. It used to be called the Food Cost Bonus and supports families who are just above the Income Support level, by covering the cost of GST on food. To date, 3,850 applications have been made for the 2022 payment, which has doubled this year from £258.25 to £516.50. The payment is available to households in which at least one person has lived in Jersey for the past five years, where no one is receiving income support, and if the household has a combined tax liability of less than £2,735.00 for 2021. On Thursday (24 November) a proposal to remove GST on food altogether was rejected by the States Assembly, by 27 votes to 17. You can apply for the bonus by visiting the gov.je/CCB website or by calling Customer and Local Services on 444444.