On Tuesday, the Federal Office of Justice opened the register of complaints for the model declaratory action brought by the Hesse consumer advice center against the electricity provider Stromio.
This means that all affected customers can register immediately using an online form from the Federal Office and join the lawsuit, as the authority informs.
Petra Kirchhoff
Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.
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In the spring, the Hesse consumer advice center filed a model declaratory action with the Hamm Higher Regional Court to assert claims for damages against the energy discounter in court on behalf of thousands of customers nationwide – there are 10,000 households in Hesse alone.
At the instigation of the court, the register of complaints has now been opened.
Thousands of homes affected
Background: Stromio GmbH - like some other low-cost providers in the energy industry - stopped supplying electricity to thousands of households from one day to the next at the end of last year on the grounds that the price development on the energy market was forcing the company to do so.
As a result, Stromio customers slipped into the more expensive replacement supply from municipal or private basic supply companies, which supply most households in a certain area and have to step in in such a case.
From the point of view of the consumer advice center in Hesse, the termination of Stromio was illegal.
The consumer advocates are of the opinion that price increases are part of the entrepreneurial risk and should not be passed on to customers without being asked.
Before the Higher Regional Court of Hamm it is now to be determined that Stromio acted illegally.
Customers should receive compensation.
Specifically, it is about the difference in the price that those affected had to pay for the replacement supply, minus the price that had been agreed with Stromio for the contract period.
Online calculator to calculate the amount of damage
The consumer advice center in Hesse has put an online calculator and text modules on its website to help you fill out the entry in the register of claims, which the injured party can use to easily calculate the damages to which they are entitled.
However, it is voluntary to state the amount of damage when entering the complaint register, as Kerstin Wolf, Head of the Legal Enforcement Section, makes clear.
Wolf recommends making the entry as soon as possible, since it is not possible to predict when a date for the first oral hearing will be set.
Basically, the registration for the lawsuit is up to one day before the first oral hearing.
If the consumer advice center is right, that does not mean that those affected will see money.
Because the model declaratory action is not about individual services.
The former customers must therefore assert their individual claims for damages themselves at Stromio and also quantify them themselves.
The consumer advice center recommends collecting all documentary evidence such as contracts and documenting meter readings.