No direct government assistance for Maritime Fuels customers, premier says

Nova Scotia’s premier feels bad for customers who lost prepayment money when Maritime Fuels filed for bankruptcy last week but that feeling does not translate into direct help for those affected.

“Not at this time,” Premier Tim Houston told reporters after a cabinet meeting Thursday when asked if his government was looking at setting up anything special for customers who lost money.

“That’s a difficult situation, for sure,” Houston said. 
“You don’t like to see that happen when a company fails and people have made deposits and prepayments. It is a private company so, as a government, we’ve encouraged a couple of things. First off, if you have automatic payments or prepayments set up, cancel those. We have the home-heating rebate program and we have other programs to support people and they may be eligible for those, and we would encourage them to check into those programs.”

Maritime Fuels Ltd., the Dartmouth fuel delivery company, gave notice of bankruptcy a week ago, listing PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc. as the insolvency trustee that will deal with the company’s creditors. 

The trustee is expected to notify creditors and call a meeting soon.

The provincial government sent out a notice Nov. 17, warning the company’s customers to stop any scheduled payments.

“Customers on a prepayment plan for their home heating fuel should contact their financial institution or credit card company and stop those payments right away,” the news release said.

Anyone who has already paid for fuel they didn’t or won’t receive should contact PricewaterhouseCoopers. 

 Prepayment losses

The province’s statement said it’s unknown how many customers are on a prepayment plan.

The Nova Scotia Liberal party issued a release Monday calling for the province to help Maritime Fuels customers immediately.

It said the government’s advice to customers about stopping pending payments to the company will not help many Nova Scotians who have been prepaying the company a monthly fee all year for home heating fuel that has not and will not be delivered.

“We’re hearing from Nova Scotians who have prepaid over a thousand dollars’ worth of home heating oil to this company and they can’t afford to lose that investment in the current cost-of-living crisis we’re in,” Liberal Leader Zach Churchill said in the release.

“The province can help Maritime Fuels customers by ensuring they’re eligible for the heating assistance rebate of $600 so they can heat their homes this winter.” 

The Heating Assistance Rebate Program (HARP) helps low-income Nova Scotians with the cost of home heating, but after record inflation, rental and utility prices, more people are struggling to make ends meet than ever before, the Liberal release pointed out.

The official Opposition party called on the government to make an immediate adjustment to the eligibility of the rebate program to help households that stand to lose thousands of dollars on home heating fuel. 

Program changes

Last December, the majority Progressive Conservative government responded to Nova Scotians’ affordability needs by announcing an additional $100-million investment in the heating rebate program to provide for a one-time rebate increase for the 2022-23 heating season, to a maximum of $1,000, up from the $200 maximum that had been in place.

The government also expanded the income eligibility threshold last year, increasing the eligibility to a maximum $85,000 in household income from the previous $29,000 threshold for a single-person household and $44,000 for a multiple-person household. Those maximums had existed since the program was introduced in 2009.

But just over a month ago, the government announced that the $85,000 threshold and the $1,000 maximum rebate were being lowered for the 2023-24 heating season, with the maximum rebate dropping to $600 and the income eligibility thresholds moving to $75,000 for a family and $55,000 for a single-income household, whether people own or rent.

Houston said Nova Scotians have many relationships with private companies like Maritime Fuels and “government has a lot to do in its own respect in providing government services so backstopping private companies is really not something that the government can take on.”

The premier said there are huge ramifications related to a company failing, including to people who work there and their families and the company’s suppliers “and you don’t like to see that but they are private companies.”

Colton LeBlanc, the Service Nova Scotia minister, said the situation has created a lot of stress for Maritime Fuels customers, prompting the government to share the bankruptcy with Nova Scotians late last week in the release so that people could take proactive steps with their financial situations.

LeBlanc, too, suggested Nova Scotians, including Maritime Fuels customers, take advantage of available provincial assistance programs, including the heating assistance rebate program.

LeBlanc said the provincial support programs are targeted by income.

“We do not have a role in this private bankruptcy matter,” LeBlanc said. 

“Our role last week was a public service announcement to Nova Scotians to be aware of this occurring in our province and to take the appropriate measures.”