Newer version available

There is a newer version of this publication available:
Fuel Rights Handbook 21st edition

Your liability when someone else has been responsible for the supply

You are not liable to pay the supplier for the electricity bill if:

•you have not entered into a contract; and
•someone else is liable for the supply under contract and that person’s liability for the supply has not come to an end (see here).

You should also not be held liable for the supply when it is clear that someone else took responsibility for it, perhaps as a result of phone contact with the supplier. In one case, the court held that the wife of a deceased man should not be held liable for an electricity bill accrued by him in his name. She was only liable to pay for the supply following his death. The supplier had tried to argue that the woman should be held jointly liable for the debt, as she had benefited from the use of the supply – the ‘beneficial user argument’. The judge declined to follow the County Court case cited by the supplier in support of its argument.1Faulker v Yorkshire Electricity Group Plc [1994] Legal Action, February 1995, p23

You are normally liable to pay for a supply of energy even if you did not read the contract before signing it. However, if there has been misrepresentation to induce you into signing, such as by way of fraud or negligence, the contract may be rescinded. Even if a court claim for misrepresentation is successful, you may still have to pay for the energy consumed if you have had the benefit of this.

 

1     Faulker v Yorkshire Electricity Group Plc [1994] Legal Action, February 1995, p23 »