Bills addressed to "the occupier"

Those viewing this forum regarding problems relating to gas and electricity suppliers, including bills sent to "the Occupier" may find useful guidance in the thread titled "deemed contracts", where I have outlined a scenario where the consumer had not agreed anything with the supplier, or been told that supplier was intending to hold the consumer liable for payment, including the terms of the continuing supply, the right to choose a different supplier, inter alia, and consequently my view was that the consumer was not liable to pay any money for anything the supplier supplied.

The key point is that if the supplier intends to create legally binding relationship with you, the supplier must make you aware of that and your legal obligations before they can be enforced.

Deemed contracts are an invention of suppliers. In themselves they do not describe or impose any legal obligation on a consumer. It is the consumer's response that more often confirms an otherwise implied relationship; not in itself enforceable on a consumer, without that consumer's consent. The consent can be implied by the consumer's conduct, so it is important not to confirm a legally binding relationship, including payment terms, by conduct, if none has been established prior.

What a well written post legaleagle.

Hey Cardew!

Legaleagle,
I learnt, to my cost, many years ago that when lawyers argue it is the client that pays.

I am but a layman, however would make 2 points.

Your legal advice on deemed contracts directly contradicts the statements on Energywatch’s website( and they are not a ‘supplier’) but a Government organisation.

?




Question

Can they bill me if I never signed a contract?



Answer

You do not need to have signed anything for a legal contract to be in place. A special type of contract can exist for gas and electricity.
When does this happen?
When you move into a property where the previous occupant used electricity or gas, and you haven't signed a contract yourself. It can also happen if you are landlord and your tenants have moved out, and the next tenants have not yet moved in.
What is the contract?
A contract will be 'deemed' to have been created between you, as owner or occupier, and the supplier which had the last contract to supply the property. Suppliers have special 'deemed contract' rates which will normally be a little higher than their 'in contract' rates.
Why do 'deemed' contracts exist?
They mean that properties can continuously be supplied with gas and electricity when ownership changes, even when suppliers do not know who the next occupant is going to be. It means new occupants usually find the electricity and gas still work when they move in.
Do I have to pay the 'deemed' supplier?
Yes. For all the energy you use unless and until you switch suppliers. It is a legally binding contract. If you sign a standard contract, it will replace the deemed contract.
Where does it say this?
For electricity, it is set out in an amendment to Schedule 6 of the Electricity Act 1989, contained in Schedule 4 paragraph 3 of the Utilities Act 2000. For gas it is set out in the Gas Act 1995, Schedule 2 (Schedule 2B to the 1986 Act), paragaph 8.

You will note that they specifically quote chapter and verse the act that makes deemed contracts legal for the special case of gas and electricity.

For electricity, it is set out in an amendment to Schedule 6 of the Electricity Act 1989, contained in Schedule 4 paragraph 3 of the Utilities Act 2000. For gas it is set out in the Gas Act 1995, Schedule 2 (Schedule 2B to the 1986 Act), paragaph 8.

My second point is that if this provision on deemed contracts were not legal, the solution would be that all gas and electricity would be cut off when the old occupant moved out and not reconnected until the new occupants had signed a contract. Doubtless there would be a considerable fee for that reconnection.

Perhaps my learned friend would like to comment?

It would be a pity if your advice resulted in a lost court action.

Edit.
I would make a further point. You say "The consent can be implied by the consumer's conduct," again, as a layman, I would have thought that consuming gas and electricty might well be construed as such conduct.

One thing I would say is to never pay a bill in the name of "the Occupier", you should instead get yhour acout set up in your name first. Otherwise you could be paying for periods of nergy consumed by previous tenants or even say under floor heating used by a lettng agency/landlord in between tenants.

As far as the whole deemed contracts issue goes, for years Supplier (even before the market changed) never used contracts, verbal contracts have always been enough.

As Cardew as clearly pointed out - youo are responsible to pay for energy you use.

I'm sure if you drag it into the whole legal rangle, the 1st thing anyone woul do would be to determine who has used and how much. So, you end up paying anyway for what you have been arguing over.

Just contact them to get an account set up. They will generate you an account and bill you from there. If you then get any bills for the in between energy used, send them back.

Otherwise you can look forward to arguing with debt collectors over energy that might not have been all yours anyway!

One principle supplies tend to use is - if they spot consumption in a property where they have no current tenant on file i.e. a closed account status only, they will letterdrop properties to get a response. Energywatch would support this as it's a proactive way to get things right 1st time.