deemed contract - is a landlord liable for tenant's business utility bills?

[tifo]

I'm trying to help a friend with a case.

 

He has been taken to court by the electricity company who supplied his property. They are suing him personally and at his home address. The property they supplied is a shop which he tenanted out.

 

The tenant did a runner and left rent and bills to pay, one of which was for the electricity. He has supplied the tenancy agreement to the power company but they don't care.

 

The balance they're suing for is around £5,500 plus interest plus fixed sum, all at business rates.

 

Their particulars of claim stated that the defendant (my friend) had an agreement with them for the supply of the electricity. We asked for documentation of this in our defence plus other paperwork but they seem unable to supply this (obviously because there is nothing).

 

They've now asked for permission to amend the particulars and their case is now based on a "deemed" contract with my friend, as owner of the property. We haven't yet given this permission and are thinking of denying. If they do change it, we will have to submit a new defence as well.

 

They've provided a planning application as proof that my friend owns the property and all the invoices are now in his name. I'm assuming all invoices were previously in the tenant's name and have been changed for this case.

 

Having looked at the terms and conditions, they seem unfair in that the deemed contract can be used even when the defendant has not received the services or agreed to them or anything else that they choose.

 

I'm assuming there will be a good defence to this case because otherwise it would mean all landlords are liable for their tenant's bills and this cannot be fair. Also, we're not sure if they're suing him as a consumer (which he is) or a business but they seem to be using business terminology as if this was a business to business contract.

 

My friend has a main job and this is just a property he owns and rented out. Being a landlord is not his main job and he cannot afford to pay for bills like these.

 

Any advice?

[greasmonkey]

was the service cut off before the tenant moved in and did the tenant

set up the service in there name if so there is no claime against the owner

as he would have no contract with them

[tifo]

from what I know the tenant went with the supplier when they moved in.

[Surfer01]

The deemed contract only started from the time that the tenant vacated the premises. He is not responsible for debts while they occupied the premsies unless it specifically stated that in the lease. They will never succeed in a court case as tjhey have no right to chase him for this debt. Was the tenant a limited company as a matter of interest?

[tifo]

The deemed contract only started from the time that the tenant vacated the premises. He is not responsible for debts while they occupied the premsies unless it specifically stated that in the lease. They will never succeed in a court case as tjhey have no right to chase him for this debt. Was the tenant a limited company as a matter of interest?

 

They're deeming the contract from start of supply date and the claim period is 2 years, during the tenancy.

 

The lease said tenant is responsible for all their own bills and the supplier has been shown the tenancy agreement.

 

They're suing my friend as owner of the property under a deemed contract. They're misrepresenting the invoices by reprinting them in his name and address with an account number as 'TEMP'.

 

I'm aware that there can only be a deemed contract while the property was unoccupied and not while the supplier has their own agreement with the tenant. If the property was unoccupied at any time during the claim period there was hardly any usage.

 

All the debt they're claiming is from the tenant's use, minus the odd standing charge while property was un-tenanted.

 

They HAVE taken it to court and are not backing off. They seem to think the deemed contract is enough for them and the landlord has to pay his tenant's bills. This must be bad news for every landlord because where's the protection for them?

 

There's been a few tenant's and they were no Ltd companies. They have been chased by my friend but just don't bother responding to anything. One of them has started the business again elsewhere under another name.

[Surfer01]

As long as your friend can prove that they were not responsible for electric consumption for that period then the power company have not a snowball's chance in hell of winning. Hopefully the tenant transferred the supply into their name because if it was left in your friend's name that is going to cause some major complications.

It seems fairly obvious that these arrears have been around for some time so why didn't the power company chase them at the time? Can we assume that your friend has raise a dispute / complaint with the power company as per their complaints procedure. If not, they need to do it as soon as possible and to follow the procedure until it is escalated to the Energy Ombudsman. While this is in progress your friend probably can get all court action suspended until the Ombudsman has made a decision. Perhaps at the same time your friend needs to look at claiming compensation for harassment.

[tifo]

It seems fairly obvious that these arrears have been around for some time so why didn't the power company chase them at the time? Can we assume that your friend has raise a dispute / complaint with the power company as per their complaints procedure. If not, they need to do it as soon as possible and to follow the procedure until it is escalated to the Energy Ombudsman. While this is in progress your friend probably can get all court action suspended until the Ombudsman has made a decision. Perhaps at the same time your friend needs to look at claiming compensation for harassment.

 

They chased my friend in June this year when the tenant ran. Maybe they were chasing the tenant for his bills but my friend had/has no way of knowing this.

 

There's no need to raise a complaint now, too late for that since there is court action. I don't think the Ombudsman gets involved once it has been taken to court.

 

Once they back off or lose in court, my friend will ask for costs and compensation for harassment etc.

[Surfer01]

Ombudsman and court are two separate entities. If the court is advised that the issue is being pursued via the complaints route and the Ombudsman as the defendant did not know of the correct procedures to follow, then the court should suspend the case pending a decision by the Ombudsman. The all important question is whether the supply was transferred into the tenant's name and also was the tenant a limited company or not.